Part 1: Travelin’ Weenies – The Colorado Experiment

Learning to Fly Packing for our two-week trip to Colorado took more time than I’d allotted—in part because a certain stealthy poodle kept removing items from my suitcase whenever I turned my back—so we didn’t get to bed until after midnight the day of our departure. I’d optimistically hoped my choice of a gentle wake…

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Part 2: The Comfort of Crap

In Part 1 of the Travelin’ Weenie series, I introduced you to the preparations this family goes through before setting out on a vacation. (And by “this family,” I mean me.) In the next chapter of the series, we dig deeper into the delicate art of neurotic air travel… I bring two bags on every…

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Part 3: Weenie in Her Full, Upright and Locked Position

I’m not a big fan of flying, but since I love to travel I can’t always avoid airplanes. It’s not that I’m afraid of crashing—I tend to go with the statistics on that and hope for the best. (I have a similar approach to the stock market and swimming right after lunch.) My fear is…

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Part 4: And they’re off…

After landing at the Denver airport, picking up our embarrassing mountain of luggage from the baggage carousel and renting a car, the Weenies were off on their Colorado extravaganza. Supposedly the first leg of our long drive through the Rockies was quite beautiful. I know this because Mr. Weenie told me so. Apparently I’d fallen…

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Part 5: Down in The Valley

Day two of the Weenies’ excellent adventure began with a visit to the Royal Gorge. In addition to its spectacular plunge of over 1,000 feet to the Arkansas River below, the Royal Gorge’s sheer cliff walls support the world’s largest suspension bridge. Even more impressive than the bridge itself was the fact that I had…

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Part 6: Lost in Condo City

After our exciting morning at the Royal Gorge, the Weenie family arrived in Pagosa Springs, which would be home base for the next week. Our condo was perfectly located in close proximity to some of southern Colorado’s most beautiful hiking. That said, our first full day in Pagosa was spent sleeping. Literally. We slept until…

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Part 7: Man Does Not Live by Cookies Alone

Unlike our usual vacations where we eat out for virtually every meal, the Weenies decided to prepare most of our own while in Colorado. Now this probably sounds like a completely normal thing to do for most people, but in case you haven’t noticed, the Weenies are not most people. You see, even when we’re…

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Part 8: Mountain Mama

The Weenies’ second hike was somewhat more successful than the first. For one thing, we didn’t get lost in the parking lot. As a warmup we decided to take what the brochure called an “easy” jaunt up to a mountain lake. Note: “Easy” in Colorado is not the same as “Easy” in south Austin. I…

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Part 9: Why Poodles and Spas Don’t Mix

One of the top items on the Pagosa Springs “must do” list is soaking in the healing waters of the hot springs. While the sulphuric smell of rotten eggs is a bit of a turnoff, the nose quickly adjusts once the soaking has begun. The Weenies decided to splurge on a spa that offered massages…

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Part 10: On The Road Again

After a wonderful week of hiking, the Weenies said goodbye to Pagosa Springs and turned their sights westward toward Durango and beyond. Sadly, the Durango Railroad didn’t allow poodles, so we continued on up past Silverton to the heart-pounding twists and turns of the “Million Dollar Highway” (named, I assume, for the amount of money…

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