The last stop..

Granted, on the ride up to NC..the last two hours were no fun. Kenda spit up twice (and trying to clean that from the front seat on the highway is REALLY not a good idea..although I tried it). And Maxxis took a bite out of the seat cover we have for the back seat...all at the end of our ride. Needless to say, Mama Brandi was TIRED and ready to turn these gremlins over to MY mom, Mimi - as my 4-year-old nephew calls her, and couldn't wait for an adult beverage after a 12 hour drive with thse two puppies.

So I really didn't know what to expect on the ride back today. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, they hardly slept on the way up. But it turns out...on the way back, Maxxis slept the ENTIRE way and I had to WAKE him for potty breaks. Kenda on the other hand was my "keeper." She insisted on having her head on the center console and preferably a paw on my arm - no kidding (sorry about the console thing, babe, I was stern, but not always stern enough). It was like the need some wives have to reach her foot over in bed...just to touch her honey's. Kenda just wanted to have an arm on me the entire ride and yet she was sooo tired and refused to sleep. It was weird...quite frankly. And when Maxxis attempted to enter HER space (near me) she showed the ugliest snarl I've ever seen from her. So again, not sure what was going on there..but she sure was protecting me from whatever I "needed" to be protected from.

So back to the "last stop"....thanks to my hubby's outstandingly detailed directions, we hit our last pit stop. I put gas in Ole Betty and went inside. I walk out to see my flashers on and my lights blinking. I think - oh no - I've set off the alarm. However, I hear nothing. And then...I see Kenda's head and then Maxxis' head...pop up, like - mom? Where you been? We're having a ball in here! Sure enough...K and/or M had hit the emergency flashers. Those attention whores - I SWEAR!! :)

After we turn off the flashers and get in the car, we go around the corner in search of a decent sized patch of grass. As usual, Kenda takes her TIME! (She cost us a full HOUR during lunch so my patience has run thin by now). Maxxis is my angel...and does exactly what he's supposed to do. So I'm walking back and forth with Kenda in a clean yard except for what Maxxis left. Back and forth, back and forth...FINALLY she does her thing. I think - great - we're home free and we'll be there in no time! I get them treats, pack them in the car, and head on my way.

Five minutes down the road I smell what resembles a good old fashioned dog fart. I think - that's odd - they both did all their business and that shouldn't be. My next thought was - oh no - my shoe. Sure enough...in the darkness of the floorboard..I see 'GUNK' on the SIDE of my tennis shoe and just then...the smell becomes a bit more pungent. It is in fact..the gazillioneth time I've stepped in poop...since Bill left. And the sad part? The ONLY pile of poop I had to avoid (and did so successfully for the first twenty minutes of trying to get Kenda to do her business) is Maxxis' BUSINESS. Seriously? It truly is not a complete day if I don't end it with poop on my shoe. So call me crazy, but I was SO ready to get home....and the smell wasn't really THAT bad...I rode home with poop on my shoe for the last 2 hours.

I REALLY wanted to make it home as quick as possible....from our last stop. Great trip, great travels, GRREAT memories!!