Perfect Florida winter weather returned so we headed out for a bike ride to a spot we had visited before–the Cross Florida Barge Canal–also known as the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway. Gerry Mulligan, publisher of the Citrus Chronicle, listed this in his column last Sunday as one of the places that residents must see.
We met a nice couple before we started out on our ride. Norman took our picture.
The bike trail runs five miles to the Gulf of Mexico and in the other direction ends at a dam on Lake Rousseau. We headed to the Gulf. We’ll do the other ride on another perfect Florida winter day.
The bridge over the canal.
We rode the five miles to the Gulf into the wind. I could barely keep up with Terry and Maggie.
Pavilion on the Gulf, obviously a favorite destination of bicylists.
A few pictures from the Gulf side.
Crystal River Power Plant! No doubt that we are on the Nature Coast. Future son-in-law Andrew suggested I tour the country taking pictures of power plants!
On the ride back the wind pushed us along. So nice.
A sign we like to see. Dogs are allowed!Maggie checking for fish in the canal. And look, she has on her leash! What a good dog.
Maggie, best little dog ever is also the luckiest dog ever. Hey, not only is she doted on by me and T, she’s traveled the country! Quite often in first class!
Way back in 2004, Maggie flew to Denver for her first flight ever. Plans were to fly out of Tampa, catch a connecting flight in Houston, and smooth sailing into Denver where my mother-in-law would pick us up.
But things don’t always go as planned. Like we didn’t plan to end up at the Austin airport because of a storm where we had to refuel, get to Houston and miss our connecting flight, be threatened with a ticket by the meanest Houston cop ever because sweet little Maggie was out of her crate, and there were no potty places for dogs even outside of security! That would be crazy planning!
But we persevered and made it to Colorado and spent two lovely weeks away from the July heat and humidity of Florida. And Maggie has since made this trip a couple of more times–without incident. Flying with a pooch definitely gets easier with experience.
Here we are at the beginning of our journey.
Our first stop after Denver is always Longmont because Terry’s mom lived there. It’s a nice town with parks, trails, and dog parks.
Maggie and I both suffer a little from the change in elevation. We take lots of naps our first few days when we visit.We made a Christmas visit in 2007–Maggie’s first snow!Checking for new smells on a trail in the park.Here’s Maggie in the “Thinking Rock” in the park. She’s thinking as soon as she gets out of here she will bite me.
One of my favorite places in the entire country is Estes Park, a beautiful resort town in the Rocky Mountains. We seriously considered retiring here but that didn’t happen. (Probably for the best since I hate being cold.) Maggie loves to strutt down the street taking in all the new sights and smells. She is even welcome in a few stores and can dine on the outdoor patios in some of the restaurants. While we usually make it a day trip, on one occasion we stayed at Silver Moon Inn, a dog-friendly hotel in downtown Estes Park.
Estes parkLake EstesMaggie taking Terry for a walk at Silver Moon Inn.
While in Estes, we always drive into the Rocky Mountain National Park. Dogs have to stay on leash and cannot walk on the trails and that’s okay with me since we did see a bear there once. Maggie would make a wee bear snack.
Here we are at Trail Ridge, elevation — 11,796 feet!What a view!
Just looking at these pictures makes me miss Colorado. What a beautiful state!
If I leave Maggie for more than a few days she gets ill. On one occasion she almost died—I’m not exaggerating.So Maggie has a friend that stays with her in Perfect for long weekends, but any longer than three days, she comes with us.
Maggie first flew when she was just 6 weeks old and then didn’t get on an airplane again until she was 5. In between that period, Maggie was never in a carrier.I knew that we were headed for an adventure to Colorado in about six months so had time to slowly get her used to her new carrier.After much research I bought the Sherpa bag from PetSmart.I slowly introduced her to it by just leaving it in the family room, unzipping it after a few weeks, leaving treats around it and then in it and we were ready to fly!
Maggie’s first trip in 2004
Maggie’s now 13 and has flown all over the country but has never flown as a “checked bag” since she is small enough to be my “carry on”. Plus we have never flown International. And I want to emphasize that these are my experiences and might not be representative of the typical flight. With that disclaimer, here’s what I have learned from numerous flights.
It’s not cheap. Maggie is small enough that she can fly under the seat as my carry on baggage.But I still have to pay for her.Our most recent trip was on United and it was $125 each way.Expensive but compared to the cost of boarding and the subsequent vet bills–economical. Here’s a list of airlines that allow pets from www.dogfriendly.com.
Get a roller board dog bag.I started with the Sherpa bag but now use a roller bag that I got at Target for $39.What a deal—but, it’s no longer available.The Sherpa bag is sturdier but carrying my 13 pound pooch in the big airports wears me out. The roller bag is also a little unbalanced and might just fall over–which might really upset Maggie. Above all, the carrier has to fit under the airline seat.
Do you really need that Health Certificate? There is conflicting info on needing a health certificate. United’s in-cabin website does not mention needing a health certificate but dogfriendly.com lists United as requiring a 30-day health certificate.
I paid the $40 or more for that precious certificate for the first few years of travel with Maggie. It’s only good for two weeks so a three week trip would require a health certificate on each end.I have NEVER been asked for this certificate.NEVER.The last time I got one was last year because we were flying a different airline and I didn’t want to take a chance.Again, they did not ask.
I’m not advising you either way on getting a health certificate; I’m just relating my experience. I’d hate to have you miss a flight because of my bad guidance. If I was flying on an airline that I was not familiar with, I might get the health certificate.
Get an Aisle Seat. When you book your travel, try to get an aisle seat.Your carrier is going to take up the floor space under the seat in front of you.This will give you very little room for your legs.On one flight I couldn’t get the carrier stowed under the aisle seat due to a little box attached to each aisle seat for the TV so I had to switch seats with a window person.That only happened one time and recently the airline advised us of the possibility.
You can NOT sit in an exit row. I had flown with Maggie in the exit rows many times because there is more leg room and then one of the flight attendants on a particular flight made us move.Fortunately, we traded with Terry.And he was in first class!Yippee for Maggie and me!
If you do fly first class, do not get a bulk head seat. No place to put the carrier.
Things to carry:Previously I carried a collapsible water bowl but they leak during a long flight.Now I carry a small Tupperware bowl and lid along with medication, paper towels and wet ones, a bag of treats, short leash, collar with ID, harness, and a small fleece blanket. Also take health records and immunization certificates, dog license, and rabies tag.
Buy a bottle of water. I always buy a bottle of water when I get through security.While the flight attendants will give me a cup of water for Maggie, I’ve been stuck on the runway waiting, waiting, waiting….Just buy the over-priced bottle.
You will get busted.Airports do not let your precious pooch walk freely.You will see people walking their dog but that’s just because they haven’t been busted yet.They are supposed to be in their carrier, zipped up, at all times—both on the plane and in the airport.In all of our travels, Houston airport has been the strictest.I had a police officer threaten to give me a ticket.
So, having said all that, yes, I do let her out. And put her back in if I get busted.Flights are long.And if an airport has a place to walk the dog, it’s outside of security.We usually don’t have time to get out there and back before our next flight.Maggie is great about not needing to use the facilities.She’s never had an accident and our flights to ND take eight hours. Again, that’s my own personal opinion.You should probably follow the airport and airlines rules.
I do not open the carrier on the plane unless I am giving her water or to stick my hand in to calm her down. That’s it.Gotta respect some rules!
This was from our last flight. We’re at the Bismark Airport. Didn’t get busted there but a TSA agent did stop us in Houston. Smaller airports are always friendlier!
Going through security is easy.Take your pet out of the carrier, put the carrier on the belt, and carry her through the scanner. I’ve not had to go through the full-body scanner machine when carrying Maggie. But they do swab my hands and do a little test just in case Maggie is actually a small bomb.
Calmness. I give Maggie a wee bit of Xanax before going to the airport.She doesn’t seem to mind flying but she gets impatient on the runway.And she will try to dig out of the bag–which startles the person sitting in the seat above her.
I’ve also read that you should not feed or water your dog before flights. But we just follow our regular routine.
So, if you have any questions, let me know. Like I said, these are my opinions and perhaps I’m crazy! Only time will tell.
Like I said last week, Thursday will be our Travel Dog Blog day. And then I posted one on Monday–but it was too good of a trip to hold until next week. Happy Travels!
