ohmidog!

DOG’S COUNTRY

Now in: Baltimore 

Next stop: Philadelphia

What it’s all about: “Dog’s Country” is ohmidog’s continuing account of one man and one dog spending six months criss-crossing the country in search of dog-friendliness, people-friendliness, ourselves, and America. Click the photos or links below for the full stories

What readers are saying:

“I can’t really put my finger on why, but your roadtrip stories are probably my favorite thing on the internet right now. Maybe it’s just the daily reminders that overall, people are good, dogs are awesome, and life can be fun …” (Lisa)

“The tales of JW and Ace have touched me deeply …  What you two are seeing and experiencing – and how you are writing unabashedly from the heart and soul – produce something like I read nowhere, anywhere, today on the ‘net…” (EighteenPaws)

“You are an idiot.” (Jo)

“Please. More kudzu. More dogs in kudzu. More reflections on looking for dogs in kudzu. More gypsy wandering. More Ace in gypsy locales. More dog friendly encounters. Please …” (Sue)

Week 1: Southbound

May 25/Baltimore

And we’re off … The first leg of our journey around the country has begun — almost. There’s one more load of last minute items to drop off at the storage unit, then a car to reload with what Ace and I will need for our month, or two, or three on the road …

May 26/Winston-Salem, N.C.

First stop, North Carolina … What is it about moving day that turns an otherwise adequately functioning brain into a sieve? …

May 27/Huntsville, Ala.

All the way to Alabama … Your guess is as good as mine, but my guess is the person in charge of rest areas in North Carolina is a cat person.Why else would have they created this giant litter box, installed at an I-40 rest area west of Asheville? …

May 28/Decatur, Ala.

Alabamer glamour … When you get off the Interstate Highway system, the country becomes a far more interesting place.We finally did that today, for the first time on this trip, leaving behind all the monotonously lookalike exits to get a taste of yet-to-be homogenized America, where some character still exists …

May 29/Florence, Ala.

Class of 2010 … Ace didn’t get to go to my son’s high school graduation, but we let him wear the cap for a while afterwards — stopping short of awarding him a dog-torate degree …

Week two: Around Alabama

June 2/Florence, Ala.

What’s in a Name? Ask Young Boozer … Does what you name a dog shape that dog’s personality? Will “Killer” turn out to be one? Of course not. Dogs, or for that matter, people, don’t always live up to their names, which is fortunate for Young Boozer …

June 5/Russellville, Ala.

Beware of the sleeping gas pump dog … Hopelessly lost in Alabama — a road map might have been a good investment — I pulled over at a sad- and sleepy-looking gas station, just north of I have no idea where, to ask directions. A big yellow dog was sound asleep at the foot of a gas pump. He didn’t wake up when I walked by. Nor, when I opened the door and walked in, did the proprietor  …

June 6/Tupelo, Miss.

Boston Terrier wins Elvis Lookalike contest … Ace and I have been avoiding all things Elvis — not easy to do when one is between Memphis (home of Graceland) and Tupelo (birthplace of The King). Still, I would be remiss if I didn’t pass along this news:  A Boston terrier named Boomer won the Elvis Pet Look-A-Like contest at the 2010 Tupelo Elvis Presley Festival …

June 6/Florence, Ala.

Big mane on campus …  Lots of sports teams call themselves Lions, but the University of North Alabama boasts the only live lion mascots in the country — two of them …

June 7/Cherokee, Ala.

A visit to the coon dog cemetery … Ace stepped lightly between the tombstones, paused to sniff a clump of artificial flowers, then moved on – past Flop, Train, Daisy, Black Ranger and Bear. He paused at the final resting places of Patches and Preacher and Bean Blossom Bomma, then sauntered by Smoky, Squeek and Easy Going Sam, whose rusting collar is looped over the cross marking his grave.

June 8/New Albany, Miss.

Dogs and the fine art of freeloading …It occurs to me – tooling down the highway tends to make things occur to me – that in my current journey, with my dog, across America, mooching off friends and family and, given the opportunity, complete strangers, I am, in ways, taking on the role of dog …

Week 3: Mississippi to Texas

June 9/Biloxi, Miss.

Biloxi’s beaches: Dog and oil free … Mississippi’s coast has so far been spared from BP-sponsored black tides, with most of the oil that has leaked since the rig explosion appearing to be headed for the coastlines of Florida and Louisiana. Despite that, Biloxi’s wide white sand beaches seemed relatively empty when Ace and I pulled into town yesterday …

June 10/Waveland, Miss.

From sea to grimy sea … We didn’t cover too much ground yesterday — progressing only from Biloxi to New Orleans, but we did get in some beach time in a town called Waveland, Mississippi. Good thing, too, because it was a sweltering day on the gulf. Ace splashed about on an isolated sliver of beach in Hancock County, where dogs, on leashes, are allowed and unleashed ones don’t raise too many eyebrows …

June 11/New Orleans 

St. Bernard: The imperishable parish … If you don’t think dogs are being hurt by the BP oil spill, perhaps you need a lesson in the trickle down – or, in this case, ooze down – theory of disaster economics. And there may be no better place to learn it than St. Bernard Parish. Left underwater by Hurricane Katrina, it’s now feeling the ramifications of the oil spill, the ripple effects of which reach all the way to the family dog.

June 12/Atchafalaya Swamp

On music, memories and the open road … My drive through Louisiana to Houston triggered a lot of memories, most of them induced by the radio. Music, like old friends revisited and roads previously traveled, can be a powerful trigger. Music and roads, in fact, have a lot in common …

Wonderfully mysterious: That’s my dog … In my current nomadic phase, as in my previously still life, Ace — my “Big Ass Dog” — draws a variety of responses from humans. There are those who experience love at first sight, those who cross to the other side of the street to avoid him, and, most of all, those who want to solve the ongoing mystery … What Kind of Dog is That? …

June 13/Houston

Going back to Houston … You can go home again – whether you’re Thomas Wolfe or Dean Martin —  just don’t expect it to look even vaguely like it once did. That’s the case with Houston, where I spent my puberty – from 1965 to 1970. (It was a long puberty.) …

The journey so far … Today –19 days and 1,750 miles since our journey began — Ace and I pull out of Houston, destined for Bandera, Texas (population 975) and points west. We’re over budget, sick of fast food and a bit weary and leery of cheap motels — though thankful for the air conditioning they have bestowed upon us. I don’t want to say our most recent motel was a fleabag, but …

June 14/Houston

Dog parks blast off in Houston … Yesterday, I took Ace to the largest and most amenity-laden dog park he’s ever been to — Millie Bush Dog Park, with 13 acres to romp and two cool blue lakes to swim in. And here’s what he did …

Week 4: Texas to New Mexico

June 15/Hill Country

Utopia Ranch … Yesterday, as can happen in life, I took a wrong turn on the way to Utopia and ended up on a dead end dirt road. So I turned around, drove back through my own dust, took a different road and finally spotted the driveway I was looking for — the one into Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, founded by mystery novelist, musician, social commentator, humorist, columnist, guru, gubernatorial candidate, good old boy, singer, songwriter and purveyor of both cigars and salsa, Kinky Friedman …

June 16/Hill Country

Hanging with the Kinkster … Three years ago, author and musician Kinky Friedman had six dogs — not counting the 50 or so awaiting homes at his Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch. Today, he’s down to two — Chumley and Brownie, who, though brothers, spend an inordinate amount of time making out …

Adios, Bandera … Now we can call him Ace reporter. For the past three days — thanks to the gracious staff of the weekly Bandera County Courier — Ace, while he’s gotten no scoops, has been able to beat the heat and get the vast quantities of attention he requires in the offices of the weekly newspaper …

Don’t mess in Texas … Not unlike the one we showed you in North Carolina, Texas has some ridiculous designated dog areas at its highway rest stops, too, like this one we encountered while driving down I-10. Call it the cage of poop — almost totally unshaded, lined with large hunks of rock that can’t feel good on the paws, and about the size of a prison cell …

June 17/Kerrville, Texas

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s Harley: Thunder in the Hills Biker Church, on the southern edge of Kerrville, Texas, was closed when Ace and I rode by yesterday. So we snapped a picture, said a few praise Harley’s and were on our way …

Roadside Encounters: Charlie … The first in our series about dogs and humans we encounter in our travels — this one a golden retriever we met at a rest area in Texas …

Alienated in New Mexico … Ace and I finally made it out of Texas yesterday, and as far as Roswell, that land of UFO myths — or covered-up alien visits, if you prefer.  It’s a town of many motels, only a handful of bars and numerous aliens — from statues like this one in our motel lobby to inflatable models that blow in the breeze in front of downtown storefronts …

Rest area disenchantment … Add New Mexico to our list of states with tiny, paw-unfriendly, less than inviting pet areas at their highway rest stops. Land of Enchantment? I think not, at least not for dog owners whose otherwise pampered pets are restricted to gravel pits in which to pee and poop.

June 18/Somewhere in New Mexico

My awesome one-sided tan … One side benefit of my new gypsy lifestyle — in which the dog and I have given up our housing to spend some time exploring America — is that I am now a bronzed God. Not all of me, mind you, just my left arm, which has been resting out the open car window as we make our way west …

Roadside Encounters: Bear … Meet Bear, whose family was stranded on an exit ramp — out of gas, out money, out of luck … or so they said …

The road to Albuquerque … The road from Roswell to Albuquerque — not too long, not too winding — seems paved with misfortune. Highway 285 has long stretches of emptiness, and is dotted with small dusty towns, like Vaughn and Encino, where even “New Menagement” apparently couldn’t save this place …

June 19/Albuquerque

Couchsurfing in Albuquerque … It’s not every day I spend the night with a 25-year-old woman. But, on Thursday night, that’s exactly what I did. A “complete stranger” invited Ace and me into her home, went out to dinner with us and let us sleep in her spare room. For this, I can thank couchsurfing.org, a website that unites people looking for a place to stay with local people kind enough to offer one — on a global scale …

June 20/Albuquerque

Roadside Encounters: Tobias … Tobias, a Chihuahua, is 13, has no teeth and has a malformed leg, likely the result of being abused before he was rescued by his new owner in Albuquerque …

Highway Haiku: Sometimes You’re the Bug … The first in our continuing series of haikus about being on the road, all written from behind the steering wheel.

Roadside Encounters: Domino … When Domino’s owner fires up the RV, Domino is happy to ride along. Domino gets restless about every three hours, though, and wants to get out for a walk. Domino’s owner, who lives with his daughter, hits the road for two or three months at a time, seeing the country and drifting where the spirit moves him. “I call it tumbleweeding,” he says.

Week 5: Arizona’s highways

June 21/Phoenix

By the time we got to Phoenix … It was 104 degrees. Too hot for dogs, in Ace’s view — even though I pointed out to him it was a dry heat. Too hot for fleas, too. I’m told. Temperatures get so high in summer, that pesky species doesn’t even bother to book reservations. Survival is impossible …

June 23/Phoenix

 June 24/Phoenix

Phoenix’s Cosmo Dog Park … How do you go from drainage pit to the nation’s top dog park? You take a giant leap. Of course, it also takes imagination, planning, dedication and money. But with enough of all four — as was the case with the birth of Cosmo Park in Gilbert, Arizona — the results can be impressive …

June 25/Phoenix

When Will Our Journey End? … One month ago today, a man and his dog left the comfort of their Baltimore rowhouse and set forth across America on a journey with no firm destination and of no definite duration. An unemployed Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and soon to be published author (the man, not the dog), he decided he could keep doing his website and look for jobs just as easily on the road as he could from home — and in the process feel a little less dejected and rejected, a little more alive …

June 26/Phoenix

Locked Out in Arizona … One pitfall of freeloading, I’ve learned – at least twice now – is that every person’s home has its own quirks, whether it’s a toilet that’s tricky to flush, water faucets in which the hot and cold are reversed, or doors that lock behind you when you step outside. The latter caught me again this week …

June 27/Phoenix

Bidding farewell, for now, to Roscoe … As much as I love dogs, and love dog lovers, I have to admit — being one — that there are times many of us tend to view canine behavior anthropomorphically, interpreting what dogs are doing in terms of what we, as humans, would like to think it means. Such was the case the other day, as I prepared to leave the home of my brother, a visit during which Ace and Roscoe, and Roscoe and I, formed a new bond …

Week 6: Up to Utah to visit Best Friends

June 28/Sedona

An unrushed Sunday in Sedona … Giving ourselves plenty of time to get to Utah, Ace and I spent an unrushed afternoon in Sedona yesterday, figuring it would be the sort of place that I could unleash not just my dog, but possibly my chakra …

June 28/Flagstaff

Trying to score some grass in Flagstaff … Ace, while enjoying the wide-open West, seems less than pleased with one of its characteristics. He — and I could be wrongly reading his mind now — is tired of the blistering hot pavement and the pebbles, large and small, that most folks around here opt for when landscaping …

June 29/Vermillion Cliffs

Taking the road not previously taken … Yesterday I came to a fork in the road and, boy, did I ever make the right choice. Highway 89 A, as in alternate, all but took my breath away, partly because we were getting up around 8,000 feet, partly because it was so stunningly beautiful. In addition to the Vermillion Cliffs, we saw a huge rock that looked like Dick Cheney …

June 30/Kanab, Utah

Giving and getting at Best Friends … It’s probably the closest thing there is to heaven on earth for dogs (and a lot of other animals, too), a place where — despite abusive pasts, ill health or handicaps — dogs, cats, birds, horses, pigs and more can be rehabilitated enough to find new homes, or, if not, spend the rest of their days in the tranquil, sun-dappled canyons of southern Utah …

July 1/Kanab, Utah

Kanab: Overflowing with dog  friendliness … Kanab, Utah is by and large a dog-friendly town. About a third of its motels permit dogs, as do most of the restaurants with outdoor dining. You can hardly drive down the main street of this one-stoplight town without seeing someone walking a dog …

Red dogs, green dogs, shy dogs, mean dogs … It was, mostly, a red collar crowd. My time at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, helping out as a volunteer, was mostly spent among those dogs who, due to their unpredictable behavior, have been assigned red collars — meaning only staff can interact with them.  I drew duty at Dulcie’s School of Dance, an octagon-shaped structure whose residents, for the most part, misbehaved either before or after their arrival at the southern Utah animal sanctuary, and who — though red collared dogs can be adopted under the right circumstances — in many cases will live out their lives there …

Week 7:  Arizona again

July 1/Page

Living large on the Street of Little Motels … Life is good on the Street of the Little Motels. Wednesday took us from Kanab, Utah, past Lake Powell and into Page, Arizona, a destination chosen only because it was where we were by evening, once again facing the prospect – having not planned ahead (ahead, of course, being the best way to plan) — of finding another dog friendly motel …

July 2/Glen Canyon

Overlooked: Scenic but deadly Glen Canyon … It took eight years to build the Glen Canyon Dam — far less to construct the scenic overlook that sits 400 feet above the river, on the edge of the canyon. Spectacular as the view is, the overlook has also proven deadly. Here’s the sad saga of Cisco and Sadie, two dogs who took their last leaps there, leading their owner to do something about it …

July 6/Phoenix

What would JS do? …  Would John Steinbeck — who served as our inspiration for this trip — have blogged? As he crossed America with his poodle Charley, would he — were the technology available — have logged into his computer, jumped on Facebook, Tweeted what he ate for dinner? Or would he have viewed it all as a massive waste of time — time that could have spent connecting face-to-face with fellow humans? …

July 7/Holbrook

We coulda stayed in a wigwam …  Had I done a little research, or taken 10 minutes to tour the town first, I would have seen it earlier. Now, I’ll have to wait until the next time we pass through to stay at that kitschy monument to thinking outside the box — the Wigwam Motel. It’s a glorious sight — especially in the modern day world of look-alike, smell-alike, sound-alike motels: 15 individual concrete wigwams perched on a dusty lot …

Highway Haiku: Dancing Clouds … Shadows cast by clouds / Slow dance on red canyonsides / Terra cotta waltz …

Roadside Encounters: Maya, Zoey and Snoopy … This threesome was traveling back to Phoenix after a visit to Colorado. All three dogs ride in the back seat of their family’s Ford Mustang …

Week 8: Sitting pretty in Santa Fe

July 8/Somewhere in New Mexico

Highway Haiku: Oversized Load 2 … Wide load camouflage? / Now you see me, now you don’t? / Explanation, please …

July 9/Santa Fe

Back with the pack in Santa Fe … Meet my new posse — Sophie, a nine-year-old great Pyrenees who recently had one of her front legs amputated due to bone cancer; Charlie, an affable, seven-year-old golden retriever with a congenital respiratory disorder and a severe fear of thunderstorms; and Lakota, an 11-year-old bulldog with issues both behavioral and gastrointestinal. He’s prone to snapping (especially at Ace) and known far and wide for his frequent, most audible and highly pungent flatulence …

July 11/Santa Fe

Highway Haiku: Reptilian Reps … Enjoying the first not swelteringly hot weather of our journey, we worked outside during our stay in Santa Fe, kept company by dogs and lizards, leading to another attempt at poetry …

July 12/Santa Fe

Seven things you can’t avoid in Santa Fe … There’s one thing you can’t avoid in Santa Fe, and that’s dogs. They are everywhere — tall dogs, short dogs, big dogs, small dogs, black, white, brown, red, yellow and brindle dogs. Santa Fe calls itself “the city different,” for numerous reasons, but perhaps nowhere is its diversity more noticeable than in its dogs …

Roadside Encounters: Maxwell … Maxwell was the only survivor of a litter that contracted Parvovirus. After four days at the vets’ office, he was pronounced healthy and adopted by a Santa Fe resident who takes him to the dog park daily …

July 15/Santa Fe

Highway Haiku: All a Twitter … Oops, I accidentally doubletwittered, or, in haiku form: My word for the day / When you Tweet the same thing twice / You “tweeiterate” …

Properly treated, thanks to K-9 Kraving … For every stop we’ve made as part of our continuing “Dog’s Country” tour, K-9 Kraving, Baltimore-based maker of  raw diet dog food, has shipped a package of treats to our hosts. It’s my way of saying thank you — without actually paying for it …

Confessions of a petsitter … I have not let a water bowl run dry. I have not missed administering a single dosage of doggie meds. My agreement to pet sit for friends in Santa Fe, in exchange for getting to enjoy their tranquil home (mountain views and wind chimage included), is working out well …

July 16/Santa Fe

Soaking up Santa Fe … Santa Fe’s renowned spa, Ten Thousand Waves, allows dogs, both in its cottages and in its private baths, and that, in case you’re wondering, is how I ended up buck naked in the mountains of New Mexico. But not with nightingale poop on my face …

July 17/Santa Fe

Where to next? … As we ponder where to go next on our road trip, we’re feeling drawn to Texas — where two stories this week have piqued our curiosity. First is the tale of the Methodist pastor who’s calling for a stray dog hanging out behind his church to be shot, and the ire that has raised. Second are the two recent sightings — and subsequent terminations — of alleged Chupacabra …

Week 9: Cats, dogs and Cadillacs

July 19/Madrid, N.M.

Giving dogs a brake in Madrid … Madrid — the one in New Mexico, pronounced MAD-rid — wants you to slow down. It’s not just to make you less likely to run over a valued tourist. No, the advice — to many, at least — is aimed at protecting dogs. Because, as the sign says, Madrid loves its dogs …

July 20/Cerrillos

The cattiest bar in New Mexico … In the once-thriving mining town of Cerrillos, the paved roads — even Main Street — turn to dirt. Hook a right at the first stop sign, and you’re at the front porch of Mary’s Bar, one of a handful of businesses in town and one where, on most days, there are cats than clientele …

Santa Fe’s dog-friendly eateries … Santa Fe is big on rules and restrictions. It’s also big on dogs. And, in more than a few cases, dogs have won out. During our time in Santa Fe, we visited three dog-friendly restaurants (at least one, bird-friendly, too) — where dogs are permitted on leashes in the outdoor dining areas ….

Leaving Santa Fe … I’ve seen my last sunset in Santa Fe and, after an idyllic ten days, Ace and I are headed east — first to Oklahoma to visit another ex, my ex-cat …

July 21/Tucumcari, N.M.

Tucumcari tonight … Route 66 through Tucumcari is like Route 66 through a lot of places — a step back into the past that leaves you wondering if the old road and the motels that line it have much of a future. Bypassed decades ago by Interstate 40, they fought to survive — and many have managed to do so nicely — but the economic downturn has made that a far fiercer fight …

July 21/Tucumcari

Roadside Encounters: Alex and Run … Run and Alex are perfectly content in the back seat of their Buick as they travel with their owner, Marty, and her friend, Chris. “They always go where I go,” Marty said. In the backseat, she added, they’ve got everything they need: something to chew on, water, food and each other …

July 22/Amarillo

Ace adds his tag to the Cadillac Ranch … In 1973, Stanley Marsh 3 partially buried ten used Cadillacs in the ground — head first, with their hind ends jutting into the air — at his ranch just west of Amarillo. Since then they’ve been replanted, and tagged by numerous graffiti artists, including Ace …

July 23/Waynoka, Okla.

A moment in Oklahoma with my ex-cat … Not that visiting my ex’s is a recurring theme here, but this week we checked in on another one — a homeless cat I first encountered underneath a stairway in Baltimore, next door to a bar, took into my home, then struggled to find a forever home for. As it turned out, forever would be in Oklahoma, and therein lies a story …

July 24/Somewhere in Oklahoma

Highway Haiku: A Grave Choice … Riding along backroads in Oklahoma, there are a lot of cemeteries. One passes far more dead people than live ones. When I encountered this sign, it inspired another haiku …

July 25/Somewhere in Texas

When God is on every station … The bigger the void, or gap, between towns, the more rural one gets, the tinier the towns, the more likely one is to pick up religious music — sometimes only religious music — on the radio. Such has been the case in the most recent leg of my road trip – through New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas: God is everywhere …

Week 10: Strip clubs, Vick dogs and kudzu

July 26/Somewhere else in Oklahoma

That’s how he rides … On particularly hot days, Ace has taken to moving up closer to the front of the car and resting his head and paws on the front seat console, so that he might absorb a little more coolness from the air conditioner vents. This puts his head just inches from the dual cup holders. So, when I am mostly finished with my Big Gulp, extra large iced coffee or other mega-beverage, I can easily hand feed him ice cubes while I drive. He likes this very much …

Trying to beat the heat – and losing … Pulling into Oklahoma City, with temperatures near the century mark, I was eager to find a motel and jump in the pool. But, as we found, our Internet research had left us — unlike the pool — something less than completely filled in …

July 27/Dallas

The strip club with a heart of gold … How did Ace end up next to the stripper’s pole at a gentlemen’s club in Dallas? It’s a long story, but the main factors are these: The decline of American journalism, Newt Gingrich and dogs. Our connection to The Lodge — an upscale gentlemen’s club — goes back about eight months when, while researching an ohmidog! article, I got in touch with the strip club’s public relations man, or, as his business card puts it, the club’s “Writer-in-Residence” …

July 28/Dallas

Vick dog finds happy home in Dallas … I never expected our “Dog’s Country” adventures would include Ace riding in the back seat of a car with a former Michael Vick dog. Then again, I never expected we’d be hanging out in a strip club, either. But our visit to The Lodge in Dallas led us to meet Mel, a still meek and fearful, sad-eyed, pit bull — small in stature, short on confidence, and sweet as pecan pie …

July 30/Pumpkin Center, La.

Gourd is great, gourd is good … Here’s an exit sign that piqued my curiosity — enough to make me veer off the interstate to figure out just what makes a pumpkin Baptist, and why they need their own center. Are Baptist pumpkins preachier? Do they go all fire and brimstone? Do they achieve life everlasting, or is that dream just pie in the sky?…

July 31/Oxford, Miss.

Sit, Kudzu Dog, sit … I came across Sitting Kudzu Dog as I approached Oxford, Mississippi. Tell me you see him, too. Otherwise, I might start thinking I’m crazy — for all the things I see in kudzu … and clouds. Nature’s ink blot tests, that’s what they are. It reminded me of my plan to establish my own roadside attraction somewhere in the south: The Kud-Zoo…

Week 11: Happy campers, fading memories

August 4/Rutherfordton, N.C.

Ruffing it at Four Paws campground …It took a couple from Germany to show America the true meaning of dog-friendly – at least when it comes to campgrounds. The husband and wife proprietors of Four Paws Kingdom call it America’s first “dog-dedicated” campground …

Ace, astoundingly, aces agility … When we showed up bright and early for agility class at Four Paws Kingdom, the dog-dedicated campground in North Carolina, I had low expectations for Ace. Ace is graceful, maybe, but, given his size, about 130 pounds, I never considered him agile. I was wrong. His name now stands for: Agility Canine Extraordinaire …

August 5/Winston-Salem, N.C.

Keeping things ducky at Arbor Acres … Residents of Arbor Acres love their ducks. So when the duck populations started dwindling at the retirement community, Bo Bowers ordered some babies, raised them until they were old enough to survive on their own, and, much to the delight of residents, held a ceremony to release them …

August 6/Winston-Salem, N.C.

Roadside Encounters: Soula … A Catahoula leopard dog mix, Soula showed up as Ace and I were sipping coffee at a Starbucks. Trying to teach the eight-month old pup, adopted from a shelter, not to be too territorial, her owner let Ace enjoy some whipped cream from her cup as Soula watched enviously … 

Someday her prince will come … 

We told you residents of Arbor Acres love their ducks, but one resident — who happens to be one of Ace’s biggest fans — had a close encounter with another form of wildlife. Jo Cochran was sitting on her couch when a housekeeper noticed something moving beneath her sheets. The housekeeper found a frog, which apparently had spent the night there …

August 8/Wilmington, N.C.

Roadside Encounters: Jolie … Jolie’s owner had three previous boxers before her — each one different from the last, each one, he says, a precious gift: “God really knew what he or she was doing,” he said, “when he or she made dog” …

August 9/Figure Eight Island, N.C.

At last, Ace gets some beach time … Figure 8 Island near Wilmington is a private paradise – not accessible to the beach-going hordes, private enough that celebrities (usually) find solace there, and dotted with mansions that seem to think they’re big enough to defy hurricanes. Exclusive is what it is — the sort of place I’d be prone to make fun of, unless of course, I was invited in. Once Ace and I were, we didn’t want to leave. Ever.

August 9/Figure Eight Island, N.C.

Highway Haiku: Pelicans … Falling somewhere in my top three favorite things about the beach is the pelican — regal and prehistoric looking at the same time, and definitely haiku-worthy. Here we explain how they got their long beaks …

August 10/Raleigh, N.C.

Home is where the Hyatt is … Yesterday, I went searching for a piece of my past and found Hilton and Hyatt instead. The house where I spent my seventeenth year – not quite 40 years ago – is gone without a trace and replaced by a Hyatt Place hotel with, for your pleasure and convenience, Starbucks coffee and ample parking …

August 16/Greensboro, N.C.

Roadside Encounters: Baby … Motel 6’s allow dogs — just not in the pool. So Baby’s owners, spending some time at the motel while between houses, hooked her leash to the gate so she could watch — longingly — as her family cooled off in the water …

Week 12: Sweet Charlotte

August 18/Charlotte

Chasing the blues away at The Dog Bar … And here is my idea of paradise. It exists, after all, in Charlotte, North Carolina, where five years ago two dog lovers got together and opened a bar that takes “dog-friendly” to new and unfettered bounds. At The Dog Bar in Charlotte’s NoDa neighborhood, it’s not uncommon to see a dog behind the bar, a dog on top of the bar, a dog on top of a dog on top of the bar. Here dogs can be dogs. They can romp, run, drool and even — as Ace and that German shepherd appear to be doing in our slideshow — flirt a little bit …

August 19/Charlotte

Old dogs, new tricks, good times … Hung out with some old friends and met some new ones in Charlotte — including Winnie, a golden retriever mix who can both open and close the front door of her family’s home, and demonstrated it for me, three times ….

August 20/Charlotte

We all need somebody to lean on … Skyler and Pierce, two white Great Danes from the same litter, weren’t all the breeder wanted them to be. One was blind. One was deaf. When it appeared they were going to be put down, a Charlotte couple (before they were even a couple) stepped in. Now they’re together forever in a loving home — the couple, and the dogs, who serve as each other’s eyes and ears. They, you might say, complete each other…

Roadside Encounters: Charles, the Mayor … They call Charles Edwards the “Mayor” of NoDa — also known as North Davidson, a former mill area that’s now an up and coming arts district. Charles, who hit it off with Ace right away, has lived there all his life  – except for a month in Philadelphia, which he didn’t much care for.

Week 13: Northbound, through Virginia

August 21/Norfolk, Va

Roadside Encounters: Raj and Hug … I was taking Ace for his after dinner walk, when — as we passed through a parking lot, behind a mobile home park — a car slowly pulled up alongside us. “He looks just like my dog,” the driver, speaking in a thick Indian accent, said. He introduced himself as Raj, and insisted I come to his trailer to meet Hug …

August 22/Somewhere in Virginia

That Waffle House ambience … Being on the road with a dog, there aren’t that many opportunities for a sit down meal, or at least a leisurely sit down inside a restaurant meal — meaning I, in my travels below the Mason-Dixon Line, have been missing out on that southern culinary and cultural delight: The Waffle House …

August 23/Somewhere in Virginia

95 songs for I-95 … Since I decided nearly three months ago to get on the road again — that I was going mobile — I’ve reached a few conclusions: Life is a highway. Every day is a winding road. And, though I may not be a highway star, or king of the road, I have been runnin’ down a dream, and I think, just maybe, I can see paradise by the dashboard light. Or is that a Waffle House?…

August 24/Norfolk

Scenes from a Motel 6 bedspread … Here’s who I’m sleeping with: A fisherman. A snow skier. A bear and a dog (not counting Ace). Some eagles, a pink flamingo and a cactus. They are all there on the Motel 6 bedspread. Because I have stayed at so many — it being the only chain consistently cheap and dog friendly — the Motel 6 bedspread is now emblazoned, if not on my body, at least on my brain…

Highway Haiku: McMuffin … Easily available, a highway staple and an always reliable source of cholesterol, the Egg McMuffin has become my good friend — maybe more…

August 25/Smithfield, Va.

Visiting the Vick house … I’m not sure why I wanted to visit 1915 Moonlight Road – the former (and available) house of Michael Vick. Maybe it was for the same reason people visit Nazi death camps, Ground Zero and other scenes of slaughter — in part to pay respects to those who died and suffered, in part to remind ourselves of how evil man can be – that whole business about keeping history fresh enough in our minds that we don’t allow the mistakes of the past to be repeated…

August 26/Somewhere in Virginia

Seeking Tom Wicker … Every once in a while, if not more often, you just have to follow your hunches. I had one the other day — the feeling that fate had led me to turn onto an isolated country road in Virginia; that it was meant for me to drive down that road; and that, by doing so, I would end up meeting one of my idols, Tom Wicker, the famous writer…

August 27/Richmond

Kudzu dogs and trivial pursuits … Ever since hitting the deep south, and the not-so-deep south, I’ve continued to see dogs in the kudzu. Maybe it was just the power of suggestion — that after seeing that first one, it made me tend to see more, whether they were there or not. Perhaps one sees in kudzu what they want to see, or perhaps I’ve been writing about dogs too long. I became a little obsessed with kudzu dogs. Here are some of those I encountered …

Roadside Encounters: Rocky … Rocky, a beagle-Rottweiler mix, has been a guest at the Motel 6 across from Richmond’s airport for two years. He lives in a second floor room with his owners, a painter named Dave and his daughter, Jessie. When you pay by the week, it works out about the same as rent, Dave says. Besides, he adds, “I like motels.” Rocky’s routine is to hit the motel office for a treat in the morning, wander the grounds, then head back to his room …

August 28/Richmond

A big ol’ bucket of water … On our way out of Richmond, we stopped for some lunch at Nacho Mama’s — a restaurant that, judging from the size of the bucket of water they gave Ace on the patio, warmly welcomes dogs. The good thing about Mexican restaurants is there are always plenty of tortilla chips to tide you — and your dog — over.  After lunch we rode up Highway 301, avoiding the dreaded I-95, and stopped for a bit in Fredericksburg …

August 29/Fredericksburg

Old dogs and undying love … Puck’s family thinks their aging dog has lost most of his senses. He’s deaf. He’s blind in the one eye he has left. And if you put a treat on the ground in front of him, he can’t seem to hone in on it by sniffing. It’s more of a random search. He may or may not taste his watered down food. But at least one sense remains — not one of the big five, but an important one all the same — his sense of dignity …

Week 14: Back, briefly, in Baltimore

August 30/Baltimore

Rolling back into Baltimore … Ten thousand miles and three months later, we’re right back where we started. Ace and I rolled into Baltimore Friday, and he couldn’t be happier about it. About the time Raven’s stadium came into view, he sensed we were home  In the rearview mirror, I saw his head pop up. He sniffed the air, got up, stuck his head out the window and looked around excitedly. I don’t know how to break it to him that this, most likely, is just a pit stop…

August 31/Baltimore

On Darcy, teachers and the American worker … Upon my return to Baltimore — having given up my home for the purposes of our continuing road trip – I turned to the dog I once babysat, and her schoolteacher parents, for shelter. They graciously obliged, and — though not on purpose — taught me some things about teachers …

September 1/Baltimore

Roadside Encounters … We ran into Gus and Pete, father and son Bouvier des Flandres at jazz concert in Riverside Park…

Did absence make his heart grow fonder? … He didn’t bring her flowers, but when Ace met up again this week with his old friend Fanny, he did tolerate her — and to a far greater extent than ever before. The behavior he once found so annoying that he would go upstairs to avoid her — where Fanny feared to tread — Ace seems to now find mostly endearing …

September 2/Baltimore

Roadside Encounters: Gotti … It had been a few months since I’d run into Gotti, a tiny dog named after a big organized crime boss. We saw him again over the weekend at a jazz concert in Baltimore’s Riverside Park …

Talking the talk in Dundalk … Gotta love Dundalk. It’s Baltimore at its blue collar, unpretentious best, and it’s where, as our wandering continues, we’ve hung our hat (and leash) for the past three days as we attempt to figure out what to do next. Once again, we were in the home of an ex (no bridge-burner me) — a modest little house on a traffic circle, across the street from the Dog House …

September 4/Baltimore

Dog-friendly Locust Point … Revisiting my old south Baltimore haunts while I’m briefly back in Baltimore, I made a point to stop by Miguel’s Cocina y Cantina – partly because it’s on my shortlist of dog-friendly local eateries, but mainly for the guacamole. Between their ever-so-fresh guacamole, cold Mexican beers, dog-friendliness (in the outside dining area) and its proximity to Locust Point Dog Park, Miguel’s is hard to pass up …

September 5/Baltimore

Happy birthday to me … Wish lists are a waste of time — they lead one to get so focused on what they’d like to get that they fail to appreciate what they have gotten. They tend to itemize the material things, while leaving out the more important ones. In my case, in the last three months, what I’ve gotten has been a lot. With the possible exception of when I got my first dog — that’s him and me in the picture — I’ve probably never been happier…