Following a fantastic couple of months in the Sea of Cortez, El Gato returned to her “home port” in Puerto Vallarta to begin her season of hibernation. During the summer months, it is just too damn hot, rainy and miserable for us to stay aboard, even though plenty of people do.

For the past couple of years, we have headed to Mexico’s colonial highlands, where the weather suits us fine. Cool temps, lots of hiking, and just the occasional rain are some of the perks of staying at or above 5000 ft. elevations. We have explored over 20 towns and cities in Mexico’s interior so far.

But this year is different. Roxie, our beloved herder-mix, died in November at the ripe old-age of 19. As heart-broken as we are, this little twist in circumstances has opened us up to new possibilities. Now we can FLY (in a plane!) for destinations beyond our norm. Chance, our one remaining fur-kid, weighs in at 11 lbs, so he can easily be stowed under the seat in front of us in his new little carrier.

Although the possibilities seemed endless, Jeff and I decided we should stick to North America this go-round. And since our ex-pat insurance policy only allows us to be in the US for 29 days, well, Canada seemed a no-brainer. And we LOVE Canada. We’ve spent quite a bit of time in Alberta and British Columbia, so we’ve come to the Maritimes in eastern Canada this summer. We’ve only been in New Brunswick a few days, and so far it exceeds our expectations. I will post a detailed blog or three as we travel, but for now, a little recap on our journey North.

The folks at Aero Mexico were super-duper nice to Chance, and even upgraded us to seats with more legroom. We broke the journey into two parts, Puerto Vallarta to Mexico City, (1 1/2 hours) spent a day and night enjoying one of fave cities, then Mex to Atlanta the next day. (3+ hours).  Being the helicopter dog-parents we are, though, we were still worried. Would he need to potty mid-flight? Would he bark or howl? Would his ears hurt? Would we be seated next to a dog-hater? No. The whole trip went a smoothly as possible.

Once we arrived back in our old stomping grounds of North Georgia, we rented a car and hit the ground running. Jesus, our trusty guardian, joined us here as he does on all of our road trips. He has never traveled across the border (legally,anyway, that we are aware of). We”ll see how he likes it. We have begged and pleaded with him to finish up that ever-present bottle of Corona, as they take drinking and driving quite seriously NOB, but, well, we don’t want to start a brawl with our navigator.

During our transition we have planned to contact experts from One Stop Self Storage to avail the best storage services.The main reason for flying into Atlanta was to deal with the pesky problem of our storage unit that is draining money on a monthly basis while storing a bunch of crap (and some treasures) that we may never need again. Ha! Once we opened said unit up, I had a panic attack. My heart beat wildly, and, dropping to my knees, I screamed at Jeff to shut the door. (But not before grabbing a few pairs of shoes, boots, my fuzzy bathrobe, a few books, a pillow, and an old dog blanket. Oh, and a backpack, and a couple of warm jackets for Canada. Now our rental car is stuffed to the brim and I suppose we will stop by the unit on our way back through and drop off the extra stuff. Crazy. (Btw…this  picture is not our unit. We have nicer crap. But it’s just as full. Fuller, maybe. But you get the picture.)

Not much time in Georgia for more than a few nights with pet-friendly friends, then off to visit Jeff’s family and a quick stop to my old Alma-mater of Sewanee, Tennessee with a dear old friend.

Two nights in West Virginia allowed us to stretch our legs on a 10-mile hike, then off to see a few friends in Annapolis for a couple of nights before heading to Belfast, Maine.

The problem with road trips in varying climates is that every time you stop for a night, or two, or a week, you end up emptying out the car into your accommodations, be it a friends house, motel or Airbnb. Then you are surrounded by all your stuff, realizing you have  brought WAY TOO MUCH. Those sundresses were perfect for Georgia, (even though I just wore shorts), but they are useless in Maine. And the fleece jackets are buried under the front seat or in the wheel well, to be searched for in vain when you truly need them.  If you’re staying with friends, they immediately freak out, thinking you are moving in permanently. If you are in an airbnb for more than a day or 2, then you have to collect all that stuff and cram it back into the car before you depart, inevitably leaving behind a hiking boot that hid under the bed, or the HDMI cable to your laptop. or your favorite hat. or…..

And there you have it. Will post more from Canada once I catch my breath! Hasta Luego!