The van stops again, and Fred hops down off the bed. I wonder if it is safe for me to crawl out as I hear the van door open again. I sit and watch as Dad puts Fred on a leash. Mom comes to open the back door. She scratches me behind my ears. That feels so good. She asks if I want to climb down. There is concrete around the van, but it doesn’t look like a road. There is also grass and a small tree. I jumped down and begin to smell the grass. Fred had told me that a dog can learn all sorts of things with the smells. I want to be as good of a dog as Fred is.

Mom connects a big black cord from the van to a post beside the concrete. Next, she takes a white cord from the van to the post. She turns the handle and water starts to drip. She goes first to the van and then back to the post, and the water stops dripping. I’m not sure I understand, but she seems to be happy. This place has another one of those tables like the one where we had the picnic. She puts a red and white plastic cover over the table. Fred and Dad come back from a walk as she sets up chairs in the grass near the tree. She unclips me from the lead out the back door, and then clips me to another at the side door. This one is long enough for me to lay next to Fred alongside Dad. Fred tells me this is called camping, and that we will be here all night long. I know I won’t be scared as long as we will all be in the van together. Best of all when they close all of the doors, Mom unclips the cord, and I can explore freely inside the van.

Early the next morning Mom puts me on that lead at the side door. She says I can play while she makes coffee. She puts the coffee pot on the stove, and then takes Fred for a walk. The big truck that is next to us starts to make awful noises. I run back into the van, and jump into bed with Dad. I am so scared, but Dad starts to pet me and says it’s okay. The big truck drives away, and it is quiet again. When Mom comes back, she pours a cup of coffee and hands another one to Dad. They talk about where we will camp the next night. Are we really going to do this again?

After they drink their coffee Dad takes Fred for another walk while Mom puts all of those cords back in the van and closes the back doors. She makes sure there is food in my bowl on the counter and Fred’s big bowl on the floor. She also adds water to our bowl on the floor. Fred jumps up on the bed. I take that as my cue to crawl under the pillows again. Dad laughs as Mom sings, “On the road again. Right back on the road again.” Fred tells me that we will do this again before we get to Illinois. I ask why we are going to Illinois, but Fred doesn’t know.

Illinois doesn’t look any different than the other places we have camped. There is gravel under the van rather than concrete. Dad swears a lot as he sprays some nasty smelling stuff on his arms and legs. Fred said Dad doesn’t like mosquitoes. I don’t like them either when one bites me on my nose. The nasty smelling stuff seems to chase them away, so maybe it isn’t as nasty as I think. The next day we drive to someone’s house where there are lots of people. Fred says this clearly is a family reunion. It must be Mom’s family, because it certainly isn’t mine. We both get lots of pets, and Fred gets some of Dad’s food from another picnic. I sit on Dad’s lap as all of the people collect around him. A lady puts a box in front of her face, and tells everyone to smile. Fred tells me that she was taking a picture like Mom often does. Later I get to see the picture of all of those people. Maybe camping and a family reunion isn’t so bad after all.

Once we are back home, we settle in to a regular daily routine. The days are hot, so I only get to play out on my lead first thing in the morning. In the afternoon Mom and Dad change clothes and go outside without us. I ask Fred where they are going. He says they are going swimming. He then goes on to explain that they climb into the water for exercise. I ask if it is like a bath. He says it is a little but without soap. I don’t think that I would like that kind of a bath any more than I did the one Mom gave me months ago. I decide Mom and Dad really aren’t as smart as I thought they might be.

The days start to get cooler, and Mom says it is time to close up the pool. Fred explains that the pool is that box in the backyard where they go swimming. He says they will put a cover over the water and turn off the pump that sometimes is making noise when we go for a walk. I like the idea of the backyard being quieter. There are also a lot of leaves that fall off the tree and pile in the grass. It is fun to chase them as they fall.

One day Mom picks me up, and tells me how big I’ve gotten. She also says it is time for another trip to the vet. Fred rolls his eyes at this, and says that I’m not going to like it. He says he remembers when he made that kind of trip to the vet, and that his whole view of the world changed once he stopped hurting. I ask if it will hurt me. He says that I am younger than he was, so it shouldn’t be as bad. I ask if they’ll poke me with a needle. He said it would be a quick jab and then I would be sleepy. He said I would sleep through the surgery, and will still be sleepy when Mom picks me up to come home. I don’t like the sounds of this, but I decide I’m not even going to yell at Mom or that lady that puts the tubes in her ears. I think she is the veterinarian. Fred has explained that she is our doctor.

That night Mom picks up my food bowl and even Fred’s after he has his dinner. Before bed she actually takes away the water bowl! In the morning neither of us get breakfast. Fred says I’ll get to eat after I come back from the vet, but I may not feel like it. This whole thing is sounding worse with every passing minute. After she takes Fred for a walk, Mom comes back to push me into that box she calls a cat carrier. At the vet’s office she tells me to be good as she hands the cat carrier to the girls at the desk. They move me from the carrier to a cage, and Mom leaves. I’m scared. One of the girls takes me out of that cage a little while later. She takes me to a table, and just like Fred said, the vet lady gives me a shot. The girl pets me as I go to sleep. It seems like only a minute before the girl takes me out of the cage I don’t remember being in, and hands me to Dad. Mom talks to the woman at the counter while Dad and I go out to the car. I really have a headache, but Dad says I will feel better soon. I really hope he is right.

Mom announces that we are going on another trip before winter sets in. Fred explains that winter means it gets cold and may even snow. That doesn’t sound like a good time for a trip, so I do hope Mom is correct. She says that we will go to Big Bend National Park. Even though it is still in Texas, it will take us two days to get there. I hope she picks a good place for us to spend the night while we are traveling.

We start off early in the morning, and like before, I think I will be safe nestled under the pillows. We stop along the way for a picnic. Late in the afternoon, it starts to smell really, really bad in the van. Fred says the smell is actually coming from outside the van. I try to be patient, but the smell continues. I crawl out to sit next to Fred while I yell at Mom to make the smell stop. When she doesn’t do that, I march to the front of the van where I can reach up and pat Dad as he sits in the passenger seat. I yell at him. He reaches down to pet me, while I try to tell him I don’t like that smell. Mom asks Dad how anyone could stand to live in either Midland or Odessa with that smell. I guess Mom and Dad don’t like it either. It seems like forever before the smell goes away.

Mom comments that it gets dark so early, before she finds a place for us to camp for the night. It has been a long tiring day, and we are all happy when it is time for bed. The next day we drive for a few more hours before we arrive at a campground that Mom says is in Big Bend. She and I walk along the roadway in the campground to go to a sign where she writes on a piece of paper and drops it in a slot in a post. As we start walking back, she tells me that we are now registered to spend two nights here. This must be a special place because in the past, we usually stay one night, and then keep driving the next day. As we are going back, we walk past a group of young men who ask Mom if they can pet me. She asks me if it is okay. They squat down so that I can easily reach their hands. They seem like nice young man. They tell Mom they are visiting from Sweden, and never expected to see a cat walking in the campground. I wish I could tell them that I’m not just any cat. I am a dog-cat and walking on a leash is normal for dog-cats. They say I will be a special part of their trip. They even take my picture. Later I learn that although Mom took lots of pictures, none are of Fred or me. I hope those boys keep the pictures they took of me.

I like Big Bend, because it smells so much better than the road did the day before. Mom and Dad leave Fred and I in the van while they go hiking. Later a Ranger stops at our campsite. He also wants to pet me as well as Fred. He warns Mom not to leave me out alone. He is afraid a Javelina might get me. Mom reassures him that they only leave me out on my lead while they can watch me. I don’t think I would want to meet a Javelina, but I really like camping here.

Mom says we are going to take a different road home this time past San Antonio. After our two days, it is time to get on the road again. We spend the night at a rest area. Dad doesn’t like the sign that warns about rattlesnakes. I don’t like that I really can’t play outside after my walk. I’ll be glad to get home.