Morris Goes On Vacation

Sometimes, as we all know, we have to do things that we do not want to do.  So it is with dogs, too. Specifically, so it was with Morris. You may remember from an earlier story that Morris did not like cars.  Who can blame him? He was very bad luck with cars, and it was no wonder that he preferred to avoid them.

The sad part is that because Morris never wanted to go for a ride he missed out on a lot of fun stuff. Well, he missed out on a lot of fun stuff until one day he had to do something that he did not want to do. He had to go on vacation.

Sometimes Mom and Dad want to do something, but the youngsters in the family do not want to do that thing. Perhaps the youngsters want to do something different than what their parents want to do.  Other times the children do not understand that the parents are trying to have everyone participate in a cool family activity In situations such as that there is often a lot of sulking and whining.

“Oh, I don’t want to go to Dizzyland! It is booooooorrrrriiiiinnng,” says little brother #1.

“Now, Junior, you will have a lot of fun. I don’t want to hear any more about it,” says Mom.

“But we have to sit on the airplane, and they are stuffy,” proclaims little sister #2.

“Grrmple napptle dumfrumnorkle,” says Dad who is pretty much fed up with the entire discussion.

One day Morris noticed that something was up. Large pieces of paper were spread out all over the kitchen table.  He did not know it, but those pieces of paper were called “maps”. His “people” were making strange marks on these map things. Morris got suspicious.  Usually when those paper maps appeared on the table it meant that pretty soon he would have to get in the car, and, boy, oh boy, he did not like that at all!

Well, as you may have guessed, the day eventually arrived, and Morris had to get in the car.  His toys and his doggie bed were packed in the trunk of the Mazda.  He saw that his really good dog food was in the car, too.  Morris correctly concluded that this was going to be a big ride in the car.  He was not happy about it in any way, shape or form.

As it turned out, the ride was very long. It was all day!  Morris discovered that he was going to a place called “Maine”. He had never been to Maine before. He had not even heard of Maine. This “Maine place” had better be good.  That’s what Morris thought to himself when they were partway across Massachusetts.

Just about sundown Morris noticed that they were driving down a gravel road. He poked his nose out the back window and took a deep sniff. The air was really different than it was at home.  This air smelled like pine trees, road dust, and maybe something special, such as wild animals. Was he catching the faint aroma of deer? It was hard to say.  Maybe he was smelling raccoons.

As the sun set behind the hills, Morris and hopped out of the car and for the very first time found himself standing in the forest of Maine. It was every exciting. There were all sorts of new smells to smell and sights to see.  It was obvious that he would have to do a lot of exploring.

That evening Morris had a really yummy dinner and went to sleep on his comfortable dog bed. He was snug and warm in a log cabin in the Maine woods.  Morris did not know it, but he was a very luck dog. Many people would have loved to be in his position.  Come to think of it, maybe not exactly is position.  Most people do not want to sleep in dog bed, but a comfy log cabin is a nice thing.

Over the next few days Morris had many adventures.  He went out on the lake in a rowboat. He liked that a lot and tried to spot fish in the water.  He looked and looked and only saw one fish. Morris knew they were there in the lake. He could smell them.

One day he went for a car ride and then took a long hike.  He went up a big hill and then down the other side. Another day he explored a beach and was amazed by the ocean.  There’s a lot of water in that ocean!  It makes noise, too, but it tastes terrible. Morris had to check it all out.  The beach was fun, and he could pick up sticks and carry them around.

At night Morris relaxed on the big enclosed porch.  There are many strange sounds in the Maine forest at night.  He was able to figure out some of them.  The really big sounds from across the lake were moose.  There were smells out there, including the scents of racoons and chipmunks. Three times Morris smelled deer in forest. He thought he saw a bear one day, but he didn’t say anything because he did not believe his eyes.

After several days in Maine Morris had to go home.  He helped pack everything back in the car, and the next morning they drove back down the gravel road and headed out the way they came. It was a long drive home, but they made it just in time for Morris to have his dinner in his very own kitchen.

As Morris went to bed that evening, he thought about his adventures in Maine. He realized under the right conditions riding in the car was not bad at all. He was very surprised to discover that he liked his trip to Maine.

Do you want to know the rest of the story? Here it is. Morris became so fond of riding in the car that he took every opportunity to go for a ride after his trip to Maine.  Yes, it is true that in the beginning he did not like cars and rides. He didn’t want to go anywhere in the car. But, you know, it wasn’t bad at all and Morris had a lot of fun going to new places.