We made a quick trip to Texas at the end of last week to attend a memorial for my father-in-law. Because of our fur baby, Roxie, who has never stayed with anyone other than my daughter before she got married, we take her everywhere with us. So, we drove instead of fly so she could go. She gets traumatized and has separation anxiety and we don’t want to add to it.
It’s a 14-hour drive, depending on the number and length of stops. With Roxie, we stop every so often to let her out and walk around and do her business if needed. She rides really well. We put her bed and arrange blankets, etc . in the back seat so she will be comfortable.
The drive over didn’t seem quite so bad. When we arrived she was wound up and wanted to play. Her humans were tired and worn out but David did walk with her before calling it a night.
Friday, she was in heaven as there was a three-year-old boy she could love on and play with. She adores kids and always wants to give them kisses. She weighs over 60 pounds so that can not be fun for a small child. Fortunately, she minds well so we can keep her in check.
She had free reign of the house Friday but since the memorial was at the house Saturday, we closed the door to the back of the house. She was not happy and a couple of times, though we had asked no one to go back, someone let her out a couple of times.
She loves people so naturally she comes out and starts going from person to person wanting them to pet her. She also wanted to play with a couple of them and she can get quite wild if you let her.
We got her settled into the back of house again until after the service and people thinned out a bit. Then we let her out to visit again.
Come Sunday, she was ready to go home and would stand outside looking up at the truck. Once we started loading up, she stood by the door making sure she would not get left behind.
The trip home was just worse than the trip over. Don’t really know why but just seemed to take twice as long. Roxie was miserable, we were miserable and it late in the night when we got home.
Soon as we let her out though, she was happy and excited to be home. It takes her a couple of days to get over such a long trip. Honestly, it takes us that long as well.
We would really like to break the trip up and spend one night in a hotel, but not all hotels will take dogs that weigh 50 pounds or more. Perhaps we will find one though, as we most likely will have to make another trip over once the estate is settled.
One good thing is we got to see our two granddaughters that live there whom we very rarely get to see. Didn’t have as much time as we would have liked but it was still wonderful to spend some time with them. They are growing up so fast.
Seeing other relatives is also good. We have only been getting to Texas about every three years and lots of things change during that time. As we were traveling there, David was notified one of his aunts had died. We could not change our schedule about coming home because of work so could not make her funeral.
One thing we noticed along the trip was that roads in Louisiana and Alabama leave a lot to be desired. Mississippi wasn’t all that great either. I wonder why these states have not done any infrastructure work in a very long time. Mississippi was working on roads and bridges along the way. From our trip three years ago, we had already learned that you stick to the speed limit in Louisiana, so we were very conscious of that fact on this trip.
We also noticed that there were not many people wearing masks in Texas. Alabama and Mississippi were tied for number of masked people and Louisiana would have been next. Since their governor mandated them, we expected more but were glad to see many without masks. It was great to not worry about someone getting upset that you were not wearing one. Alabama had signs everywhere about it.
There are many things I like about Texas and if we were younger and not so settled, would consider living there. They do not have controlled zoning in some areas which actually works for them most of the time. I’m all for less government control but do see where controlled zoning is good in certain areas.
In Florida, the Governor has done away with all emergency order requirements and has completely opened the state back up without restrictions. A couple of other states have done so and it’s time the rest followed. Enough is enough, already.
Another thing I have always said, is a death brings out the best and worst in people. You see who people really are during these times. It’s an unfortunate and sad thing.
We are just really glad to be home and so is Roxie. Hopefully by this weekend she will be back to her usual spunky self. Boxers have such unique personalities and ours is so spoiled that it only adds to her personality. What would we do without our four-legged kids to bring us joy and laughter?
Going from one atmosphere to another is not good for your allergies. David is allergic to cats and his dad had several in the house. They have been re-homed but it takes a while to get rid of all the cat hair and for the residual smell to leave. His allergies were acting up the whole time and of course, there is nothing like sleeping in your own bed. It may be good to get away sometimes, but it’s really good to get back home.
Being back home, things are heating up in the local political scene. In Peach County certain candidates are spreading untruths to hurt some candidates without checking the facts. When you question them about it, they get defensive and cannot answer the question. They respond back that “we” probably wouldn’t be voting for them anyway.
First of all, there’s no way they can know that for certainty. It is certain for me if you don’t have a platform, don’t have any answers and can’t answer simple questions, I will not be voting for you. Starting a smear campaign also does it for me.
We have several in Peach County up for re-election who have proven themselves to be for the people as a whole and unless you have some concrete plans I see no need for them to replaced by people who have ulterior motives and personal agendas. Just doesn’t make sense to me. © 2020
VICTORIA SIMMONS Is a columnist, author, motivational speaker, minister and publisher of The Georgia Post/Byron Buzz. Contact her at: vsimmons54@gmail.com