Port Angeles, WA - 7 years later........ (super LOOOONG post)

This morning, mum woke up super early. I was still pretty sleepy, so I didn't pay much attention to her until she woke me up to go to the car. Do you know what time it was??? It was 5:00 am!!!! Thank doG for my own private suite in the SunshadeMOBILE.....



Mum drove to here



I'd been there before, and it usually meant we were going on a big big ship to go to my hometown - Victoria. The plan was to catch the 7 o'clock ferry to Victoria, so we would be in time for the 10:30 am sailing from Victoria to Port Angeles, and then catching the last sailing from Port Angeles back to Vic at 1:45 pm. Of course, I had no idea that's where we were going at the time, or why we were going there.

Mum took me out of the car for a walk, and believe it or not, she had a lot of trouble keeping the car door "open" while I was getting out. The wind was SOOO strong which resulted in mum using both hands to push against the door keeping it open just long enough for me to step out. I didn't mind the wind at all, but mum did, so my walk was just a short one. Mum and I went back to the car for a snooze.

Then at 7, we heard the 7 o'clock sailing was CANCELED due to the strong wind!! Mum was NOT happy about it because the next ferry was at 9 o'clock, and the 7 o'clock cancellation totally ruined her plan. It meant we would miss the 10:30 sailing from Vic to Port Angeles since the sailing time from Vancouver to Victoria was about 90 mins. The next sailing from Vic to Port Angeles was at 4:00 pm, and we would have to stay over night in Port Angeles (which was what mum was trying to avoid). The sailing schedule from Victoria to Port Angeles was going to be changed to one sailing only either way the next day (8th), so there was no point in waiting another day.

SOO....... mum and I waited another two hours for the 9 o'clock sailing. Thank doG that sailing went even tho the wind was still pretty strong.

On the ferry, I saw this.



Personally, I was very offended by this sign especially they decided to use the silhouette of a terrier. HMMMPH!

However, there was a room on the upper car deck designated for "PETS" to stretch their legs.



Mum opened the door, but I refused to go in. Mum says I'm a snob because I can't tolerate the smell of dog urine/poop, and I won't drink from a bowl that other dogs have drank from (yes, I would rather die of dehydration).

Anyway, so mum and I walked about the car deck. I saw many dirty tires, and I kept trying to be helpful. I wanted to help clean them by running water down them you know? But my EVIL mum stopped me...........



We went to the front of the vessel



While I made sure the boat was seagull free!!



Time went by surprisingly fast, I guess time passes relatively fast when you're constantly trying to water down dirty tires. Before I knew it, we were in Victoria - the place I grew up in.

(Provincial Parliament Building, Victoria, BC)

I LOOOOOVE Victoria soooo much because that's where I grew up, where I met my first ever group of friends. Everytime the Ferry pulls into the terminal, I start "air scenting", and I get so excited in the car that I start doing laps in my SunshadeMOBILE.

Today was no different, I thought we were going to go to my favourite parks, and go watch seals at Oak Bay Marina.

BUT........... that didn't happen...

Mum called Coho Ferry (Victoria - Port Angeles, WA), and they told mum that if she wanted a guarantee spot on the ferry, she'd better go line up NOW (there were only two sailings a day, and that was the last sailing of the day).



It was about 11 o'clock in the morning, and the next sailing wasn't until 4 in the afternoon!!! So instead of taking me to all my favourite parks, mum drove to Inner Harbor, next to downtown Victoria and put SunshadeMOBILE in the line up.....

Since we couldn't move SunshadeMOBILE, mum and I took a stroll around the Inner Harbour area. It was quite gloomy, and some of the pictures didn't turn out as well as we'd hoped.

(Empress Hotel behind me)

If you look at this picture closely, it says Welcome to Victoria, except "W" was out of the camera range.



The Royal Wax Museum



View of the grand, turn of the century hotel - The Fairmont Empress



Close up of Empress Hotel



On a sunny day, the hotel looks even more stunning.


The Undersea Garden



Being the curious being that I am, naturally, I had to go check it out.



But then I heard someone said there was a ...... so I got a little scared and ran back to mum...



Then of course I had to go check out the docks. Mum wouldn't walk down with me.... so I went alone..



Mum kept walking along the pathway at the top, so I had to run alllllllll the way back up the dock



To catch up to her



Of course, there was another dock on the other side of the pathway, so I had to go check it out too you know... (mum: she has always been a VERY curious girl)





We visited the boat that hoomans can take to go and watch Willy.



Then it started to pour, and mum didn't have her umbrella or hoodie, so she went to a store to buy a cheap umbrella. She left me outside......



I was a good girl tho, I just waited for her.



Mum and I headed back to the car because we were both soaked from the rain being blown into us.

Look at what we saw on our way back!!

Please note: it was mum's fault that I barked, I was totally fine at first until she said "HORSIES", which triggered my "playfulness".

Anyway... we snoozed a bit more, until it was time for custom inspection and finally, the ferry came.



I was still quite confused about this whole trip, you know, from ferry to ferry, but since I got my walks, I didn't complain too much.



Sailing time from Victoria to Port Angeles, WA was about another 90 mins. We arrived in Port Angeles at around 6pm. The first thing mum did when we arrived was to book a hotel near the ferry terminal so we could catch the 8:20am sailing next morning.

Then we drove some more, and came to a place that smelled so familiar, yet I couldn't remember where I had smelled the smell before. Mum rang the door bell, and we heard some very scaaaawie barking sound and a nice lady opened the door. She smelled familiar too, but I just couldn't seem to remember exactly where we'd met before.... I kept sniffing her, trying very hard to remember,

AND THEN...

I REMEMBERED!!!

My tail started wagging, my ears went back, and I started to rub my big head against the nice lady. The nice lady was my breeder, Jan Mell of Loc Aire. This was where I was born, and 7 years later, I had returned to my birth place.

Jan kept petting me, and she couldn't take her eyes off me. She kept saying how cute I was and how great I looked. She knew I had a bad coat for the breed, but she didn't care. Jan said she had gotten so many inquiries for puppies from people who saw my blog (I wonder how they got Jan's number??). Of course, she is being very strict with people she doesn't know as she is extremely protective of her bloodline. Usually she sells pups to return buyers, she prefers them to new buyers. Jan also saw my article in The American Airedale gazette, and was VERY proud of me!!!

Anyway, Jan decided to invite mum and I to stay over because she wanted to spend more time with me and talk to mum. Mum was a little hesitant because of their house dog, Subi, who is actually my cousin. I have a tendency to be very possessive of MY mum in an indoor situation or in a small enclosed area. So mum was a little worried that I might try to *ahem* eat Subi if she came close to her. Jan said that was no problem, and we would just keep Subi and me separated.

This was me checking Subi out



This is Subi, she is out of my dad's brother, and she is 11 months older than me. So 8 years old now. She is a retired American Champion, and her full time job is being daddy's little girl. Jan's husband Rick just adores her.



She smelled familiar to me too...



As it turned out, Subi used to be my nanny. This picture was taken in Dec. 1999 when mum and grandpa came to visit me. The little black balls were me and my sibilings at 5 weeks of age. Subi was the one on-leash, she was 11 months old then.



This was Subi with mum taken in 1999



I'll let you decided if you think I remembered her. The whining noises you will hear were all made by me.

I didn't even say a word when I saw MY mum petting her and talking to her. Let's just say, this is not the norm LOL. I wanted her to come out, but she had to stay in the crate to sleep.

***Did you guys notice, Subi's nose was pitch black when she was young, but was brown in the video? Remember my nose was turning brown too, and I thought it was due to too much landscaping?? Well, I guess this is good news - it runs in the blood, has nothing to do with my landscaping, which means I can continue!!!!

Anyway, while mum and Jan chatted away and filled out paperworks, I made myself at home... Afterall, I was born here in this house, so it's MY house too! (mum: hmm...better not argue with her..)



After a while, we heard these weird noises coming from a room, and mum and Jan rushed into the office and shut the door. I sniffed outside the door and PHEW.... that room STUNK!!! I moved far far away from it and started whining from afar because ..er.. mum was gone.. (okay okay, don't laugh at me..). I was so happy when mum and Jan finally came out, but boy they STUNK too. I didn't want to be touched by either of them and was actually running away from their hands, yes, mum's too. I wanted OUT of the house!!



Those THINGS they were playing with and touching sure STUNK!! Thank doG mum took a shower, and she once again smelled like MUM and not stinky THINGS.

This was me waiting for mum to put my blankie down



You see, even tho my breeder's house is nice and clean, I still don't like anything that doesn't smell like ME, or MY mum, or MY house. So I would only sleep on my blankie.




Next morning (Jan. 8th. 2007), first thing mum did was to go in that stinky room AGAIN!!! She came out all stinky AGAIN, and she didn't take a shower!!!! I was NOT happy, but thank doG I did meet a handsome fella, and he kinda took my mind off things if you know what I mean....

This is Harry, he is my full brother, but from a litter three years before me. I had thought he was from my litter, but I learned this time around that he is actually 10 years old.



Look at me, I am just as big as him (my fluffy hair makes me look bigger). Jan did say I was built very nicely, but more "masculine" with nice bones LOL. She also said I "moved" nice can you believe it?? Just think, how much nicer I would move if I hadn't had surgery on three out of four of my legs!!

We shared a few nice head rubs (mum: she was flirting BIG TIME, totally in love. Sorry Bogart, Mackie, and Dudley....)




A few sibling hugs



And then that brother of mine, he started getting ideas about me...



Gee... even my brother found me to be too sexy pass on...

I, however, remembered that we were full blooded brother and sisters, and I made sure he knew that too!


(mum: she kept going back for more and flirted non-stop!!!)

I think maybe I'll send Harry an elephant like mine for his 11th B-day.


He obviously needs help.

Harry was mid way through being stripped in the photos above. The photo below is what he looked like in his prime.

Ch. Loc Aire's Vivace - Harry

After my little flirt session, I went back to the house for a snooze where mum and Jan went to look at some other relatives of mine. Mum took some pictures of them, but kept having to delete them because the memory card was running out of memory.

Finally, mum started putting all my stuff into her bag, and got ready to leave. Don't get me wrong, I love going on trips, but I really do miss home especially when my mum becomes STINKY from playing with STINKY THINGS!!

I said "bye" to the breeder's horsies (no I didn't bark this time cause mum didn't say the word).




And we left the breeder's house with one VERY STINKY THING!!!!!

PHEEEEEW!