Being the beagle terrier mix of Wendi and Bobby Warren, the creators of this blog, has afforded me plenty of new experiences in my life. From adventures on walking trails to visits to Put-In-Bay to lunch at Swenson’s, I have done a lot. But until recently I had never been to an overnight vacation that included a trip to a hotel. Mom and Dad had talked about taking me on an overnight trip with them, but had never done it yet. So during a recent birthday week celebration, Mom decided that it was time. I was super excited because I’ve heard that Mom’s weekend trips are legendary.
The adventure started with a long car ride to Mosquito Lake State Park in Warren, Ohio. Mom found out information about this lake on the internet. She said it would be the perfect place to take me because it had a 5 acre dog park.
Boy was she right! The park is divided into small and large dog sides. Unfortunately Mom wouldn’t let me go into the large dog side. I know I only weigh 25 pounds, but I have the heart of a large dog. It worked out O.K. because a Saint Bernard on the large dog side came to the fence to meet me. We played chase along the fence line for a little bit. That was a lot of fun. I also got to meet a few small dogs, too. They were fun, but sometimes a little timid. I think Mom got hot, so we needed to leave before I could get to know them all as well as I would have liked.
That was alright, because then after a little bit of driving around, we found a park that we could just walk around. There was this really high hill in the park. I think Dad said it was for sledding down. Mom and I walked up one side of it, the steep side. I basically had to pull Mom up the last few yards. I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, but I think she might be getting long in the tooth. But thanks to my encouragement, she made it all the way to the top!
While Mom had said that we could stay outside of Youngstown in Boardman, Ohio, Dad made the executive decision that we would cross state lines and stay in Hermitage, Pennsylvania. I didn’t care where we stayed as long as I got to go to a hotel. Mom found a Red Roof Inn in Hermitage. I have decided I like Red Roof Inn hotels because they let dogs in their rooms. Once Mom checked us in, it was my turn to check things out. After investigating every inch, I settled on the bed. Well, after I jumped from one to the other a couple of times. I had to find the most comfortable one.
One of the difficult things to do when you are vacationing with a dog, is to find a place to eat. Mom and Dad decided that take-out was the best option for us all. Dad was going to go and bring food back, but then Mom suggested that we all go and find a park to enjoy dinner. The weather was really nice and the Buhl Farm Park was very close, so Dad agreed that would be a great idea.
Dad picked up a BBQ rib dinner from a food truck outside of the hotel and also ordered a cheese pizza from Luigi’s. He did this because he had heard many good things about the pizza.
While Mom and Dad ate, I enjoyed hanging out and relaxing. Mom offered me my dinner, but how could I eat at a time like that?! There was so much to take in!
After their meal we decided a walk around the park would be nice. Buhl Farm Park has a swimming pool, pond, creek and plenty of paved walking trails. I don’t even think we saw half of it! We did see several people riding bikes, jogging and walking in the park. Like I said, it was a gorgeous evening. Mom found a spot by the pond that we could sit on a bench and chill out. And of course, Dad found plenty of good places to take our picture.
When we were done relaxing, Mom thought we would be heading back to the hotel, but Dad had other ideas. He found an ice cream shop called Bruster’s. The ice cream shop offers at least 24 flavors of ice cream each day. My parents love ice cream, so getting a chance to try a place they have never been, was pretty exciting. They each got a waffle cone with three different flavors of ice cream. Mom decided to get Chocolate, Death by Chocolate and Chocolate Oreo. Dad’s choices were Key Lime Pie, Graham Central Station (Graham Ice Cream with Graham Cracker Swirl and Chocolate Flakes) and Butter Brickle (Salted Caramel Ice Cream with Chocolate Covered Toffee Bits).
Once we finished our ice cream…or they finished their ice cream…we were finally headed back to the hotel. I could hardly wait to hang out in our room. I had already checked everything out when we first got there, but I did it again. You never know who might come into your room when you are gone. After a thorough inspection, I was satisfied. I decided to lay down and relax. It had been a long day! First I laid down with Mom. And then I laid down with Dad. That’s how it went in the night, too. I started on Mom’s bed and then went to Dad’s. (Mom explained that they usually get a room with a king size bed, but that wasn’t available. That was fine with me, because I got half of each bed anyhow.)
The next morning we hung out at the hotel until about 10. Mom and me walked outside the hotel so I could check things out. There were other dogs there as well. I saw two large rottweilers. Mom was glad that their dad was a big guy, because one of the rottweilers wanted to come and visit with me. He pulled his dad pretty hard to make his way. I think Mom thought he was more interested in me for breakfast than just to visit, so she kept us at a distance as well!
I have to tell you something, my parents are super slow when getting ready to leave a hotel. They seem to take their time packing everything up. I tried to move them along with barks of encouragement. It didn’t work as I had hoped, but we did eventually check out of the hotel. Instead of heading home like I expected, we went to the Shenango Dam, River and Lake. I’ve been to the Charles Mills Lake and Dam before. Mom and I were able to get real close that time. But there we could only see the dam by an overlook.
The nice part was I got to investigate a lot.
I mean a lot!
We checked out the lake, too. They had this big staircase we could climb to the top for a better look. I noticed that in Pennsylvania there are a lot of hills! It wore Mom and Dad out, but I could climb up and down all day. It was good for them that once we got to the top they could sit down on the bench and enjoy the view of the lake from such a tall hill.
By the time we got down the steps, both Mom and Dad were hungry. This time they decided to get sandwiches from Hotrods Sup Shop and take it back to Buhl Farm Park to enjoy.
Mom and I waited in the car while Dad ordered. When we got to the park and found a table to sit at, Mom was surprised to find deep fried mushrooms along with the french fries. Dad doesn’t like mushrooms, but Mom does. My dad spoils my mom so much! The sandwiches and mushrooms hit the spot for them.
We had just one more stop to make before we headed back home to Ohio. Mom convinced Dad that she should get another ice cream dessert from Bruster’s. This time Dad and I waited in the car while Mom ordered. Mom got the same ice cream as she did the day before, except instead of chocolate, she got the Nestle Crunch which is vanilla ice cream with chocolate covered crispies. Dad’s cone this time had Turtle Ice Cream (chocolate ice cream with caramel and pecans), White Turtle (vanilla ice cream with caramel and pecans) and Coffee which is caffeinated coffee ice cream.
Once our tummies — I mean their tummies were filled, we left Hermitage behind us and headed back home. I didn’t sleep the whole time on the way home. In fact, I barely sat down — like I did on our way out. It’s just how I roll. I’ve got to be on the alert to see what is going on from one minute to the next. By the time we got home, 28 hours later, I was really, really, tired. I mean I had heard that my mom knows how to pack a lot into a very little amount of time, but not until I saw it with my own eyes did I really understand what that meant. It took Dad and me about 3 days to recover from our adventures. But am I glad that I got to go with them? Oh, yeah, you bet I am!
