The best laid schemes of dogs and men

We took off around 7:00AM, and after taking the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton, it was on to the scenic route. The 2006 Pacific Coast ride was one of my best experiences, and I was looking forward to seeing the route again. We meandered southwest toward the coast and crossed into Oregon over the Astoria Bridge. The bridge is almost four miles long and is subject to frequent high winds. The shoulder looked so much smaller than I remembered on the bike.

Our route followed 101 most of the way down the coast, with a couple of scenic offshoots. It was great seeing all the hills we climbed, and they were impressive even in a car. Unfortunately, it was rainy and foggy, so the scenery wasn't as good as expected. We stopped off in Cannon Beach for lunch, and the tourist town was mostly deserted. We found a restaurant with a covered table outdoors so we could dine together. We stopped in Newport for the night.

It turns out the pooch isn't much into the long road trips. She seemed to be stressed most of the time, constantly panting and occasionally whining. The winding roads of 101 along the coast meant that she couldn't relax. Getting out of the truck for a while seemed to settle her down for a while, but not for long. Of course she has no idea what is going on. Wish I could explain it to her.

She also has a couple of bad knees, so she can't jump into the truck anymore. It has been a while since she has been able to hop into the bed of the truck, but now she can't even make it through the door to the backseat. I have to lift her into the truck, and by the end of the day, she wasn't even willing to jump out of the truck.

Then this morning she was really hobbling, unable to put much weight on one leg. And the kicker was she didn't finish her breakfast, which is a bad sign since she normally inhales it in under a minute. I was pretty worried about her, so we left the coast and headed inland to faster, smoother roads.

So we're now going down I-5 and we're in Willows for the night. We probably have another day and a half to go. Hopefully the pooch will be feeling a little better tomorrow.