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| Satchel and Ellory sleeping in the car 1708.21 (2) |
It was about a year ago that I left my home in Michigan for the west coast with my two dogs -- Satchel and Ellory -- my Dad, my Subaru, and a U-Haul trailer.
I thought this trip would be one of the hardest things I had ever done, but it really wasn't. Not that it was a total breeze, but the problems ("adventures") were mostly non-dog related.
The dogs were great!!
I had stashed a bunch links in this blog entry, but then I never posted it. Though the GO PET FRIENDLY is a good site, I preferred using BRING FIDO to plan dog friendly locations, especially parks and trails.
Here's what I learned.
THE NEST is the most important thing. Create a nest for them in the backseat with plenty of pillows and blankets and comforters and sleeping bags.
See photo (left).
They loved the nest, they slept a lot, and they had ZERO accidents.
Leaving them alone may not work. This was the hard part for me. Dad and I wanted to go have dinner and not eat take out in the hotel. Mostly, we were able to leave them, but often this did not work. One motel called us to return because of excessive barking. One part of the issue was crating Ellory. When I did not crate her, she did not make a ruckus.
HOTELS: ALSO, it depends on the hotel. Inexpensive hotels are good for the pocket book but not good for the dogs. The sound proofing of higher quality hotels REALLY HELPS. See farther below, after my itinerary, for the last hotel where we did NOT stay followed by a picture of the hotel we found that was the nicest of the trip! The dogs will check out each hotel room AND GIVE THEIR RATING. If they don't like it, they let me know. Satchel disliked the place that called us to return to the room because of Ellory's barking, and Satchel basically refused to stay at the Top Hat Motel.
FREQUENT STOPS: I thought that this might be a problem, but it wasn't. In fact, I pushed the every two hours rule at times if they were sleeping and doing fine. But overall, we made 3-4 stops a day, sometimes more. Really it all depended on our total miles for the day. The two big days with almost 400 miles of driving each featured more stops.
ROUTINE: Dogs love routine, and my dogs are programmed. Regular schedules were maintained, which helped with trip anxiety, especially for my anxious beagle.
It was a great trip. I would definitely do it again if I ever need to do it again.
So, the next link is the collection of all my trip posts from last year in backwards order, followed by my itinerary with hotel costs and such for those in need. Thumbs down on the Super 8 in Biscmarck and the Top Hat in Ritzville, where we did not stay.
I close today's entry with photos.
Hey, if you hit on this blog because you're driving cross country with dogs, let me know in the comments!!
MY TRIP WEST - ALL POSTS
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| Leaving Day - August 20,2017 |
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| Day Three - Ship Rock, Wisconsin, 1708.22 |
LESSONS I LEARNED - 16 DAYS IN THE CAR
PRAISE FOR TIE DOWNS
FINDER SERVICE FOR HOTELS AND MORE
USA TODAY - Ways to Travel with Pets cross country
LESSONS LEARNED MOVING CROSS COUNTRY WITH DOGS
This one's from the WASHINGTON POST and about a beagle named Darwin. MY BEAGLE did much better than Darwin. This driver had a rough time. The last 7 hours of my trip were not "wretched" and out did not look like a 7-11 trash can.
When a Dog Is Your Co-Pilot, a Cross-Country Drive Is No Walk in the Park
The Ultimate Dog-Friendly Road Trip
PETA - TIPS FOR TRAVELING WITH DOGS
Great for finding off leash areas!!
GO PET FRIENDLY - CROSS COUNTRY TRIP PREP
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| Leaving Kalamazoo - 1708.20 |
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| Motel #1 Lakewood Luddington 1708.20 (5) |
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THE TRIP
Google estimates - 34 hours
2310 miles
https://www.bringfido.com
BRING FIDO ## - (877) 411-3436.
SUNDAY 8/20 - HOME - Ludington pre-ferry
(home - Ludington - 2hrs 18 m - 146 miles)
(Manitowoc - La Crosse (4hrs and 23 m - 300 miles))
Motel Lakewood Inc - (231) 843-3884
1934 N Lakeshore Dr, Ludington, MI, US, 49431
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MONDAY 8/21 - 1. Manitowoc - La Crosse (4hrs and 23 m - 300 miles)
SS BADGER - FERRY - https://www.ssbadger.com/
$59/adult & $59 vehicle and $5.95 trailer ft/width)
Leaves 9 a.m. - crossing time is four hours
Ludington to Manitowoc
Kennels for pets (or use our kennels)
confirmation # - 423818
ARRIVE 7:30
Boarding starts at 8 a.m. leave at 9 a.m.
Kennels are first come first served
Manitowoc, WI to La Crosse, WI (4HRS 2 Min - 212 miles)
- Rose's House
Rose M Brougham
La Crosse, WI
CANCELLED - Candlewood Suites Madison Fitchburg
5421 Caddis Bend, Fitchburg, WI, US, 53711-7127
(608) 271-3400
cancellation confirm # = 10120846
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TUESDAY 8/22 - 2. Madison - St. Cloud/Cold Spring, MN (3hrs 35 min - 236 miles)
La Crosse (Rose) to Woodbury (2 hrs 19 min - 151 miles)
Woodbury to Cold Spring MN (1hr 30 m - 100 miles)
Dale Road Dog Park
11664 Dale Rd, Woodbury, MN, US, 55129
Or call (651) 714-3583 for more information.
Riverside Inn of Cold Spring
P.O. Box 384
118 3rd St S
Cold Spring, MN 56320
320-685-4539
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WEDNESDAY 8/23 - 3. St. Cloud - Bismarck (5hrs 15 m - 363 miles)
Super 8 Motel - 1-701-255-1314
1124 East Capitol Avenue , Bismarck, ND 58501 US
+1-701-255-1314
two beds - $83 +tax = $88.99
#715-559264
Bismarck - Underwood (56 m - 53.8 miles)
Underwood - Havre, MT (7 hrs 48 min & 485 miles)
Underwood - Malta, MT (6hrs 21 min 396 miles)
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THURSDAY 8/24 - 4. Bismarck - Malta or Havre, MT (6hrs 8 m & 379 miles through Underwood)
Bismarck - Havre through Underwood - 539 miles = 8 hrs 48 min
Townhouse Inn Havre - "Haver"
Address: 601 1st St W, Havre, MT 59501
Phone: (406) 265-6711
$109.99 +$20 +tax = $129.99
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FRIDAY 8/25 - 5. Havre, MT - Kalispel (4hrs 30 m - 262 miles)
Travelodge Kalispell
Address: 350 North Main Street, Kalispell, MT 59901
Phone: (406) 755-6123
$134 +$15 pet + $161.88
#729524017
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SATURDAY 8/26 - 6. Kalispel - Ritzville, WA (4hrs 45 min - 296 miles)
Top Hat Motel
Address: 210 E 1st Ave, Ritzville, WA 99169
Phone: (509) 659-1100
booked with
BOOKING.COM
user name email –> gmrstudios2@gmail.com
password -----> used my Google gmail account.
Confirmation Number: 1514878319
PIN code: 5124
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SUNDAY 8/27 - 7. Ritzville, WA - Woodland (5hrs 6 min - 315 miles)
Revised - Pasco, WA to Woodland, WA - 241 miles (3 hrs 46 min)
Heading home to
1785 Blacktail Lane
Woodland, WA 98674
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dad flies out Sept. 1st or 2nd
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We did not stay here. Though it looks charming, not so much...
We paid, but left. Instead we stayed here, which was in "RICHLAND" Washington.
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| Breakfast 1708.23 Riverside Inn Cold Spring MN (1) |
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| Car Travel days 1708.23 west (1) |
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| Cut Bank 1708.25 Rest Stop (3) |
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| Driving 1708.25 Montana (6) |
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| Ellory in the car 1708.22 |
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| Ellory loves grandpa 1708.25 (1) |
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| First Stop 1708.26 Hot Springs (1) |
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| Leaving Richland, WA 1708.27 |
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| Satchel Ellory sleeping in the car 1708.21 (1) |
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| Rest stop 1708.23 Barnesville MN (3) |
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| River Rest Stop 1708.22 (1) |
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| Riverfront Park Last rest stop trip 1708.27 The Dalles OR (7) |
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| Satchel Ellory sleeping in the car 1708.21 (1) |
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| Satchel Ellory sleeping in the car 1708.21 (1) |
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| SS Badger Ferry ride 1708.21 (23) |
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| First Stop 1708.26 Hot Springs (2) |
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| Nearing Portland and Vancouver 1708.27 |
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| Me and Dad 1708.29 home at 1785 Blacktail Lane (5) |
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1808.16 - 10:10
- Days ago = 1138 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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