The Escape From Hurricane Florence and Ensuing Adventures

“Last month, when we got wind that the hurricane was coming, my Grammy, Jo­anne and I decided that the best recourse was to avoid delay, and to get out of town while the getting was good! City officials were about to sound the alarm we thought, and we wanted to beat the traffic, so we left well before there was any evacuation mandate. That left us a little more leisure time to plan where we wanted go and what we would do there.

I just love riding in the car so I voted for a road trip. Luckily, Jo­anne was up for that idea, and so we decided to go to Washington D.C. to visit her brother, which would make him my grand-un­cle. 

As a big family guy, I just love discovering I have new relatives. I’m not positive that he’s really my grand-uncle though, I’ll have to check on the lineage later.

So I bid all my squirrel and duck friends goodbye, and took a last visit to all my favorite trees in Grand Park too. Then I grabbed a few of my chewiest chew toys, my blanket, and I was off. We listened to music on the way up, and I looked out the window at every­one and everything, which just never gets old.

Washington was so different from Myrtle Beach. For starters, there aren’t any palm trees. And there’s a lot, and I mean a lot of traffic. The buildings are huge, and real­ly close together in a lot of areas. It feels very expansive and spread out, which I like.

I was so excited to meet my newest family member. But when he opened the door, oh me or my! Nobody told me but he has a mal­tipoo too! Her name is Cuddles and she’s my new best friend. 

We spent the next few days having all kinds of fun— playing a friendly tug of war with our collective chew toys, chasing one another around my grand-uncle’s living room, and curling up on the sofa to watch TV. We even shared the same dog dish. It was a glorious few days of connecting deeper with my malti­poo roots as reflected back to me in the eyes of my newest friend. 

Soon, though, it was time to be on our way, and we promised to stay in touch as pen pals. She was very impressed that I have my own col­umn, and was excited to be men­tioned in it.

When the hurricane struck it brought with it so much rain that there were many road closures. We realized that we couldn’t drive straight to Myrtle Beach, and the trip would take us twenty hours. Now I love car rides, but that is a lot for even me. So Joanne decid­ed we would fly, and she got me a seat right next to her— first class too! I admit I am a pampered pooch. She gave me a Benadryl just in case I had anxiety which made me sleepy. I was a relaxed doggie by the time we landed. My first ever flight. What an amazing journey. Now that’s one way to go through a hurricane.” 

Until next time,