Home Safe and Sound....

 I had a great time in Florida!  I easily made myself at home at Gramma and Granddad's Florida's house.  I had fun chasing lizards.  The first one I spotted in the evening hours made me jump a little, but it is just because I wasn't expecting it to come crawling out at me.

 Mom made sure that I got to see the ocean and play on the beach.  Last year the sound of the ocean made me a little nervous, but this year I was a lot more brave.  I left lots of paw prints in Florida.  I almost put my paws in the water, but it still seems a bit scary.  Maybe next year!

I made sure to get in some game time with my cousins.  Megan got a great new fun game called Fibber.  The 2-leggeds had to wear some crazy glasses and put these plastic things on their noses when they got caught telling a lie.  I did my best to keep their secrets and not let on if I knew they were fibbing.

 I made sure to get in nap time whenever possible. It was WARM in Florida. I have grown lots of fur for the Oklahoma winter, so I was a little hot in Florida.  I enjoyed the cool tile at Gramma and Grandad's.

 Christmas day was loads of fun!  I got some great new toys and treats.  Mom got some great new toys too and some pots and pans to cook yummy food with.   It was soon time for us to hit the road and head back to Oklahoma.  Mom tried to prepare me that the weather would get more and more cool as we traveled and returned home, and man oh man she wasn't kidding.  I made sure to have mom take a picture of my view as we headed through Tallahassee Florida.  We took a slightly different route on the way home.  It turned out to be about the same time in the car.

 I was pretty lazy during the first day of travels. I had played hard with my cousins and with Gramma and Granddad. I was also so excited about all the Christmas goodies that I got, that I just needed to rest and recover for a bit.  When mom and I drove through Gainsville, we encountered some serious rain that made it very difficult to see.  Other than about 30 miles the rest of the first day of driving was nice weather and smooth sailing.

 It took us about 6 hours after leaving Gramma and Granddad's house to cross a state line, but finally we saw the "Welcome to Alabama" sign.  The weather had already dropped about 20 degrees at this point.  Mom told me that we would only cross one more state line into Mississippi on this day of travel, so I continued to rest.



On the start of our second day of travel, we would be starting from Tupelo, MS heading towards home.  We ventured from the hotel and drove about 90 minutes before stopping to fill up the car with gas and grab some breakfast.  As we hopped out of the car to my surprise there was SNOW on the ground.  I LOVE the snow.  I sniffed and played in it for as long as I could until mom was getting impatient and was ready to continue on our car journey.

 
Then as we came into Memphis we hit just enough stoplights that I could watch all of the loading station crane's at BNSF loading and unloading train carts.  I think it's so fun to watch and listen to all of the trucks and trains moving at the same time.

 Next thing I knew we were in Arkansas!  And what do you know more snow.  While we were in Florida, we had heard on the weather channel that Little Rock had a lot of snow.  We got to see the remains of the Christmas Day snow storm with our own eyes two days later and it seems they did indeed get a significant amount of snow! I was glad I had rested most of the day before so that I could be awake to take it all in.

Mom stopped at a rest stop and I rolled and played in the snow, and even collected some snowballs in my fur!

I even had some snow left over on my face

 As we left Russellville, Arkansas, mom's jeep hit a major milestone of turning 100,000 miles.  The car was still going great, and I knew that we were very close to home.

 Since we were so close to home, I decided that I would try to catch a little dog nap along the way.  I spent some time moving my blankets and things around so that I could be warm and comfortable.

 Then, as I woke up, there was the "Welcome to Oklahoma" sign.  Mom said we had just under 2 hours to go.  I started to get antsy. I could smell home in the air.  I love going on trips, but it is always nice to get home too!

Once I returned home, I was glad to see all my toys and things and have spent the past couple of days resting and recovering.  Mom says that my agility class will be starting in just over a week or so.  It has been nice to have a break but I am ready to get back at it!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

Until my next post, keep those tails waggin'!

Boca