Assembling the trailer. Our two major obstacles are in the foreground: will Bella be willing to ride in this thing, and will Sammy be healthy enough that we can leave him for a few days?
To be honest, I’ve never found the C&O Canal towpath all that alluring. A flat green tube. It was the sight of my very first overnight bikepacking trip, a trial to test my new gear. [edit: my mother has asked twice that I correct the spelling. Site.] I went with an ex-boyfriend I hadn’t seen [sighted] for years. He was a field botanist and accustomed to sleeping outside; he didn’t even bother with a tent. This was all new to me. During the night I startled awake. “What was that sound?” Through my tent wall I heard him mumble, “It’s a bear, and it’s going to eat you with Swiss cheese.” He didn’t remember any of this in the morning.
Later that summer I met Bill on an organized bike tour in Oregon. Within a few months I was bikepacking alone in Patagonia. The towpath didn’t seem adventure-y enough to return for more.
But I live in the city and the C&O is a good place to knock off a long run in a relatively short time. A couple weeks ago while doing 28 miles I realized I had a few days off coming up. My birthday is soon and it’s October so the green tube might have some more colors. We didn’t get to travel together this summer and had been considering an autumn camping trip in the Shenandoahs with the dog. What if instead we did a birthday fundraiser for citydogsrescuedc.org? This is the rescue that saved Bella as well as the dozens of dogs and cats we have fostered. Bill would be my support vehicle, carrying food and camping gear and dragging Bella behind his bike in a trailer. Daily updates on our progress might gin up interest and donations to the rescue. She’s an adorable ambassador and I know at least five people who aren’t my mother who look forward to my travelogues.
Only problem is that we’ve never actually toured with her. We’ve thought about it, but it’s not practical to fly with your 55 pound pit bull and then drag her over mountains.
I started calculating. Barring injury, 184 miles in 5 days seems doable (I enjoy this sort of thing: https://www.sueheineman.com/desert-rats-150/2018/4/8/background-my-brief-history-as-an-ultra-runner). The canal is flat so it should be possible even if I walk the whole way.
We bought a trailer and tried to convince Bella this would be super fun. She loves us, she loves running with me, she’s sort of iffy on camping (don’t tell her about the bear!) but we think she’ll do ok. Everything we’ve read recommends taking weeks or months getting your dog used to the trailer. But our dog is easy and perfect. It’ll be fine.
Step one, getting her to go in, wasn’t a problem. Ditto step two, jumping up once the wheels were attached in our living room. Everything changed once that thing started moving. We’ve managed a couple brief road trials, but she’s definitely not relaxed. The one time I zipped the mesh door so she couldn’t jump out she panicked and put a hole in it.
The side-eye says it all.
The second major obstacle to this trip is our beloved firstborn Sam, who had a series of medical procedures this summer and still isn’t eating on his own. Bill feeds him tiny meals a dozen times a day through a feeding tube. That’s a lot to ask of a cat sitter. Then just a couple days ago a neighbor (who adopted one of our fosters!) hooked us up with a veterinarian technician who is going to stay in our home and take Sammy with her to work. I don’t think Bill would have left that cat with anything less than round the clock professional care, so yay! Our trip is on.
He really loves that cat. His phone wallpaper is Sam; mine is Bella.
We really don’t know how this is going to go. Bella may never be willing to ride in the trailer, meaning we’d simply go as far as she’s able to walk each day. Alternately, once she’s run a few hours the mobile bed might start to look pretty good. There are campgrounds every few miles and if it’s a complete disaster we can just bail out at one of the many access points. We’ll figure something out. It’s probably good for me to let go of ambition; I thought it would be cool to do the entire distance on foot, maybe even have some of the local Fans of Bella join us Forrest Gump style as we approach DC. But this is about spending time outdoors with my Bs and the rescue, not my personal mileage. At the very least I should have a few days’ worth of stories and cute pics for the fundraiser.
Since Bella doesn’t want to ride in there maybe we should just bring him; the catsitter is costing twice what we paid for this.
Early Sunday morning we’ll drive a rented pick-up truck to Cumberland, MD, unload our crap, and start moving toward DC along the canal. Check back in and see how we do! You can even subscribe via email below, e.g. if you’re my mother. It will end after a few installments, so it’s not a big commitment. If you’d like to donate to the rescue, click here and you should be transported to my Facebook page where you’ll find a post with a “donate” button. All money goes to the rescue; Facebook doesn’t skim any off the top. Or click here and do PayPal. Thanks for reading!
Sam and Bella, the early years. Sam was always Alpha. People often commented “I’m on Team Bella” under their videos because he was so mean to her. Even in his current weakened state he sometimes smacks her.