Blue at the Condo

This is our first visit to the condo since we finished painting the living room and installing new blinds last month.  It was Baby Blue's trial run here. 
Historically, Blue - our eleven year old Blue Merle Collie -  has been a pain about visiting anywhere.  When she was 2 we took her with us to a pet friendly hotel .  After that trip, I swore I'd never vacation with her again because we'd spent 2 long and sleepless nights with our pacing, drooling, panting, whining dog.  We did not try an overnight with her again after that. 

To say I wasn't optimistic about  bringing her with us to the cape this weekend is an understatement.  When we pulled up in front of the condo yesterday afternoon Blue hopped out of the van and headed to the front steps.  It seems she  instinctively knew where to go.  Blue brambled up the front steps and came inside.  Blue has a herniated disk and doesn't climb steps easily.  In fact we chose this condo in part because the back entrance has no steps and the entry is level.  To my pleasure and surprise, Blue settled right in.  When I started dinner, Blue sat down in front of the sofa and promptly fell asleep with her head on her right paw waiting for it to be her time to eat.  After which she went out the back door for a walk and came back in again as if she'd done this routine dozens of times.  Once inside Blue was content and fell fast asleep. Vinny and I marveled at this.

Yesterday morning, Blue had begun to panic while Vinny and I packed for the trip.  By the time we were loading up the van, she was in her usual near frantic state which comes on her any time we leave for a trip.  This is a dog who is sedated when there are severe thunder storms for her own safety.  Once we found her trapped behind the waterheater in the basement and another time she rearranged sofas,chairs, beds and end tables when we could not get home to her in time during a summer storm.  Yesterday, when we brought her outside with the last piece of luggage, Blue's relief was clear to us.  She hopped into the van with the help of a piece of cheese to entice her and we headed North on I95 for the 5 hour journey to Provincetown. 

Blue loved the car ride which was uneventful except for when she tipped over the water dish.  We stopped twice to walk her.  Once at the Mystic Seaport Overlook and the second time in Hyannis off of route 6. I was showing signs of wear from being cooped up in the car more than Blue was.  When we reached our destination we all were glad to get out of the car.

It was a bit unnerving when Blue did not come to the table looking for scraps from our meal .  I figured she was worn out and too tired, even so, it was unusual.  She went out one more time before we retired for the night.

This morning it was business as usual.  We fed her, walked her and brought her back inside.  She started to nudge us for attention and was her usual self. I guess we have a home away from home that we are able to share with our beloved dog, friend & companion, Baby Blue. 

Now if we could just get the dishwasher to work and find out why the cable isn't connecting......