Duppy's Blog - Off to Virginia!!

                                                            Hi, Dexter!

I knew something was up Tuesday when Doug closed the camper in the afternoon before it rained again, and we crashed on Vicki's couch instead of sleeping in our camper. Sure enough, Doug and I said good-bye to Vicki and Monkey after breakfast yesterday, and Doug told me we were striking out for dinner in Leesburg, Virginia, where Auntie Karen, Eric and his long-time girlfriend, Renee, live! I was SO excited, but it was a long five hundred mile ride and took all day. It's tough being me when I have to spend the whole day riding in the truck, but as long as Doug and I are together I'm happy. Doug wasn't kidding and we had rotisserie chicken for dinner, hand-fed to Dexter and me by Auntie Karen! Yum!! Food always tastes better when I get hand fed and I can nibble it, which really makes it taste good! Doug gets exasperated when I swallow food whole, but sometimes it just tastes so good I forget to chew!

On our ride south we stopped two times to look at farms that had been deserted - the people just left them, and now nobody lives there! A big white barn, two matching white twin silos, lots of acreage and a beautiful white two-story farm house - just left behind by the people that owned them. We only stopped twice, but we saw lots of houses and dilapidated farms that people had just given up on and left during our ride to Karen's. The second time we stopped, it was because Doug couldn't believe such a beautiful farm was really vacant, but it was. There were still barn cats that lived there, but that was all. Doug was glad to see everything was still in good shape - the windows weren't broken, and there was no vandalism. It just had an empty feeling, like the ghost town we went to with Uncle Dave. Doug was puzzled by the abandonment of this lovely farm because it was only one-half of a mile from the York Street exit off of US route 15 to the Gettysburg battleground and I saw him keep shaking his head in disbelief. I sniffed out that a dog had lived there before, and I peed on all his favorite spots because that's what I do. I hope his people took him with them. I felt sorry for the cats, but they didn't like me the way Dolly does.

It's a lot warmer in Virginia than it was in New York. The low temperature here is warmer than the high temperature there, and I can tell Doug is happy about that. There were a couple of nights Doug had to cuddle me in the camper because it was so chilly in New York. Last night we slept in Auntie Karen's house because Doug said the neighbors would be creeped out if we used the camper, which I just don't understand because I just love our camper!

Last night Eric shuffled the cars so Doug could park the camper directly in front of the house, but we had to drive about a half of a mile to turn the camper around. Now, normally Doug doesn't have any trouble, but he forgot how badly he can't see at night - it took him a couple of tries before we found our way back to Karen's house pointed in the right direction. I thought it was funny seeing him squinting to read the street signs in the dark to try and find our way back. I never mind a little ride in the truck, especially when it's punctuated with comedy.

Now for some real news! Auntie Karen has an apricot-colored poodle puppy named Dexter, and NOBODY said a word about him before I got here. He's six months old, barks a LOT and even though he's kind of a spastic, he's okay. He's too happy about me being here and won't leave me alone, but he's being better today than yesterday. I had to get snarly to get him to back him off. We're both going to the groomer's on Saturday, I think. Even though I had a bath a few weeks ago I get dirty faster now that we're on the road. Like Doug says, "Ya can't be cute when you have poop on your butt!" He tries hard to keep me clean, but I make it difficult. Vicki had great woods, and I had a terrific time exploring the woods and pond at her house.

I guess that's all for now. We're going to have some nice family time, especially since Eric and his girlfriend, Renee, coo at me, are so nice to me and scratch under my collar and everything! She said to Eric that she wants to get a papillion of her own. Doug says,"Everyone ought to have a Duppy!" I think so, too.