THi\VELING WITH
\"iIPEJIi\I"Sby HEGINI\ SCJ!\vAl3E,IJV~1
It is unlikely for three \vires to travel through the Southlvest as it is for a busy Veterinarian to drop everything to go on a two month sojourn with them. Turning 40 does strange things to people. Apparently this need to cXLlminl? one's life at this time is completely normal. l~e opportunity to think at leisure was owed to this profession and my partner. The dogs benefitted too. First problem: what vehicle? A Suburban towing a trailer U3 in was considered. The image of three wet dogs allover the cab was unappealing as the thought of driving along curvy road towing a shaky trailer behind. So the motorhome idea seemed best. We found a 20 foot Winnebago that just fit the bill. The sleep couch in the back could be removed and three dog crates fit nicely. We left New York and commented to each other that New York can look nice with the cake-frosting snow sparkling ill the sun. First stop was New Caledonia State Park in southern PA. The sno\v lilY unl<ll?c1eep in the par)(ing lot und thl? Iliking trail through the thick pines. The dogs ran like crazy. A snow machine couldn't have obliterated the cross-country ski tracks any better. Up a little hill, over some logs .... off they went after a deer. In the 20 minutes spent frantically Ivhistling down our 2路CD's \Vas born the rule that only one dog at a time \Vas allo\Ved off lead. The next rest stop \Vas in Virgilw along the l31ue '"iidge Park\Vay. It was standard and clean with a doggie walk sign pointing up the hillside. Someone Hho knOl路lsand loves dogs must have designed this space. On top of the hill was a 5 acre piney woods with a Hide pat]] cut through. A fence on one side kept the dogs from running into the pasture. A sense of "pet 1路lelcome" existed here. This was the first of miJllYrt':o;t stops such ;)S tillS. Particularly in the South, the Highway Depts. have gone to great lengths to make dog owners feel welcome. At Pebble Hill Plantation in Thomasville, Georgia \Ve Ivere invited to walk the dogs in the woods behind the mansion, let them swim in the lake and generally enjoy the ground. Of course, this house Ivas OIvned by "Hiss Pansy" of the Hana family \vho loved dogs and horses above all. The extensive collection of stirrup cups, game bird prints, and horse and dog paintings made this more of a museum than a hunting lodge. There \vere for example, over 200 sets of placecard holders with game bird themes. In one room hung a print of Otterhouncls SHimming after an otter with the help of two Border Terriers whose job it was to get the otter out of the rocks at the river edge. "Host people can find their breed of dog here," said our guide, proudly. No luck, everyother kind of Sporting dog was represented her somewhere, no GWP's.
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