T2 My humans brought me over here to expand my horizons, and have I ever! So many sidewalk snacking opportunities... t2


The Story:

One day I'm comfortably enjoying my lovely lakefront pad... the next I'm whisked off to a strange place with purple carpet, hardwood floors and lots of deli-smells in the hallways. I now get three walks a day and every few weeks, I get to go for a car ride and sample the local sidewalk cuisine!

The Excellent Adventures:

We'll be going in reverse order here, 'cause I feel like it, and I'm the boss o' me. Like I said before, there's a lot more to this new place than I first thought. There are still (whoa!) a lot more feet to look out for, but I'm getting used to it. I keep trying to sneak a bite here and there from the leftovers that the people here sometimes leave on the sidewalk for me, but sometimes I just get too excited and LUNGE for it. My human (usually the really big one with the hair on his face) then realizes what I'm up to and yanks me back.

I've met quite a few other dogs here, but it's hard to get to know someone when you don't know the language...

The people really seem to like me here. People in America (that's what my humans tell me the place we came from is called) haven't, for the most part, heard of my wonderful and storied breed. Over here - apparently, we crossed an "ocean" in an "airplane"... Uh-huh... all I know is that I was in a crate again, and me and some other dogs played bridge in a noisy room for a few hours before they let us out again - anyway, over here, everyone knows that I'm from the same stock as the Queen of England's dogs and they show the proper appreciation to be in my presence. Not a bad set of surroundings!

Anyway, my humans like taking pictures of me (I can't blame them - I am the best lookin' thing on four legs), and I thought I could provide a little background on the wheres and whys:

Well, it's been a long, strange trip. I came, I conquered, I sniffed some foreign dogs' butts. Apparently something's going on in August that I can't be a part of, so the big humans arranged for me to go home early. They promised me that I'll really like it where I'm going - lots of water and grass right outside my door - for me to poop on! - but I'll miss their quirky ways. I'll try not to have too much fun going swimming every day, taking pontoon rides and hangin' with my Grampa-dad and -mom. I hear there's a curious little bugger hanging around them these days, though. Rock Star or Rocky Road or Rock'n'Roll or something. Whatever - just let me have my space, man.

I've seen a lot of the world now, and, well, I've learned some things about myself. German people give respect where it's due. One doesn't always need to have grass to pee. Other dogs need to be on a leash (I don't, of course, they just don't know when to mind they own bidness). German beer is good, but not good for you. Even a dog needs a passport. If you have to have humans around, I guess mine aren't so bad.

Man, my humans are slow. We've been living her for almost two years, and they've finally gotten around to posting some stuff about the concrete jungle we live in, Düsseldorf. I figured I could put up the pics of me from that gargantuan stack of photos.

Here's me playing in the overflow of the Rhein. Here's me in a rare moment with my Daddy. Here's me hangin' by the river - don't I just make a sunset look that much better? Here's me playing in the overflow of the Rhein. Again. It was that much fun.

Took a short jaunt to Brussels in February. I got to hang out with this cool lion-dude, but he didn't talk much. That's okay, I like to talk A LOT, so it was cool...

My man Drew came to see me in March. Nice to see the man's doing well, although he confided in me that, during his week here in Germany, he saw some things that would turn you white! Stay black, brutha!

Went to Austria for New Year's. Again. Oh well, I guess it is really pretty and all. Plus I got to do some major hiking this time. Fresh powder trails, ample opportunity to rub around in new smells - what a time I had. I let the humans come along too, but they had to wear snowshoes. Wimps. They were really generous with the snow treats, though, so it was alright to have them along. It tastes so good, I couldn't resist! We climbed 'till the air got thin, and had lunch at the top of the mountain. Not a bad view. I was so pooped afterwards that I didn't want to walk much at all for, like, a week. Dude.

They did, however, get me riled up later that week in the hotel room. I'm just sitting there, minding my own business, laying at the head of the bed (it's my favorite place, don'cha know), and the big one says, "Who's that?" I'm like, "Huh? Did I miss an intruder?" and he's all, like, "Who is that, T2?" So I have to jump around and howl at the moon to make sure that, if there is someone there, he knows I'm here too, and he better watch out.

Silly intruders. I sure showed them.

We got into the car again - kind of bizzare this time, though. First we drive to a really nice hotel, stay one night, and then we drive back toward home, but keep on going past the place. What are these crazy people thinking? Anyway, after another few hours, we came to a nice little hotel - kind of reminds me of that place with all the canals that I didn't get to swim in. Surprise, surprise - I'm not allowed to swim in these canals either. Man, I can't wait to go swimming at my Grandpa-Dad's place this summer. Instead of enjoying the water, I spent most of the time in the hotel room. Again. This one wasn't bad, though - nice low window to look out of and watch for the people to come back and take me out for a Dubya. That's what they call a walk - they think I don't know what they mean. I mean, really! I'm nearly seven. I can spell. Sort of. The last picture was taken after we got home - and they call me a furball...

Fall 2001 brought MSU football season back into our lives, and my humans, dorks that they are, decided that since they couldn't make it to any tailgates in East Lansing this year, they would just make their own tailgate. Intriguing...

They had corn-on-the-cob, hamburgers (chopped pork of course), fajitas, pretzels and even Twizzlers. The beer, as you can see above, was flowing too. The internet brought George Blaha and company to our ears to complete the experience. I tried to get my paws on some grub through stealth, but I found that the circus tricks and cute face got the most sympathy treats, not to mention some kickin' suds.

We even played a little catch to liven up the party, so I donned my exclusive Charles Rogers jersey and joined in, even though that meant I'd have to play injured. Just like my big human, I get a little over-zealous when I play around, and I got a nasty raspberry on my foot, so it has to be wrapped. I think it looks cool, though. Just don't call me thumper! By the end of the night, I was a cashed puppy. All in all, I give the Euro-style tailgate two paws up!

Got to see my first waterfall in November- nnnnnghhhh... waaateeerrrr... Can you believe they let me hike down to the base of the falls with them? I got nice and wet and muddy - what a blast! The ride there was fun, too.

Play-time at the castle! Finally, we went to a remote enough place for me to have some real fun. These humans, trying to run away from the herd - who do they think they're dealing with?!? As you can see, I had no trouble rounding them up again. Phew! What a work out!

This last set here is my favorite. They may call him Superboy, but it's quite clear who's doing the flying.

Here I am on a bed in the Estricher Hof hotel in Trier in the Mosel Valley. Nice, comfortable room. Spent a lot of time there... On my thrice-daily constitutional, however, I got to run free on a wooded trail. It... was... AWESOME!!! Freedom is a beautiful thing. On the way back every time, I got to taunt a couple of German Shepherds who were in a fenced in area in back. Man, did they bark loudly. But, as I said before, I don't know the language well enough yet. Nice drive down to this place, too. Lots of water and hang-your-head-out-the-window opportunities.

Here's a few shots of me in Rome. Wow, what a long car ride that was! Lots of mountains and lakes and tunnels - exhausting. Then we get to this Rome place and the humans want to take me walking around a lot. Man, I'm tired already! Go do your own thing. Lots of good smells here, though. I think I like Italian cooking. Not a lot of dogs around, but lots of cats just roaming the area. I tried to come up and say hi to a couple, but they weren't havin' it. Hissing and claw-bearing. I think I'll avoid them from now on. Lots of pretty statues and buildings here. My hotel room is pretty small, but the bed is in the perfect position to sit and look out the window. (That last pic is actually of me back home in Germany - happy to be back in a place where the dogs have the power!)

The first shot here is me back home again - they must be trying to use up their film on me, which is not a bad idea. The second is from something they saw in the ruins of the Roman Forum. It says that my namesake, while being a bit on the uppity side, was really smart and brought about the construction of the original waterways in Rome. Yup - royal stock, that's me. The next two are a couple of shots of me on my second trip to Paris (yes, I've been there twice!). This time, since we stayed so close to the Eiffel Tower, I got to go see it on my walks. Man, I thought humans were big! That thing is gigantic! The hotel room was a little cramped, but this one had a balcony for me to watch the world from. Always a plus to be able to see when your humans are coming back so you can hide your reading material.

These shots are just a little rough-housing with my human. He likes to think he can take me, but I know better (just ask him about the toothmarks on his wrist). The one with the antlers, I don't want to talk about. I must have been wasted on treats when THAT was taken.

Aw geez - more antler shots. Okay, here's the real story. The humans hit me first with the new Spartan Football jersey (second pic, above). Who wouldn't be totally stoked about that? I mean, it was even personalized for crying out loud. Then they say, hey - why don't you nibble on this treat here, and putontheseantlerssowecantakeapicture? I was still trying to figure out what they'd said (I knew I heard the word "treat" in there somewhere...) when the antlers were on and the camera was out. Honestly. And then they tell me the jersey wasn't even from them - it was from my Grampa-Dad.

Here's another one of me sporting my sweet jersey. The next three here are from our trip to Salzburg. I got to go on a TRAIN RIDE!!! I even got to go with the humans around the city and see lots of cool stuff. We went to lunch at an Italian place and they served my drink first. Nice to be recognized at your proper position. I met Copernicus' statue, meandered through the gardens and walked through what looked a lot like my new home, but turned out to be a similar place in a different city. The hotel room at this place was wierd. Really small, kinda cold, with little beds. I had to choose which human to push around when we went to sleep. There was grass directly outside, though, so there's that.

Here's one of me at home on the purple carpet. The nice thing about really short carpet is that the humans can vacuum your hair up and you can easily re-shed the place to your liking in a very short time. Unfortunately, that makes them bring out their evil vacuum cleaner more often. The next two are of me at this swank joint in Ising. Really big hotel room, with a nice balcony to watch the horses go by. A pleasant, woody smell surrounded the place. The human with the long hair took me out into the woods for a nice, long walk. I was able to get really dirty too - SWEET! Of course, she then ruins the experience by forcing me to take a bath in the big tub. Not bad, though, to have a tub just for dogs - I can dig it! Oh geez, another antler shot! Will it never end?!?

Click on any of the small pictures to see a larger version!
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