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Max and Bailey SIDECAR #04 - May 7, 2004

Mobbed In Mayberry

Have you ever had one of those days when you knew your life was about to change? Max and I had that day last Friday, April 30th, when we watched as all our things were stuffed into the small spaces in our sidecars. But, being the happy-go-lucky dogs that we are we just smiled, gave each other a high-paw (like a high five in your world) and screamed, "ROAD TRIP!"

The next thing you know, our owners loaded us into the sidecars and whisked us away to Raleigh, North Carolina. The cool thing was that we stayed at a pet friendly hotel where the staff made sure we received lots of special attention. And, we got to ride in another one of those magic rooms. You know the ones where you get in and the door closes, but when it opens you're not where you started? Max says that you call them elevators. To dogs like us, they're just magic rooms. You humans have the best toys.

Now mind you, Max and I love a good road trip. But when we awoke to a rainy day on Saturday, we assumed that it would be another long day of sleeping and drooling. Nope! Our humans had the nerve to put us in the sidecars, cover us with these rain cover things and drag us over to see our friends at Ray Price Harley-Davidson. Riding in sidecars is really fun, but if you can't stick your nose out, what's the point? Well, if you'll just hold on a paw-picking minute, I'll get to the point.

Here it is - the point, I mean. When we arrived at Ray Price Harley-Davidson, there were all these people who had come to tell us good-bye and wish us well on our journey. Then I overheard that this trip was going to take 220 days! Woof! That's more than seven months in a sidecar. I'm not sure, but I think I saw Max put his two paws over his ears after hearing that. This really was going to be one heck of a road trip. It might even be called the Mother Of All Road Trips! Let's hope our humans packed enough dog treats.

So last Saturday, May 1st, Max and I were led out of Raleigh by lots of police cars with flashing blue lights. When I looked behind me, I saw a whole procession of motorcycles and cool Corvettes following us out of town. It looked like a funny version of that TV show, 'Cops'. You know, the one where the police are always chasing the bad guys. Only this time, we were chasing the cops.

Anyway, that was almost a week ago. Since then, we've been traveling more than 100-miles every day. Everywhere we go, people are smiling and waving, taking our pictures and talking to our owners about this road trip for charity. Max and I love all the extra attention we're getting. We're beginning to think we're movie stars like Benji or Lassie! We even have new goggles that have orange-tinted lenses like all those human celebrities. How cool is that?

Which brings me to a short story about our visit to Mount Airy, North Carolina - more commonly known as Mayberry because of The Andy Griffith Show. If you've never heard of Mayberry or The Andy Griffith Show, go ask your parents. I'll wait right here until you get back.

Are you back already? Okay, so I was telling you about our visit to Mayberry.

Our owners were driving us around this great little town, Mount Airy, when all of a sudden - and out of nowhere - we were MOBBED! The next thing I knew, my goggles were twisted to one side, my ears were being scratched and there were all these hands petting me. I was in Dog Heaven! I tried to look back at Max, but another army of little people was mobbing him. All I could see was the top of his head, but he looked pretty darn happy! They must have thought we were famous or something - just like those movie stars in Hollywood.

All those little people - about 70 of them - were from a nearby elementary school. For almost 30 minutes, they bombarded us with questions, squeals of excitement and more questions. Our owners - the ones we call our 'sidecar chauffeurs' - told them that we were on a nationwide trip to raise money for and educate people about specially trained Assistance or Guide Dogs that help individuals with physical disabilities live more independent lives.

The kids were great, asking more questions and wishing us lots of success on our journey. We gave them a few slobbery kisses (don't make a face - that's what dogs do!) and our chauffeurs gave their adult chaperones information and pictures about our ride. Maybe they'll write to us one day. Wouldn't that be something to bark about? Woof!

All right, I'm done for now. Go back to your homework and your chores, but keep checking back to see what we're up to next. If you write us letters, we'll answer you from the road. Until then, keep your goggles on straight and tell your friends about Max & Bailey's 2004 Ride Across America. If you tell your teacher, we may get to stop by to visit your school in person. That's what happened at the Knoxville Montessori School.

Bailey

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