Have Dog, Will Travel

Karat and my daughter in the back seat

My family used to take a lot of train trips. But then we got a dog. And while you can bring a dog up to 20 pounds on Amtrak, we got a labrador. Who, though petite for a lab, still weights 61 pounds.

So if we want to take her, we have to drive.

Karat on the floor of the car

Not that we always want to take her. Winter travel, eve to a pet friendly hotel like the Kimpton chain, is problematic because you can't bring the dog to restaurants, you can't eat outside in freezing weather and you really didn't go away to sit in your hotel room.

We have found that our dog, Karat, loves to hike, so we try to take her with us when we plan to hike. And it turns out that a lot of friends who don't have dogs enjoy hiking with a dog, so this has become a group activity.

Hiking with the dog, and friends

We've learned little things along the way, like always have at least two extra water bottles for the dog on those hikes, and bring towels to wipe her down before getting back in the car, We can take off our hiking boots, but her muddy paws can make everyone unhappy.

Dog friendly has different meanings

We took Karat with us on a week-long trip looking for colleges for our youngest daughter. One bed and breakfast we stayed at in Vermont claimed to be dog-friendly, but you couldn't leave the dog in the room without being there. Once Karat has run around for an hour or two, she is content to sleep by herself, but we couldn't eat breakfast at this quaint B & B, where the summer air temperature hovered around freezing, since Karat couldn't stay in the room and we were too cold to eat on the porch.

Worried she'll be left behind

On the other hand we stayed at an inexpensive Best Western in Albany where we took Karat for a run, then left her in the room while we went out to dinner.  No one batted an eye.

Kimpton Hotels: the ultimate in dog friendly

Kimpton offers dog treats in the lobby, a dog bed and dog bowls if you've forgotten your own, and an extremely canine friendly environment.  We stayed at a Kimpton in Portland, OR, that had a 'house dog' for those who didn't bring their own pets; since we didn't fly Karat across the country, we made friends with the resident lab.

Escape from New York: Weekend in the Country

They didn't look but we enjoyed the view from Mt. Holyoke

After spending the holiday weekend in New York City, we are plotting our next weekend getaway. Not that I don't love a NYC 4th of July; in fact, holiday weekends, when you live in NY, are best spent at home, enjoying the relatively quiet beaches, tons of parking, empty restaurants and lack of traffic.

Last time I had a car to test out, we drove up to Northampton, MA for a weekend of hiking. There are plenty of trailheads nearby where you can park for free and enjoy a day in the woods.

We headed to Mt Holyoke, where the Summit Hotel once welcomed guests. The hotel is closed, though it still has rocking chairs on the porch where you can enjoy the expansive view (park rangers also set up a telescope). What it did not have, when we hiked there, was running water, though it is supposed to be available Memorial Day though Labor Day. There are always porta-Johns, but be sure to bring plenty of drinking water when you hike just in case there is no water.

At the summit

There are several different trails here, none particularly rigorous, but all leading to the almost 1,000 foot summit. You are rewarded there not only with the view but also with picnic tables where you can have lunch.

Ducks swimming in the stream at Smith College

You can also spend a day wandering around downtown Northampton, which is filled with vegetarian restaurants, cafes and boutiques. From downtown, walk over to Smith College, which has miles of wood trails, and a stream where dogs can cool off. We also saw families of ducks swimming around and lots of flat stones for skipping across the water.

Enjoying the sunset from the car on the way back to NY. The traffic, not so much.

Note: GM loaned me a Buick Regal. I was not compensated for this post.