Day trip to Broken Bow: A dog’s perspective

Woof. I’m Kero. I stay with my mom in Dallas. I love food and eat anything that falls on the floor. Recently my grandparents have come to stay with us and I love hanging out with them. I  live a tail-waggingly fun life, but the last few months have been different. We have had to stay indoors because of a weird animal called Covid. But all of that changed sometime last month when we went on a day trip.

Mom got up earlier than usual and it was still dark outside. I thought she was having one of her insomnia nights and I was about to drift off to sleep again. But then I saw her pack my food, treats, and travel bowls. I hopped out of the bed and followed her around. The moment she picked up the car keys, I started jumping with joy. I knew immediately that we were going on an adventure. I got into the car and off we were.

Mom rolled down the windows and I breathed in early morning Dallas. The already great start to the morning became even better when mom stopped at a Starbucks. She got herself a Pumpkin Spice Latte and for me came the love of my life, the Puppachino. After licking all of the creamy goodness, we headed off. We were already 2 hours away from home and mom showed no signs of stopping. We were not going to the dog park for sure!

I wanted to sniff everything enroute, but I was too tired from all the morning excitement and the grande puppachino, so I found myself a comfortable spot in the back of the car and dozed off. I was so busy snoring that I totally missed the important moment of me crossing into another state for the first time, in my 2 year long life. So when we finally stopped I started sniffing around to figure out where we were. My doggy senses told me that we were in Broken Bow, Oklahoma! We stopped to pick up some Mexican food and the whole car was fragrant. Grandma tried to feed me some kibble, which I stubbornly refused to eat. We then entered the Beavers Bend State Park and I knew that today was going to be all about the outdoors.

We were lucky to get a lunch spot by the lake. Mom and her friends set the table and the air was filled with the smell of fajitas, tortillas, nachos and so much more. In my mind, I had already licked the table clean but I waited patiently like a good boy. Mom kept down my food bowl, but to my disappointment, it was filled with kibble. In protest, I refused to even sniff it.  Are you kidding woman! With such amazing food on the table, you expect me to eat kibble? She was stubborn too and just walked away. So I used my age-old strategy and put on my most innocent puppy dog eyes and started attention whining. It worked and I got cheese, nachos, and chicken from mom’s friends. I could see that she was not happy about it, but who cares, we were on vacation.

After filling our tummies it was time to hit a trail. All the while I was leading the way. I tell you, humans are so slow, it can be frustrating. Finally, they caught up with my pace and we made it to the river.  We all dipped our paws in the cold river water. The temperature was in the 60’s and the sun was shining bright. It was the perfect day. I wondered why couldn’t we spend every day outside? Why did we have to stay surrounded by four walls most of the time, when the real world was out here? There is so much more to sniff here, so much more to eat, so much more adventure and so much more life. I was confused by the mundaneness of our daily lives and looked at mom for an answer.

But then I saw that she had her gaze fixated on the glistening river water and was in deep thoughts herself. It almost felt like she was having the same conversation with herself and was looking for answers. At that moment, I prayed to the mightiest God of all Gods; the God of Belly Rubs, to give her the answers she was seeking. Mom turned to me and looked at me lovingly. She petted me and we sat by the river for a long time.  

We then headed to another trailhead where the river was a little deeper. I saw many long and colorful sea monsters there, which the humans called Kayaks. Grandpa went away with mom’s friends and he did not take me along. Me, mom, and grandma were left behind. I was very scared and upset. Mom petted me and gave me some water. We then sat in the car. Mom was tired and slept off immediately. Grandma was as scared as I was. We were eagerly waiting for Grandpa. After some unnecessary barking from me, mom woke up.

We then left the car and sat by the river. The sun was almost setting and I was really missing grandpa. Just when I was about to fall asleep again, I could sniff him. A few minutes later we could all see him. He was coming down the river on the Kayak monster! Grandpa is so brave and strong. He is my hero. The moment he set foot on the ground I jumped all over him to show him how proud I was of him. We started our journey home. It was a wonderful day. On the way back, I fell asleep in the car and dreamt of chasing rabbits. I also dreamt of me and mom traveling more and living closer to nature.  Woof woof !!

Read more of mom’s adventures:

A Tiny Adventure

Har-ki-dun : THAT Valley!!!!!