Going dogless

The next few years of our life is not going to be conducive to Moose’s happiness. With long days of motoring up the inside passage to Alaska, and then leaving the boat up there during the winters while we escape to other countries, Moose would have had to suffer through multiple flights and long periods of dog-sitting with random people. That isn’t for Moose. He is a land-based pup, through and through. Although he did great during the 2019 sailing season, he really loves to sniff and pee on bushes, run in grassy meadows, and chase other land-based things. Not birds though, they are cheaters (flying away, seriously?). He would have had none of that for his foreseeable future with us on Meriwether so Kerri and I made the decision to hand him off to land-family where he did not have to suffer the boat-life, or airline flights, or months-long boarding. The past few days has been all about getting Moose to Colorado to live with my son, where he has a dog park a block away, miles and miles of hiking trails within a short drive, and two people that he knows and loves to keep him active and occupied for years to come.

Since Kerri and I are now car-less, this trip to Colorado entailed renting a car so Moose and I could make the 1400 mile journey to his new home. The drive would bring us right past my Mother’s place, so we spent a night there to start the trip. Then, two very long days (10-12 hours each) of driving got us two Colorado where we stayed another day to hang out with my son before I returned the car and hopped on a red-eye flight back to Seattle. Arriving at 1 AM meant I had a 5 hour, overnight, wait in the airport where they seemed to have gone out of their way to ensure there is not a single comfortable place to take a nap. Every chair and bench had metal armrests. Every space on the floor was either tiled or in a high traffic area. The only place was to slouch on a regular chair and hope by back allowed a few minutes of sleep between pain shots. At 6 AM I boarded the shuttle bus which would bring me back to Bellingham, three final hours away.

All in all, it was three full days and nights of driving and flying to accomplish the re-homing task. Moose didn’t seem to mind that I left him at the house with Tim and Imelda, and weirdly enough my mind seems mostly at ease with the now two day old dog free life.  The boat was strangely quiet the last couple mornings, and since I didn’t have to take Moose on a morning walk, Kerri got out of bed early to take the walk with me. This is going to work out well for us all.