Lily's Last Road Trip: My dogs last adventure out on the road.

Last fall my dog Lily and I set out for what I thought would be the start to many weeks, if not a couple of months, on an extended roadtrip. We didn't really have many plans other than to find all the best campsites and escape the still hot and humid south Texas weather. So north we went.

One of our first stops was Palo Duro Canyon. A favorite area of mine to hike in the cooler months, with soft clay soils that would be easy on Lily's achey and aging joints. There are many trails to choose from in the park, which makes it easy to get some distance from the other people hiking in the area. And for these two self proclaimed introverts nothing sounds better than having a trail all to ourselves. We started out strong with beautiful weather and fall color still hanging on. The area had recently been soaked with a couple of heavy rain events so all of the creeks and rivers were flowing adding to the already beautiful scene.

It was a dream. Just me and my dog living out on the road exploring and sniffing, following the intuition of our noses to the next epic spot, and driking all the camp coffee we could stand. We saw the sun rise and set every day. We saw people come and go from the campsites next to us and traded advise and stories on dog friendly locations. We worked hard and napped even harder. Life in a camper, on the road with my dog was...well it was a dream. I don't know how else to say it.

As we continued moving north on our road trip it didn't take long to see that Lily was starting to struggle with life on the road. Up until now she'd loved traveling! Lily is a fantastic car dog! She can ride for hours in the back of the subie just observing the sky as it goes by and napping like the lady of lesiure she is. She's great in hotels; no barking, no accidents inside or chewing on hotel furniture. She's just happy to be out in the world exploring. But now, seemingly out of nowhere, she was anxious and nervous at every sound. Our hikes got shorter every day and eventually really just became walks so that she could get a little exercise and have potty breaks. It was a hard pill to swallow. To see first hand that she was getting older and that our epic roadtrip would't last as long as I had hoped. So after a particularly hard day I made the decison to cut our trip short and head home.

I think she knew we were headed home. She seemed to calm in a way she hadn't been able to before. Her breathing slowed, she slept better, her animal intuition knowing we were headed home and she could relax. For our last night on the road I booked us a spot at the bougiest RV park I knew of. I figured as ladies of lesuire we deserved one last fancy night in the camper. I didn't know this at the time, but it would turn out to be our last night in the camper as well. We pulled into the familiar RV park well after dark and bundled up to go for a walk around the pond in the surprisingly cold Texas weather. We took advantage of the late hour weaving around the campground admiring the treehouses for rent on the other side of the property, feeling like we had the entire place to ourselves. Winter had finally caught up to us and so we settled in, warm and cozy in our little home on wheels, for one last night on the road and under the stars.

As we started the final push home the next morning, slowly watching the miles go by, I couldn't help but think of our first car ride together. It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving 2015. I'd just picked up Lily from the animal shelter. She sat growling at me in the front seat with a cozy blanket and new toy she could care less about. She was a hot mess covered in fire ant bites and a shaggy coat that had never seen a brush. And the smell! Good lord she smelled to high heavens! That smell lingered in my car for weeks, LOL. As we approched the house I became more and more nervous about how she and Ranger would get along. I pulled into the driveway, picked her up and carried her to the front door. I could hear Ranger on the other side of the door excited for my return. With one last deep breath and Lily in my arms I opened the door and she and Ranger meet eyes for the first time.

Ranger immediately started sniffing and wagging his tail seemingly excited for the unexpected visitor. Lily on the other hand continued to growl very unimpressed with this turn of events. Not sure what to do next I walked to the kitchen to grab some of Ranger's favorite treats. I walked back over to the living room, sat Lily down and gave her one of the treats. She took about .02 seconds to sniff it and immediately took it from my hand. I turned to Ranger to give him one, his favorite treat mind you, he sniffed and then sniffed again and layed down next to Lily without taking the treat. That's how bad my hands smelled from holding Lily ! Ranger, my fluffy and adorbale huge and fast growing puppy wouldn't eat from my hand. So I turned to Lily and held my hand out for her to take the treat. She looked over at Ranger and then back at me and grabbed the treat.

That was all it took. She imprinted right then and there and the three of us were a pack. Just like that. The growling stopped, her ears relaxed and her tail started wagging. The three of us were a family. And we stayed that way for the next seven years. Traveling across the country together, camping and going for hikes, taking lazy Sunday afternoon naps in the backyard, until Ranger passed in the summer of 2022.

I felt all the feels for the rest of that car ride home. Missing Ranger so intensely, somber with the knowledge Lily was quickly getting older and nostalgic for a time the three of us were out on an adventure together. But you can't let the heaviness of those feelings steal the present time and Lily is still very much in the present with me. She still loves her morning walks and sunning herself in the garden on those warm and humid summer afternoons. She still doesn't hesitate to take a treat from my hand and she's still the best friend a girl could ask for. So here's to us Lily girl! To you and me and Ranger and all the outdoor things we loved together, the new things we continue to discover and all that is yet to be known. What a time we've had sweet girl. Love you. Always.

PS: If you would like to see the video of our last big roadtrip adventure head on over to our Youtube channel, All The Outdoor things.