The Second Weekend of Beagle Camp

Day Thirteen, Saturday

I am getting ready to make the trip up Route 95 to meet Jan and her husband. It looks like it's going to be a chilly day. I put everyone outside while I clean up the kitchen and get the crate out to the car. I put the exercise pen in the car, and I remember to put extra towels and two sheets in the car as well, along with a plastic bag. I'm feeling VERY prepared. So, I get the resident four plus one fed, and they go outside. I'm not feeding the girls - too many fosters have barfed in my car - I've learned this lesson well. I bought little harnesses to put on Tara and Georgia and realize they're probably actually for cats, but heck, they fit and they work, so I'm not complaining. I snap their leashes on them, and I pick up Dixie and take them all to the crate. After some initial jockeying for space, they settle into the crate pretty well. I stop at 7-11 for coffee and gas, the girls sleep through the stop, and we're off. I am amazed at how quiet the girls are - no fights, just soft whuffles and snores. The drive is uneventful, until I get to the Fort McHenry Tunnel Toll Plaza. Now, Claudette told me that I would need $8.00 for tolls. I listened. But I forgot. I scramble madly for four quarters from my change-holding ashtray. I need to go to an ATM. Which I manage to do before I have to pay another toll - phew! The rest of the drive is uneventful, until just before the Delaware House rest stop, one of the girls throws up. I look back and see that everyone is OK, so I keep going, and I arrive at the Delaware House rest stop and pull in to the gas station. Jan's not there. So, I figure they must be at the station at the other end. So, I drive over there, through a series of "Do Not Enter" signs, and then I see them. I pull over, and a Belle throws up a second time. Good thing I remembered extra towels and sheets. I open the back hatch, and the girls are clamoring to get out. I put the leashes on Tara and Georgia and Jan and her husband walk the girls around as I clean up the barf in the crate. It's not much since I didn't feed them this morning. It's even chillier outside here than at home. I had planned to let the girls run inside the portable exercise pen I have, but the leashes worked fine. They walked Georgia and Tara around, talked to them both, cuddled them, and were trying to decide which girl to take while I talked to someone from PA interested in adopting a beagle. I gave him a card (of course!) and then Jan told me that she and her husband picked Tara. Tara is snuggling Jan and showering her with beagle kisses. So, Tara is adopted! We complete the paperwork, and I get Georgia and Dixie settled in to the crate, and we head for home. I'm going to miss Tara, but I know she's got a good home and family.

I get back home, and I unload the crate, with the Belles inside. I put the crate back in the kitchen, and get the exercise pen out of the car, which has been doubling as the barricade in the kitchen. I get the barricade set up again, and let the girls out of their crate. At first, they don't move. But then Georgia sticks her head out, and walks over to the water dish. I feed both her and Dixie, and then get them outside. The resident four plus one sniff the puppies, and Potsy looks all around the house and yard for Tara. I think he understands when I tell him that Tara is adopted and with her new family now, because he stops searching - either that or he stops searching because I have a potato chip in my hand. The rest of the day is kind of lazy. We watch TV, we nap, we play for a bit, we eat dinner, we play, we watch TV, then we go to bed. Hunter explores every inch of the bedroom and pauses every now and then with a look of déjà vu on his face. I tell him he should remember this house, he's been here before. Dixie and Georgia are still sleeping in the kitchen, but this will change when Dixie goes home. Georgia will be the sole Belle, and she'll get to sleep in her crate in the bedroom.