All Aboard the Shorthair Express to Glen Rose, TX

For Christmas mom got a fifth wheel and a new truck.  We christened it the Shorthair Express because we all get to go now.  We took the Shorthair Express to Glen Rose, TX just after New Years for the dog shows.  My big sister Halo was in the shows and hoping for her second major win.

Friday dawned, the day after New Years Day.  It was time to load up mom’s new fifth wheel for the maiden voyage of the Shorthair Express (thats what me and Belle and Halo call it).  Here we come Glen Rose and the Dog Shows. Mom got her new toy mainly so that she could take us all with her to the dogs shows, but she also says that we will use it for going on hiking trips and other adventures.  The fifth wheel is a 27 foot Keystone Cougar.  It looks kind of like this one (mom doesn’t have an outside shot of the fifth wheel yet so I got this one off the website so you would get an idea of what it looks like).

It is brand new and really nice inside.  There is plenty of room for all of us and mom too.  For this trip mom’s nephew came along.  His name is Thomas and we really love him allot because he always plays with us.

Anyway, as I was saying, Friday dawned nice and sunny.  Mom loaded us and all our stuff into the truck and we headed over to the RV storage place to get the Shorthair Express.  Our Grandpa, mom’s dad, met us over there so he could help us get all hooked up.  Well we were in the back seat of the super crew and all ready to go.  Mom backed up the truck and we tried to get the hitch to engage.  Nothing.  Mom talked to Grandpa about what was going on and she said the fifth wheel had to be a certain height for the hitch to work.  She had been trained at the RV place.  So, they tried raising the fifth wheel, still didn’t work.  Well, to make a long story short, after several tries mom and Grandpa couldn’t even get the fifth wheel to raise up anymore, so mom called the RV store.  They said no problem, they would send a tech right over to help out.  I think it is important to let you all know that this was mom’s first experience with an RV, so she was also learning.  I thought she was doing ok, but she was kind of upset.  So, we proceeded to wait.  The RV store was about 40 minutes away, so we had some time to kill. 

Grandpa got each of us dogs out to go to the bathroom, and then back into our area of the truck.  Mom had opened the windows so it would be cool for us.  She was standing and talking to Grandpa when I got the idea it would be really cool to go exploring in the RV storage place.  I told Belle and Halo, but they said we shouldn’t, but I didn’t agree.  You know sometimes my sisters can be such goody two shoes.  Anyway, I waited until mom wasn’t paying much attention and then I made my break. Up into the front seat and right out the driver side window.  Wow!!  Well there was a guy just down the way hooking up a boat, so I headed down to say hi.  About the time I got almost to him, mom looked up and I heard her say, “Look, another shorthair”, to Grandpa.  Then I heard her say, “Oh no, that’s Ringo!!”  I thought I was in it for sure.  Then I heard her playfully call me and turn and run.  Well I couldn’t resist.  I had to go see what she was up too.  When I got to her, she praised the heck out of me and hugged me.  I guess it was good I came back to her.  Anyway, she put me back into the truck with my sisters who were all smug.  I heard mom tell Grandpa that I was much easier than Halo and that trick worked every time.  I love my mom. After that little adventure, mom had Thomas really watch us so it “didn’t happen again.” 

Finally, the tech guy got here and we figured out that the fifth wheel had to be at 66 inches and the hitch had to be really straight and then hook up was no problem.  He also told us that the battery that runs the up and down thing on the fifth wheel was a rechargeable one and that it had not been charged good before mom picked up the fifth wheel.  He showed her a trick, just plug the fifth wheel into the truck and shazam it works.  So, about 3 hours later than we originally planned we were off to Glen Rose, TX.

We got into Glen Rose just at dark.  We were staying at a really nice place called Tres Rios.  It is called Tres Rios (Three Rivers) because it is a peninsula surrounded on three sides by three rivers.  Mom got everything set up pretty easy, so we were ready to eat, poop and relax.  It was nice and warm too, so we had a nice walk in the moonlight.  We didn’t really explore much though as we had most of the day Saturday to do that.  The only thing that didn’t seem to work right that night was the water heater.  It just wouldn’t work and it was too late to call the RV store, so mom said it would have to wait until morning.  Good thing it was warm outside.

The next morning, mom got up and fed us dogs and took us for a walk.  When we got back she called the RV store.  They tried to figure it out, but to no avail, so mom made arrangements to drop off the fifth wheel on the way home on Sunday so they could take a look at it.  (We found out later that the store guys had messed up in going over the RV and the heating element was burned out.  Mom still doesn’t know why it wouldn’t work on propane, but she will find out.) Now it was almost time for mom to take Halo to the show, so she announced that for the weekend we would just have to have cold showers.  So she went to the bedroom part of the fifth wheel and got ready.  In the meantime, me and Halo decided to rest with Thomas in the fold out sofa bed. 

I think Belle was chewing on a bone.  So, when mom came out she looked really nice.  Halo got excited and off they went.  They were gone a while, but Thomas played with me and Belle and took us walking.  When mom go home, she said Halo did really good, but no points.  Maybe tomorrow.  Then she said after lunch we were going to meet a friend named Dawn who has labs and walk along the river.  It was a beautiful and warm day for a walk and we had a good time.  I got to get in the river, but mom wouldn’t let Halo go in ’cause she didn’t want Halo (the super model) smelling like river water.  I even saw a blue heron take off.  If I hadn’t been on a leash I for sure would have caught that big bird.  Instead I pointed it really hard to make sure everyone saw the bird. We also saw some big fish rolling in the river and mom said they were probably white bass.  Thomas was ready to go buy fishing stuff so he could catch them.  That sounded like fun to me.  Mom said it would have to wait until next time as we had to get back and eat dinner.  She and Halo had to get ready for bed because they had to be up early for the show on Sunday.

So, here we all are hanging out in the fifth wheel relaxing on Saturday night.  Mom and Thomas watched a movie, and us kids had bones and just rested.

Saturday was a really warm day in Glen Rose and we had been running the AC all day, but Saturday night that all changed.  For those who don’t know Texas weather, mom says if you don’t like the weather in Texas give it a few minutes and it will change.  Well it certainly changed Saturday night.  It got colder than cold.  I woke mom up at 3 AM and she turned the heat on.  Of course, I also had to go to the bathroom which meant that Belle and Halo had to go too.  So mom bundled up and out we went.  The wind was whistling and it was freezing.  We hurried up and did our business because we wanted to get back in where it was warm.

Sunday morning mom and Halo were up with the chickens, but me and Belle and Thomas slept in.  Mom and Halo left about 7:30 AM because Halo was showing at 8 AM and were back around 9:30 AM.  Mom brought breakfast tacos for breakfast, but we didn’t get any.  She also said Halo did good again, but no points.  Halo was disappointed, but she said she did good and that the darn judge just didn’t know a beautiful shorthair when he saw one.  Mom said if Halo couldn’t win she was still happy because her friends dog won and got her championship that day. 

Well the trip was coming to a close and mom had to pack everything up (in the cold) and get the Shorthair Express rolling.  That didn’t take long and really the rest of the trip was uneventful.  It was good to get home, but I can’t wait for the next trip.  Mom says the Shorthair Express will roll again when she takes me to compete for my Junior Hunter title in February.  I can’t wait. 

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