Chapter 13: Road Trip Night One

Mila took to the truck like a pro, when I opened the back door she hopped right in and sat on the seat looking around with that big, goofy grin on her face. It was nice looking in the side mirror on the short trip back to the campground, that happy, face-in-the-wind look was something only a dog could pull off. My arrival back at the campground was interesting. I backed the truck in near to the trailer’s storage room doors to make the off-loading job easier, grabbed Mila’s leash and took her out to meet our travelling companions.

Mila’s happy, “Gosh, it’s so nice to meet you” attitude won Sonya over in an instant; but Matilda first scurried over to the pickup and set her big bag carefully down in the back seat. She then came over and with a genuine smile (something I don’t think I’d seen out of Matilda yet) greeted Mila. As happy as she seemed to be to meet Mila the initial scurrying somehow didn’t make sense.

The breeder had provided me with a few essentials for Mila including a leash, a long tether and the like. Mila was still new with us and we couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t bolt back to her pack so I tethered her to the trailer with food and water and we turned our focus to the supplies in the truck. It took almost two hours to unbox, sort and stow all of the supplies. The pile of packing detritus in the back of the truck was quite impressive and the afternoon was fading towards evening. Matilda had disappeared back inside of the trailer.

I mentioned going to get food for dinner, Sonya merely shook her head and pointed to a small pile of superstore bags filled with plastic wrappings and other shelf-goods wrappings. The quick explanation was that internet taxis were easy to use and she had made a quick grocery run. The sound of the gas stove firing up confirmed that Matilda was busy putting together a meal. What could I say? I directed her to our new portable camping table and chairs and asked her to set them up under the trailer’s awning; I grabbed my new tent out of storage and went about setting up my sleeping quarters.

I had the tent up and was working on my cot when Sonya popped her head and announced that she had finished, I asked her to visit the campground office and see if there was anyplace we could deposit our truck bed full of shipping trash. By the time I’d finished setting my room Sonya had returned with the news that we could use their dumpster; I suspected she had sweet talked the young male clerk but I didn’t mind.

By the time we returned from cleaning out the bed of the truck Matilda had our dinner on the table. We washed up and sat down to eat, the simple dinner of potatoes with sausage and peppers smelled wonderful. Matilda took her bowl and headed for the truck, I said “NO” quite loudly and pointed to her spot at the table. She shook her head at me and turned to go when I again spoke loudly “Sit. Eat”; Matilda shrugged her shoulders and joined us at the table.

The food was amazing, the weather was delightful and even Mila lying on a blanket near the table seemed happy. It was our first time eating together and perhaps our first moment of relaxation in weeks.

The meal complete, Matilda began clearing up, Sonya rose to help her but a word from me stopped her. It was time for business and I sent her into the trailer to gather our laptops. While Sonya pulled our IT out and set it up on the table I moved the TV from inside the trailer to the outer wall mounts under the awning; it wasn’t a difficult or time-consuming operation and modern flat screens are feather lite. By the time Matilda re-emerged from the trailer we were set up and ready to go, Matilda was headed for the truck when I spoke out again and told her: “Sit, Listen”. Down she sat.