"What I did on my summer vacation"

by

Thor

Click on the thumbnails for larger images

After leaving Key West, we headed up to Marathon Key, Florida so that Dad could have the boat hauled out and get some maintenance done at a shipyard.  Given that we live-aboard, haul out means that we need to  temporarily "relocate" our happy home.  No problem...we're flexible. After all, who wouldn't want to take us in?

After many hotel reviews of some of the better local establishments, Mom and Dad choose The Sea Dell Motel for our extended stay.  Mom and Dad were a little unsure about the accommodations at first, but Zeus and I thought it was great!  Zeus was just happy to be back on land and off the boat.  Zeus told me he never wanted to leave.

After all, the Sea Dell seemed to have everything we'd need for our stay.  TV ,including cable ( with no Spanish subtitles), a kitchenette for Mom to whip up her gourmet meals, a dining room set, lots of green grass right outside our room for those all important potty breaks and even some nice patio furniture for dining al fresca!   Most importantly, the management welcomed Zeus and me.  The Sea Dell certainly gets our vote!

The best part, Zeus and I each had our own beds that we got to stretch out on and Mom let us watch TV all day long.  She even gave us control of the remote.  Dad had to spend each day at the shipyard overseeing the boat work, so Mom and us just hung out.

Mom got kinda bored after awhile since she had to stay there all the time cause we couldn't be left alone in the room.  Mom and Dad didn't trust us (okay ME) to not bark if we (I) heard someone or if someone from the office needed to come in for something.  She did learn to entertain herself though by looking out the window watching the wildlife go by.

It was just like watching the Discovery Channel!

Of course, I got a little restless too after awhile and spent time just staring out the window

watching the world go by....

After ten days, our stay at the Sea Dell Motel had come to an end.  Much to Zeus' disappointment, we moved back aboard, and continued heading up the Keys.  We had a short stay in Key Largo, then moved on to Ft. Lauderdale where we intended to spend the next 30 days before heading off to the Bahamas.  At least that was "supposed" to be the plan....

We got to Ft. Lauderdale on June 20th and settled in at the Bahia Mar Yachting Center.  Mom and Dad sat us down and had a long talk about what the future was going to hold.  After a lot of consideration, Mom and Dad decided that it would be best for Zeus to move back to Arizona and live with Matt.  Zeus was pretty excited about seeing Matt and about not having to live on the boat anymore.  I was really happy for him, but at the same time, I was kinda sad about losing my best buddy.  After all, we'd been together forever and forever is a long time.  Hell, five minutes is a long time when you're a dog.  That weekend, Dad and Zeus left.  I watched him get into a taxi and leave and I guess it really didn't sink in that he wasn't coming back.   I went back to the boat and stared out for a really long time waiting for Zeus to come home.  I'm still waiting.

Mom said that Dad was going to be back in a couple days and that we'd finish getting ready and then it was off to that isolated island beach paradise they'd been talking about for the past year.  A magical place where we could drop anchor, dingy to shore, pop up an umbrella, sit, relax and I could play in the water and run free up and down the beach...wow, it sounded so perfect.  Cool!  Zeus who???  Course, we had been looking for this place for the past year and hadn't found it yet, so I was beginning to doubt that it even existed, but what the heck, it was only 30 days and I'm along for the ride anyway.

That night, Mom got a call from Dad when he arrived in Phoenix.  Dad's mom had died while he was on the way there.  He was really sad.  Because of this, he was going to have to delay coming back home for a little while because he needed to take care of things.  Bummer...guess Paradise was going to have to wait.

About 10 days later, Mom got a call very late one night.  I wish the phone would stop ringing. It was Dad calling to tell her that Adam had gotten into a really bad accident.  Dad was heading back to the airport so that Mom could get on a plane and go to Phoenix to be with Adam.  The problem...I didn't have anyone to watch me here on the boat, so Dad had to fly back while Mom headed there.  Mom packed and left on the first flight out.  I spent a very long, lonely day waiting for Dad to arrive home that night.  I was SO happy to see him.

Adam spent the next week in ICU at a hospital.  I guess he was hurt pretty bad.  He had hit a tree doing 40 mph on a quad.  I had to spend a week in a hospital once when I was a puppy...I didn't like it at all.  I wonder if they kept Adam in a cage the whole time too?  I hope not, cause I thought that was pretty scary. 

Turned out that Adam was going to need lots of help during his recovery so Mom stayed in Phoenix to take care of him.  This summer was not going the way I thought it was going to...I guess Paradise was just going to have to wait...again.

A few weeks later, my buddy Ian showed up for the night.  Seems he was in town traveling from Galapagos back to the U.K. and came to hang out with us.  It was so cool seeing him, for lots of reasons, but mostly because he brought me a new toy (guests with gifts are the BEST) and because he always plays with me when he visits.  Have I mentioned how much I love toys???

The next day, Ian had to leave, but my Aunt Pat and Uncle Bill showed up.  WOW...more visitors!  This was GREAT!  Aunt Pat and Uncle Bill had never been to the boat before so it was fun showing them around.  We got them in their new "DiveAdx" threads and signed them on as crew!  We had a great time while they were here taking walks, playing toys, sunning out on the deck.  Aunt Pat even went and bought me another new toy.  Man, I was cleaning up in the toy department!

After almost six weeks of Mom being gone, Dad needed to go back to Phoenix to take care of some stuff.  Problem was, Mom was still in Phoenix taking care of Adam and once again, I can't take care of myself (no thumbs) so someone's gotta be here.  Auntie Pat to the rescue!  She has the summer off and said that she would come take care of me for the week before Mom would be coming home.

We had the best time together.  Auntie Pat walked me every morning AND every night.  She played toy anytime I wanted, brushed me each and every day so that I always looked my best and even gave me a massage after brushing.  Now this is what I call professional pooch sitting!  Seems I've got her trained just right! 

Seriously though, I love her so much I even let her dress me up for a picture and she dressed up in a new T-shirt I got her...we're talking real commitment here!

It was a very sad day when I had to say good-bye to Aunt Pat.  I watched her leave in a taxi just like when Zeus left.  Where do those taxis go and why does everyone keep leaving? Is it my breath?  Do I need a mint?  What?  Leave me alone, I don't want to talk to anybody.

Dad was still gone, but Mom was here so things seemed kinda back to normal.  I showed Mom one of the new tricks I had learned while she was gone.  She didn't seem to think it was as neat of a trick as I did...something about dogs not belonging on the furniture.  Where's she been the last six weeks...the Looney bin??  Oh well, you can't break an old dog of a new trick...that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

A few days later, the news reported that a hurricane was heading our way.  Uh oh.  Do we stay, sit, run, swim, what?  Is this summer vacation ever going to get any better?  Pack my toys for God's sake and let's get the hell outta here!  Just as we're getting ready to start tying the boat down, Dad surprises us by showing up!  Woohoo...Dad's here!  He'll know what to do.  Given we have no car and nowhere to go, we sit and wait out Hurricane Katrina.  Is this really the safest way to go here?  It wasn't too bad except when I had to go outside to potty.  Man, talk about peeing into the wind!

All in all, it's been a really crazy summer.   I lost my best buddy to an extended shore leave option, but I get the food bowl all to myself now.  Mom and Dad have been gone most of the summer, but I've gotten visits from Ian, Auntie Pat and Uncle Bill, all of whom, bring me TOYS!  We've had to stay in Florida longer than expected, but when we do leave, we hopefully won't hit any more hurricanes while searching for our island paradise.  Flexibility has been the key for me over the past year so I try to remember the old saying...

" Everytime a cupboard closes, a dog treat usually falls out".