And we took the dogs.
We took two cars. Me, my mother-in-law, Watson and Bella (my mother-in-law's dog) in my CRV, and my husband and Hannah in his Elantra (along with most of our luggage). Our luggage consisted of clothes for three days, lunch food and snacks for three days, two large dog crates, and dog food and snacks for three days. It was a lot.
It went really, really well. Was it easy? No. Did it go better than I thought it would? YES. The dogs did soooooo well. So much better than we thought they would. We only had one 'incident' the entire trip. Well, two if you count the dust storm, ha ha. The first time we stopped, Watson lost his breakfast in the car. But thankfully, it was easy to clean up. I had folded down my seats so they had plenty of space and also laid down a waterproof canvas-like pet cover to protect the seat backs as well. Clean up was easy.
In Arizona on the way out we ran into a dust storm. We've had dust storms here in Albuquerque (fairly frequently), but this was pretty intense. Usually they shut down the interstate because the visibility is so bad. We thought they were going too, but then it cleared a bit thank goodness. The joys of living in the desert!
We arrived in Tucson around 8:00 p.m. Thursday night. It took us 7 hours, but that included making two stops with the dogs - each stop about 30 minutes).
We checked into our hotel. We stayed at La Quinta, because they are pet friendly.
It was a brand new hotel, and it was beautiful!
Everything was so nice and clean and new! There was a free breakfast each morning that included eggs, breakfast meats, waffles, toast, pastries, cereal, oatmeal, etc. Our room was large (we didn't feel cramped with three adults and three dogs!) and there was plenty of space.
We set up the dog crates right away.
We stacked them to give us more room. Watson on the bottom, Bella on top. Hannah did not have to be crated while we were gone at the convention because she is not destructive like the other two can be, ha ha.
Each day over lunch, my mother-in-law and I would come back to the hotel (about a 10 minute drive from the convention center) and take the dogs out to do their business.
The dogs made themselves at home right away on my mother-in-law's bed.
The convention was wonderful, of course. The best one I've ever been too. I'm still on a spiritual high. :)
Here's a collage I did on Instagram:
It went sooooo fast. We left Sunday evening. After the convention we packed up, loaded up the cars and the dogs and headed home. Again, the dogs did great. It took about 7 hours and 15 minutes to get home, stopping twice just like we did on the way out.
It was a very pretty drive home.
We got home at 2:30 a.m. this morning. I did not go to work today. I had taken the day off thank goodness. I am still tired, but I slept until about 11:30 this morning so that helped!
It was a great weekend. The dogs did well, I really liked Tucson, and the convention was amazing.
I am by no means an expert on traveling with dogs, but here's what I found most helpful on our trip:
*I brought their toys and blankets that they use and love at home. I brought their bowls that they use every day, even the place mat that they set on. Anything that is familiar to them will help them adjust to their new surroundings.
*Gulpys
I found these at Homegoods. They are portable water bowls. These were sooooo helpful on the drive. I filled the water bottles (I got two) before I left and then when we stopped it was so easy to give them each a drink.
*Lysol wipes. Enough said.
*Nudges Premium Jerky Cuts
These are just dog treats, but when we stopped the dogs weren't all that interested in eating their 'usual' dinner. So I got these just in case and they were a hit. They're also made in the U.S.A. which is a MUST if you're buying jerky treats for dogs. Make sure they are made in the U.S.A. and not anywhere else.
It was a lot of work to bring the dogs, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. They did not seem stressed out at all and we didn't have to kennel them or worry about them at all.
It was a great weekend!
