Christmas Travels - Part 1

I was scheduled to work a closing shift at the kennel on Christmas Eve, and a split shift (opening and closing) on Christmas Day, but I managed to get the 20th through the 23rd off, so I headed west to visit family. The pups traveled with me, and John checked on Niko and the cats while we were gone. During the trip, we covered 635 miles and I took 486 photos. Yep, 486. It took me a bit to get them all checked and cropped, but that task is finally done. Have no fear, I won’t be posting them all at once...

My first stop on Sunday was at my brother Josh's house. They'd had a party for his patrol squad the night before and Peyton was up most of the night with an upset tummy, so everyone was a bit groggy. I didn’t stay too long, since I wanted to get to Dad’s before dark, but it was nice to see the family. Before we left, everyone went outside to see the pups playing in the back yard.

Stephanie, Cooper, Josh, and Peyton

Monday, I went to Rutherfordton to spend several hours with Ganna. We had a lovely visit, catching up on the last several months. Ganna made me two of my favorites – seasoned oyster crackers and my very own cherry pie. Yummy! The pups spent their time on Ganna’s back deck and didn’t seem too upset at not being allowed in the house. Their main concern was just being able to check on me through the windows occasionally.



I spent Tuesday in Forest City with Mom and Ronnie. Poor Mom had to sit and go through a bunch of pictures from the 70s and 80s with me, trying to remember who some of the people were. She held up nicely, though. Mom and Ronnie gave the pups a bag of tennis balls, the cats a bag of food, and Niko a couple of treat sticks. The animals were all very pleased with their gifts. Both pups also enjoyed running around Mom’s extremely large back yard.

Mom and me

Wednesday was a quiet, non-driving day at Dad’s. The pups and I went out walking several times during the day, and it actually occurred to me to have Dad get a picture of the three of us. I’m still surprised that even crossed my mind. Sadly, what didn’t cross my mind was getting any pictures of Dad and Krysti together, but with luck my cousin, Miriam, will send me some from the family’s get-together on Christmas Eve. I did managed to get one of Reyna relaxing near Dad while he was loading firewood…



Christmas Eve morning, I left Dad’s bright and early so I could stop by Ganna’s house for breakfast before driving back to Raleigh. I did that so I could see my Uncle Newt, Aunt Susan, Miriam, and her husband, Buck. They arrived in Rutherfordton last Wednesday evening.

Newt, Ganna, Susan

Me, Miriam, Buck

Me and Ganna

I was only able to visit with them for a couple of hours before I had to get on the road. Traffic was heavy coming back, but I arrived home in time to unpack the truck, have lunch, and get to the kennel on time.