Day 19 - Bellingham, Massachusetts

Again, I'm beat.  Going to bed. Dead tired.  Catch you in the morning.

Hi, Friends!  I’m among the late risers this morning; even Don slept till almost eight, and Geri’s still in the sack.  But I’ve snagged the phony paper, had my breakfast, and coerced Don into helping me put together the events of yesterday for the Blog.  Even though I’d like to get a little more nap time.

Yesterday started normally enough, with a nice walk through the woodsy part of this campground, a very pleasant bacon treat from a fellow camper, and a close encounter with a horse, who I thought was very impressive and a little scary.  The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent resting up from my previous day’s exertions, which I had considered to be major in scope.  Geri was doing some sweeping and vacuuming, while Don performed some minor repair items.  Pretty quiet and relaxing.

Around mid-afternoon, preparations were made to get underway in the truck, and we all piled in and headed for Winchester.  It was pretty hot out, so Geri let me ride in the space behind their seats in the truck’s cab, where I had full benefit of the air conditioning.  It’s a little cramped for someone my size, but OK for short rides.  I once did a whole Vegas trip like this, and it wasn’t that pleasant.  So, we get to Mike and Rina’s place, and there’s no one home!  Geri called Mike, who told her that they would be home shortly, so we went for a little walk in the neighborhood.  We met the little Lab puppy, Zoey, next door; she was very charming and happy to make our acquaintance.  A few minutes later, Mike, Thomas and Andrea came around the corner in the car; Thomas was driving, and he was able to make the car sound like the truck does when Don is reengaging the drive shaft.  Very impressive.  So we walked back up the hill to the house, where Andrea showered me with attention; we’ve had a thing going between us from years ago.  She actually cried when I had to leave after my last visit!  She really is one of my favorite people. 

A bit later, Rina’s Dad, Norair, arrived, with Rina’s nieces Alique and Zuzu.  When I last met Alique, she was maybe 3 or 4 years old, and now she is a very sweet ten year old, a charming girl.  Zuzu (I think that’s not her real name) is four, I think, and a bundle of high octane energy.  I was really pleased to see both of them, and they were really happy to have me to play with.  I don’t have a lot of play time with kids at home, and I had kind of forgotten how much fun it could be.  But I soon got with the program, and was chasing everything they threw for me, running with them, and playing pretty hard.  I got occasional breaks for petting, and Mike played frisbie with Zuzu for awhile, giving me a rest period.  Boy, that Zuzu is nonstop!  The only thing I didn’t much care for was when the girls found some Super Soaker water guns and started firing at me!  You know I’m not a big water dog, so I wasn’t really comfortable having water shot at me! 

Rina got home finally, and we all got organized to go out to dinner; I had mine before we left, so I was very happy with the way things were going.  We all caravanned into Cambridge, to a fish restaurant that Norair really likes, and I guess they sat around eating fish for a couple of hours.  They took turns coming out to visit with me in the truck to make sure I was doing OK; Alique spent some time braiding some of the hair in my ear flap, looked kinda cute, I think, particularly when she topped it off with a pretty little flower.  Mike and Don talked to a dog trainer who was hanging out near us, who said that Goldens were his favorite breed to train, ‘cause we’re so anxious to please our humans.  Well, that’s not news to me.  When everyone was done eating fish, they got in their cars and we all headed to Arlington, where Norair and his wife (Rina’s Mom), Melanie, live.  Don told Geri that one of his recurring nightmares was having to follow Rina through Boston traffic, as she is very adept at making her way rapidly through the maze of roads.  Fortunately, she appeared to be slacking off on her speed, for which Don was thankful. 

When we arrived and Norair and Melanie’s, the girls insisted that I play with them some more, and they took me up to their play area, located at the top of a long set of stairs in the back yard.  I don’t know how many times I was up and down those steps, but I was having a lot of fun with them, and wasn’t feeling the least bit tired.  Don and Geri were having cake and coffee with Aline and Bob, the girls’ Mom and Dad, and the rest of the gang.  When we finally decided it was time to head for home, it was around nine o’clock, and I was starting to feel weary.  I was able to jump into the truck, but I went to sleep as soon as we hit the road.  When we got back to the coach, all I wanted to do was get my final cookies and head for bed.  So, that’s what I did!  Feeling very good this morning, though, and looking forward to a new day of fun and friendship; I’ll let you know what happens!  Ciao!