Welcome to the first in a series of updates from Beau Raine and his folks Emily and Stu, who recently departed their Boston home for year-long adventure around the United States. To learn more about their travels, visit bigassamericanadventure, and be sure to follow “photeaubeau” on Instagram).
If Beau looks familiar, you may remember that awesome mug from his Daily Corgi debut back in 2012. That’s him with adoptive Mom Emily, who did a virtual Snoopy Dance when this rescued low rider joined her family.
Time to catch up with this road tripping trio! Read on for dispatch #1 from Beau’s blogging, co-piloting Mom …
Greetings from Des Moines!
Beau is three weeks into his epic American road trip, and what a journey it has been. Beau’s life at home in Boston was pretty sweet; two walks a day, running around in his little backyard, and weekend jaunts to Cape Ann and Fresh Pond. This new life? A different place every day or two, from the streets of New York and Chicago to the backyards of Columbus and Ann Arbor, to the dog parks of Philly and Detroit, hopping from house to house on the westward route. A stroll every few hours, glorious car rides where he sticks his head out the window, delighting fellow travelers with his doofy Corgi grin, swimming, canoeing, hiking, and wrestling with countless new dogs. What’s not to love?
Some of the happiest highlights from our first weeks include mega walks at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and along Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. (You don’t always have to leave the city to find nature!) Together we made memories at a new dog park — one of Detroit’s first — at 17th and Rose Streets, and enjoyed the dog-filled patio at Great Lakes Coffee, after which Beau snoozed for hours.
We’ve been pleasantly surprised by how generously people have welcomed our dog into their homes, and how many people on the street stop us to say “Oh my god, I LOVE CORGIS!” Our Beau is a magnet for friendly strangers. Which is all a relief, because we weren’t sure how he would react to the road. It can be a stressful thing to travel this way, with so many new people and places and smells. A few folks gently suggested that we consider whether a trip like this — at least this first nomadic part, when we’re on the move every day or two — was really best for a sometimes sweet, sometimes grouchy pup like Beau.
So far, he’s taken to it really well. Behavior problems we wrestled with at home, like random “What the heck is he yelling at?!?” barking, anxiety around strangers, leash pulling around big dogs, are all dissipating. We’ve stuck with clicker training (thanks, Canine University!), using his crate at night, and avoiding, whenever possible, the triggers that set off his worst moments (scooters, skateboards, and ooey-gooey grease-soaked garbage on the sidewalk). It hasn’t been perfect — there have been frustrating moments — but we’re taking it a day at a time, being patient with him when he seems anxious or confused, and giving him lots of love.
We’ve just finished the visiting-friends-and-families leg of our trip west, and now it’s just open road. Our next big destination is Montana, where we’ll settle in and rent a cabin for a month or so. We’d love tips from The Daily Corgi community about dog-friendly spots in South Dakota (including ideas on where we should stay the next three nights!) and Montana, and welcome any suggestions on traveling with a short-legged, big-hearted pup.
We’d love to meet up with some of you along the way; we’ll be traveling all over the country during the next nine months!
We stayed at a place called Anise's B & B in SD, I think it was in Hot Springs. It wasn't fancy, but it was very dog friendly. There was a fenced in yard with a separate section for big dogs and the owner would "babysit" if you wanted to do something during the day where dogs were not allowed. The location was pretty good for various sites around there. It was a big A-frame house with two or three guest rooms/suites. We were up at the top; very cool to watch a thunderstorm blowing in; there were some huge windows up there in the point of the "A". This was a number of years ago and I don't even know if that place is still open or not but it might be worth checking out.
Sophie LOVES car rides too and does better than I do with them!