The Eastward travels begin! As a travel physical therapist, the world is my oyster (to not be too cheesy). My latest assignment has brought me to work in Haverhill, Massachusetts!
So, where to start? First, Google Maps, obviously. How long will it take? What is the coolest route? Oh 21 hours? COOL. But wait, all the best road trips have a pit stop, right? Conveniently enough, Niagara Falls was right on the way. So now comes the somewhat hard part...the research! Of course I am not moving to the East Coast without Rusty (shame on you people that get rid of pets because you're moving--but of course I am sure they aren't reading this)! Easy enough, I found a lot of the information I needed from niagarafallsstatepark.com for my pit stop. The website outlines the trails, the
I've always heard the Canada views are wayyyy better than the America views...so I looked into staying across the border for my one day stop. This is where things got significantly tricky. Traveling with a dog across the Canadian border is no joke. And honestly, it just was not worth it for one day. So I decided to stay in Buffalo, NY instead. To cross the Canadian border, especially into Ontario, required intense paperwork. Vaccinations, proof of breed, and that sort of thing. The proof of breed is what got me. If border patrol suspects your dog to be any kind of bully breed, they will euthanize. Period. With Rusty being a "beagle mix", the risk just was not worth it OBVIOUSLY. Also the fact that you have to transport sealed bags of dog food into Canada and back into the US seemed nearly impossible. Is my dog not supposed to eat for a day??
But GOOD NEWS, I still saw the Niagara views from Canada. There is a convenient pedestrian bridge to cross into Canada and back, which is MUCH quicker than driving anyway! But this was one thing Rusty could not do. So I chose to plan my trip in two shifts--morning and evening. I went in the morning and checked off all of the attractions I wanted to see that Rusty could not -- Cave of the Winds and the Observation Tower. After I finished, I went back to the hotel and picked up the pup and went back for the evening views, it was much cooler temps too, perfect for Rusty. Now the park has plenty of trails and paths that have spectacular views of the Falls without having to pay extra or leave the pup behind! We even ran into a few other pups...but that is a story for another day if you know about Rusty with doggy friends...
So you might be asking...you stayed at a hotel....with your dog?? Well yes! I've honestly had good luck with hotels with Rusty. He makes himself comfortable quickly and is actually fine with me leaving him for the day there. AirBnB is another good choice that I have used for longer stays. Either way, knowing your pup's personality is key. Never leave your pup in a new place/hotel if they have high anxiety or are quite noisy. Some tips I have found is my pup tends to calm down once he sees a bag of mine or his left in the room. Honestly, he has seen me pack up so much that he finds comfort in being near said bag.
Okay, whew, we are on to day 2 of driving finally! Not much excitement here, except after another 7.5 hours we have made it to Boston! Boston is notorious (as is any big city) for stop and go traffic. My go-to for keeping Rusty safe is a seat belt. Yes, you heard me. He wears a harness with an extended attachment that clicks right into the seat buckles! Click here for a similar one. As with humans too, safety first! This prevents him from climbing to the front seat and distracting me as well. And lets not even talk about front seat air bags...don't want that!
Shawna + Rusty
Comentarios