TRAVENTURE 2024

Late in the spring of 2024, as we joined friends for our bi-monthly catch up brunch, we all discussed needing a getaway. This was just prior to our Mediterranean vacation and our camping adventures.  The four of us were all ready to shed the winter blanket that we had been tucked into for the previous 6 months. Our friends' had endured many changes in the month's prior and were looking for an escape to a place with no commitments and no worries. A good old fashion road trip.  Our friend, Paul, suggested a driving adventure along Route 66 and seeing old America. "Traventure" was born.  Full disclaimer, I have changed the names of our friends not because they are in witness protection. Well, maybe they are, how would I know.  I changed their names because I did not ask permission to share their names or photos online.

I am always wary of traveling with friends for an extended period. What if we end up not being compatible?  That would be a long trip. I prefer test run.   In fact we still joke that the only other couple we have traveled with, we did a weekend or two at my in-laws home in Chautauqua, New York before planning cruises and other duo family trips.  Hey, it works for us.  It has been over 20 years and we still travel together from time to time. This was a newer friendship. It was a baby relationship being only 2 years old.  Betty and I had taken a trip 2 years earlier, but the husbands were not in the mix. We did the vacation test run in 2023. The four of us had rented an ARBNB for my birthday weekend and had a great time.  We talked and got to know more about each other.  We laughed, played games and hung out around the outdoor fire ring. Our personalities meshed well.  

Paul planned the entire "Traventure" and did an amazing job.  I think he has found his next career as a U.S. travel agent.  I had been so deep into travel planning for the summer and fall.  I greatly appreciated someone taking the reins of planning.  I gladly took on the role of "Traventure Historian". Paul planned the route, booked the hotels and the restaurants.  He encouraged our input, but we loved his itinerary and only made one or two additions. Our fall trip developed quickly and before we new it, it was the end on October and we were on our way.  

Bruce and I dropped Kenobi off for his first time boarding alone.  After talking with several people, we chose Camp Bow Wow in Highland Heights, Ohio. It is 20 minutes from our home, but with where we live that is normal. Camp Bow Wow had some added benefits than the kennel we originally had planned.  Kenobi would get about 7 hours of total play time with other dogs each day. The  3 different play time segments was certain to make him tired for the overnight stay in his "cabin".  Beside breakfast and his dinner time, they also gave him a rest time during the day.  We have learned our lesson camping, that Kenobi can't self-regulate his need for rest resulting in an upset tummy.  The best part for me was that I could have eyes on him everyday by checking into the online cameras in the playrooms.  This alone really helped my anxiety of the unknown with Kenobi. I did over indulge with this being his first time alone, let alone it was 10 days.  I signed him up for Pup Picasso.  He made a Halloween spider print with his paws.  Twice, he had one on one attention with a care giver to give him pets and belly rubs. After a day at daycare rough housing with the other pups, Kenobi doesn't smell great.  I couldn't imagine his smell after 10  days.  I was certain that before he came home they gave him a bath and trimmed his nails.  Looking back did he need some much attention? No, probably not. But it was his first time and I wanted caring hands on him every couple days. I was filled with anxiety of the unknown and the concern that he would feel abandoned.  Those fears quickly subsided when upon opening the door into the Camp Bow Wow facility, he ripped the leash from my hand, ran up to and opened the reception door and was waiting at the kennel entry within 2 seconds of our arrival.  Well that was not the goodbye I was expecting.  Yet it helped knowing how comfortable and he was excited to go.  I was glad that I had taken him a few times for playtime prior to our trip.

After dropping him off, we returned home to pack. Yes, pack.  I had the majority of my clothes ready, but still needed everything else packed.  Bruce had packed next to nothing.  We were hoping to take two carry-ons, but surprisingly couldn't find 2 suitcases of the right size.  So we would have to check a bag.  In the long run, it was good that we had a larger bags. I never imagined that I would have purchased so many souvenirs.  We realized that it is much simpler and space effective to pack clothes for a Caribbean vacation than an 7 state adventure from Northeast Ohio to North Central U.S. Region to the Western States of the U.S. We ran the gambit of shorts and tee shirts to jeans and sweatshirts to dress clothes.

Whether it was the over sized pet tote I decided to create for Kenobi's kenneling experience 3 days prior to the trip, my anxiety or my M.S. flaring, I had a horrific pain in my back.  It began a few days earlier when I began my bag sewing.  At night, as I was relaxing watching tv, it would dissipate. Now the time of our departure  was drawing near, the pain was constant.  I thought once we dropped Kenobi off and the check list was complete it would disappear like a bad dream.  It did not. The pain in my back that I was trying to ignore had it's own heart beat at this point, but I didn't want to start off vacation in a bad way.

Bruce and I would be staying over night at our friends' home since we had an early flight in the morning and they lived 15 minutes from the airport. Bruce and I decided to relax with a nice dinner at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill to kick off the trip.   My ego and my pain were both being stubborn and relentless.  I had to excuse myself 3 times during dinner to the restroom hoping I could find the right stretch that would alleviate the pain.  FYI It never happened.  By the end of our 2 hour dinner, I was standing table side eating my dessert.  When we got to the car I apologized, but I had to return to the house to get some stronger medicine or I was certain to be at the ER for morphine within the next 24 hours and we were flying to Kansas City at 6 a.m. the next morning.  I don't know why, but this pain happens every 2 years in October. Bruce felt bad for me and told me to grab everything, bring it all the THC, CBD and the OxyContin.  This is not how I wanted to start this trip.  I took another 400 mg of Advil, an oxy and prayed.

We reached my friends' home 45 minutes later and the intense "take your breathe away" pain had reduced to a duller throbbing that I could speak through.  The four of us discussed the morning plans.  Well, I primarily listened the oxy was taking hold.  We toasted  the trip and went to bed about an hour after our arrival at 7:30 p.m. There was no surprise when I slept well that night with all the medications in my system.  Our ride to the Cleveland airport came at 3:30 a.m. and the Traventure officially began.