Typist: Bethany
Travelers can check and recheck attraction hours, research every possible route, call several times to make sure pets are allowed, and prepare for every possible touring scenario. But all travelers know that despite massive preparations, something is bound to go wrong. It has been my experience that when travel plans sour, we end up enjoying the sweetest traveling moments.

Jason and I have been taking the pets on a February road trip to the Columbia River delta for years. This year, the pet friendly motel we always stay in changed owners and was no longer as pet friendly, the craft beer festival we always attend sold out before we got our tickets, and the forecast during our trip was for days and days of huge winds and inches of rain. I wasn't going to let a lack of somewhere to stay, something to do and a risk of an entire trip of soaking wet dogs stop me from getting some much needed time away. So despite soured plans, we ended up in a fantastic hotel, with an amazing view of the stormy weather, and Jason and I enjoyed beer tasting at some craft breweries we had never been to before. It doesn't get any sweeter than that!

Dogwood Photography Photo Challenge Week 6, Artistic: Candy
"Your artistic interpretation this week should be inspired by something sweet. A great chance to play with macro photography."

This post is a part of the Dogwood Photography 52 Week Photography Challenge. Please see more of our photo challenge posts here.

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Typist: Bethany
Upon learning I was planning a budget road trip from Seattle to San Francisco a friend in Portland offered for me to stay at his place. "Thank you so much but you should know that I am traveling with my dogs," I replied. There was a long pause and a shaky "oh..." at the other end of the phone. It was obvious my friend was not comfortable with this turn but was hesitating to rescind his lodging offer. "Is there room for me to put up my tiny tent in your back yard?" I queried quickly. A very different "oh" came from my friend this time. It was lighter, louder and followed by a "yes! Yes, of course." One night of free road trip lodging was secured. Hooray!

One thing I get asked a lot when planning pet friendly road trip lodging is "are your pets well behaved." The answer, of course, is yes. But I have had people tell me their dog or cat is "extremely friendly" a split second before it turns into a snarling, teeth barring wild thing. Just last night, a woman told me about a parrot at a street fair that the owner was insisting passers-by pet or hold because the parrot was "so very nice." Then the woman showed me the scar from where this "nice" parrot bit her. So all pets are friendly and nice and everyone should be allowed to bring their pets everywhere, right? Wrong. Pets, particularly traveling pets, are unpredictable and rules, especially those of the host, should always be respected. My host, be it cheap accommodations or free lodging, knows I have pets, in advance and upon arrival. I make sure the host knows that I have no intention of breaking their rules about how my pets stay. When I am a well behaved pet traveler, it doesn't matter whether or not my pets are "well behaved." My goal is my hosts to not even know my pets are with me except for when I told them and we agreed upon the best way for my pets to spend the night.

As I exited my backyard tent in Portland, my friend came out to say good morning. I walked and fed the dogs as my friend and I visited. As we sat and sipped coffee my friend suddenly exclaimed "you didn't say you had trained dogs. It probably would have been fine for all of you to stay in the house." Again, I thanked him and made sure he knew we were truly comfortable in the tent. But his compliment did lay the foundation for the rest of my awesome pet friendly road trip south as well as many, many more.

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Typist: Bethany
During our latest pet friendly road trip I discovered a new driving game. With the word "school" on my mind for this weeks photo challenge, I found out that the word is everywhere! Signs for "School Bus Turn Around," "School Bus Stop Ahead," "School Crossing" and school direction signs as well as school names on the actual buildings, from preschools at churches and community centers to elementary, middle and high schools. Noticing all of the places "school" is posted made for a very interesting drive. With my own school days long behind me, I don't usually think about classrooms and formal lessons. But back-to-school season is upon us... which to me just means more traffic and rude drivers. On the plus side, when school is in session, the pets and I have the parks and trails of Cascadia all to ourselves. So with less crowded pet adventures ahead and a upon discovering a new driving game, I am glad school has been on my mind. That, and I stopped for some really fun pictures of the dogs on the way home from camping. Hooray for school!

Try our new travel game: How many total times does the word "school" appear in the four photos above?

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Typist: Bethany
I live with a glass half full attitude but when things go wrong on a road trip... Wait. When a lot of things go wrong on a road trip, I admit that is hard to stay positive. That is where the pets come in. They don't know that seemingly everything had gone wrong on our last road trip from the moment I set up the tent at the campsite to the second I finished loading the car to go home. Wilhelm, Brychwyn, Huxley, Amelia and Leo are three dogs, a cat and a cockatoo who live in the moment. They savor their travels. And even when I spend an entire trip constantly in crisis mode, dealing with one travel disaster after another, they have each other. Okay. The trip wasn't that bad. I did have time snap a few photos of my snuggly traveling pets. When putting as many miles in as we do, things are bound to go wrong at some point. With my usual positive attitude, I am grateful we all stayed safe and snug the entire trip. And no matter what, we all had each other for encouraging perspective, comfort and, of course, snuggles.

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