Dolly Goes to Washington D.C.!: The Finale!

This post is the last in my series about my adventure traveling to Washington DC with my Mom and Dad. After a long day of sightseeing with Mom and Dad all along the National Mall we arrived back at the hotel exhausted. Mom had grand plans about getting dressed up and going out to dinner. Many restaurants have outdoor patios that allow dogs but unfortunately it was way too cold to eat outside, which was unusual for DC this time of year. Some restaurants had heated patios but were farther than we wanted to travel. So with the aid of yelp.com we found neighborhood restaurants with takeout. We just took a short walk, picked up dinner and brought it back to our hotel room. Which was fine with me because I do like to mooch at mealtime! Something I haven't mentioned before is that Mom and Dad had no plans to ever leave me in the hotel room by myself. Some guests did this and we could hear the dogs barking in the hallways. It wasn't something we ever considered doing.

The next day mom didn't even attempt to take me for a nice long walk before breakfast, due to my uncooperativeness the day before. I call it a misunderstanding. So the three of us took off for a short morning walk and got breakfast to go. Dad had also had it with my "behavior" the day before and made me wear my pinch collar. I really hate it when one would go in to get the food and I have to wait outside with the other. I would do my best to let mom or dad know this but they still continued doing it the rest of the trip.

Which brings me to the real shocker. Mom and Dad made plans to split up for the day. Something about going places where dogs couldn't go so they were going to take turns. After breakfast dad left and he didn't come back! I was so upset! Then mom made me wear my pinch collar again and leave the hotel. But I couldn't do that, what if dad came home and I wasn't there? But mom had tricks up her sleeve or should I say treats in her pocket. She tried walking me away from the hotel and I kept trying to walk back. She would pull me, I would sit down, she would then pick me up and put me down. But when I wouldn't move instead of pulling me she put a treat in front of my nose. Oh boy! I really wanted that treat but I had to walk to get it, once I started walking I would but I had to keep moving. Mom thought she was rewarding me for walking. If I stopped, another treat! But I had to walk to get it. This kept happening over and over and the amount of walking in between treats got longer and longer. Next thing you know I forgot about Dad and the hotel and started to enjoy my walk with mom, meaning I was doing a lot of sniffing. Mom told dad later that we walked all the way up Embassy Row. After a really long walk we went back the way we came and them mom started taking a different route. We did this for a long time, with mom taking her map out and looking at it a lot.  After awhile we made a turn and I stopped. We were going the wrong way! I tried to tell mom by going back and she looked at the map again. Sure enough she followed me and we were only a block from the hotel! Walking straight towards us was Dad! I took off, despite the leash, so mom dropped it and I ran to dad and did my happy dance.

After a rest it was time for lunch. We took a short walk and I waited with Dad while Mom got the food. We ate in the park at DuPont Circle, it was really nice. I thought we were walking back to the hotel when a car stopped at the curb and mom got in. I started to follow her but dad held me back. No! Off she went without me! I was so upset but Dad doesn't put up with as much of my misbehavior as Mom and we were back at the hotel before you knew it. I acted up for a long time whining and wanting to go look for her but finally I gave in and took a nice long nap with Dad on the bed. Before you knew it, Mom walked in the door. Happy dance! The pack was back together again!

That night we did dinner the same as the night before, with a walk to get food, and eating in our room. I really liked being together all the time like that. The next morning we did breakfast the same way too. Except when we got back to the hotel Mom and Dad were both really busy putting things back in boxes and bags. Then a nice man came with a cart and put all of our things on it. We got on the elevator, it was really crowded, and there was dad waiting for us in front with the car. I jumped in and mom hooked up my harness like we were going for a long drive again.

We were on the open road again! One time at a stop I was waiting patiently for dad to get back and he had ice cream! And I had my own spoon! It was so yummy!

Waiting for Dad

After a really long time I was beginning to wonder when I was going to get my dinner. Every once in awhile Mom would give me some peanut butter dog treats but I wanted my dinner. It was dark, and I was homesick and tired.

Finally, we were home! I was so excited to see my backyard I started to do zoomie circles all around it and then my happy dance. We got upstairs and mom gave me my dinner, I ate it all up right away! Ahhh, next thing you know I was laying on the couch watching TV with my pack. Who would of thought that a little dog from an unwanted litter would get adopted, go on a trip with people, stay in a real hotel and see historical sights? Love, Dolly

P.S. If you want to follow my trip on Twitter just search on #dollysroadtrip and you'll see all the tweets and photos I sent.