Pet dogs

How do they arrive?

Gotta' call from my youngest, Wilson who at the time, was living out in New Mexico.
"Dad, need a big favor - can you vouch for me. I found this great puppy - so 'cute'. But, "we" need to come up with a fictitious 'local' address for the animal shelter to release him to me."

Within six months Wilson was back home in Sarasota for some personal reasons. But, all his belongings, and his truck, and his new pup 'Knuckles' were still out there in Santa Fe - and all with a girlfriend that was living with her parents.

My plan - fly out there, stay with the girlfriend's family for a few days, pack-up the truck and hopefully, get to know the dog. Within three days of arriving, Knuckles and I had hit the road - a long two lane back road.

Highway 82 runs east and west through at least five states. First night heading back east, we slept at a 'truck stop' motel (somewhere) in western Texas. The following day, a speeding ticket in Nocona. Another night in Texarkana in a cheap motel, with "No Pets" posted - and where Knuckles, in the middle of the night, did a loose bowel movement all across the carpet (we split, post-haste before day break). Then, a flat tire in Magnolia, Arkansas. And, after another day in, and for the dog's needed exercise break and a hard run, Knuckles took off through the soy bean / cotton fields of Mississippi. By day three, we found an opportune stop along the side of the road - a posted 'psychic reading' in rural Alabama - and "Pets Welcome." The following day, another photo of my new buddy in front of an old antebellum home in southern Georgia. And finally Florida, where-in now, my good companion posed for me, one more time - with a large T-Rex.

After those five wild days on the road, Knuckles had become my "new" best friend. And then, just thinking about it, during those last few hundred some miles, all I had to do - was somehow,  just explain to my youngest son Wilson, about these good travels and about all our wacky adventures - and that now, I had finally found a new pet dog.

First day on the road - still in New Mexico.

  

Truck Stop motel somewhere in Texas.
 

Outside Nocona after our speeding ticket.

Flat tire fix in Magnolia, Arkansas.

Exercise run through Mississippi.

Antebellum - Georgia.

And finally, at home in the State of Florida.