The Snoopers Story...Long Overdue

In one of my posts describing my road trip to the Pacific Northwest, I mentioned the dog who had hitched a ride with me to the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. It's really a charming story, and having just processed the few film camera pictures of the trip, it's indeed time to tell the story about Snoopers. (Too bad about the stop sign and dumpster in this picture, they really don't qualify for quality photography, but there are only so many pictures of the pooch.) The location is a great little campground in a small tourist community in Moab, Utah? Up The Creek Campground was only for tent campers, and had some very organic conveniences.

So here is the story:  I met a contractor who was selling some of his property in Silver City. After speaking about some of the terms, I knew that the property was possibly beyond my means, but suggested we stay in touch. Carlton called in a week or so and we started working on his tractor...on what turned out to be a very hot desert afternoon. He bought lunch.
Over next few weeks, we spent several hot desert afternoons either working projects at his place, or him giving helpful suggestions on repairs to my bus. And whenever I was at his property, I was greeted by a very friendly dog by the name of Snoopers.
As it hapenned, when I was describing the road trip I'd planned to the Pacific NW, Carlton told me that his former wife lived in the northwest and had been exploring different avenues for getting Snoopers to Sequim WA.
When I left Silver City, NM, I had little idea about where Sequim was. I just set my gps to that city, left a little dog space in the back of the Yaris and took off. We traveled north into Arizona and on into Utah. We found campgrounds along the way and shared my 2-person tent. Snoopers seemed happy and bored both. There was an issue with the summer sun blasting into the Snooper space in back. Even with the dark tint I'd added to the glass, I knew she was uncomfortable. We stopped and fashioned some shade for the windows. There was also an issue with the food Carlton had packed up for Snoops. She didn't eat it. But when I stopped for fast food, I couldn't resist her pleading eyes and fed her some French fries...and some chicken nuggets. What I learned was that managing travel needs with a pet on board is challenging. She couldn't safely sit in a hot car. And she couldn't come inside. So she stayed outside the burger joints while I went in and ordered food to go. 4 days after leaving NM, we arrived in Sequim. Sequim, (pronounced skwim), is in the Olympic Peninsula. It's in what is known as a 'rain shadow', absolving the city from most of the heavy, heavy, number of rain days typical of the Pacific Northwest. There is a large retirement community there and it is somewhat affluent from my perception. Nearby, but literally worlds away is Seattle. I only went through Seattle one time. After camping in the Olympic National Forest, climbing to see, (what's left of), the glacier on Mt. Olympus, making my way out to the rainforest on the west coast, there were no more big city visits until San Francisco. Snoopers stayed with Julia in Sequim. They both were very happy to be back together.
There may be a post or two here about the rest of the trip south and back to Silver but I think most of the posts add photos. I have some great memories, and am looking forward to heading back out in the spring.