Timber Tales      Week 02

I am in Canada! Along with the rest of the gang, of course. I know we are in Canada because we stopped at the border when we crossed into Canada and we have not gone across another border yet. Borders are a funny thing. I guess it is sort of like when Buttra comes into my circle in the dog yard. I like him to check with me first that it is OK. He is actually not too good at doing that. I mean that is my space—sort of, at least. I do like to have visitors, though! I always try to greet anyone that comes to visit. Same, when we cross borders in the dog truck. Sometimes when we drive into another country, the nice people in the uniforms come through and open up all the doors to say "Hi" to everyone of us. I really like Canada. I have been here a lot, running all over the place. But I can't wait until we get to Alaska... and then Chukotka in Russia! Lots of borders to cross this time around, I guess.

We are actually not the whole gang. For one Mille isn't here. I heard she is meeting us in Alaska. And, as I told you, my buddy Aksel stayed back... so did Charlie. Charlie did come to say goodbye. I was looking out my door on the dog truck and all of a sudden I saw Charlie come running full-sprint around the corner and Paul looked really surprised. Charlie told me that in the early morning he and Paul walked over to "Tim's" and Paul put him in a kennel there. Tim is this really friendly guy who lives down the road a little way from where we have been staying the last couple of months. He has a whole bunch of huskies, little ones. Some of them probably stand to only just under Lipton's belly! But boy, oh boy, can they run fast! They barely pull anything behind them but this little tiny sled, and they fly full-sprint down the trail. They are noisy, too. I actually think it would be kind of fun to visit there. Charlie did say how, at first, he thought it was kind of cool to be hanging out with all these new dogs, too, but then he heard the dog truck start, and he knew: it was time to load!

So did the rest of us. I heard that mighty rumble of the truck starting up and I got excited beyond barks... at least for a split moment. Then, we all went really, really nuts, crazy, barking, howling, and jumping around. And, sure enough, that big truck came rolling down the driveway and parked in front of us. I had actually figured it out before the truck started. As soon as I saw Dan arrive, I knew it was time. The last several years, Paul's Dad, Mike, and this really nice guy, Dan, came around to drive with us wherever we are going to start an expedition. I guess they like road trips! So do I. So much so, I was having a tough time not making a lot of noise, all the time.

It is really fun to load. Paul yells out a name. Dan either walks with each one of us or lets us loose, and we run as fast as we can to the truck where Paul stands and helps us load into our boxes. The boxes sit on the flat part, on the back-end of the truck. Some of us can actually jump straight into the boxes on the first level without help. I used to always go on second level. I had it perfected, where I just needed a hand on my back and I could crawl up the side of the boxes, make it into the box, and turn around in less than a minute! Tucker is the best at "self-loading." He can stand on the ground and, in one jump, he makes it all the way up onto the second level with no help! This year, I am actually in one of the lower boxes, and I must admit it is a bit easier for me now to load yhere...  Then truck starts rolling and off we go—each in our own box with a view.