The Labraventures of Carbón, Spanish (ex-) foster dog extraordinaire

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
By the way, putting in my 2 cents on the Autobahn: many sections have speed limits (variable by road conditions) and even the sections with no limit are rarely ‘as fast as your car will go’ because of heavy traffic and incessant roadworks.

Where it is ‘anything goes’ @M.F. you are right - you need a car that is fit enough to be in the fast lane. The TARDIS is NOT 😆 so I am perpetually behind big rigs (lorries, trucks) whose max speed is 80-100.

So on the plus side, I get great fuel economy. But it’s not exactly the experience most non-Germans think of when they hear ‘Autobahn’. 😁
 
you need a car that is fit enough to be in the fast lane. The TARDIS is NOT 😆 so I am perpetually behind big rigs (lorries, trucks) whose max speed is 80-100.
I’ve just returned from a road trip with my mom and sister. (Note for next time: Do NOT invite this sister on a road trip again. But that’s another story.) We took my mom’s car, which is a brand new sporty model. I did most of the driving. My mom did say “slow down!” a few times, and I responded “this car speeds up by itself!” It was amazing to drive such a zippy powerful car (BMW). But for the most, I am the slowest driver on the highway, also perpetually behind the trucks. Very cautious! Driving through a toll tunnel was white knuckle stuff. My eyes are terrible at night (it was dark in there!) and all I could see were halos of headlights of the massive trucks barrelling down towards me at 80km/h in this narrow tunnel. I was terrified I’d clip them on the side. I had a queue of cars behind me as I tried to keep at a decent speed to get out of there asap, but also really just wanting to crawl safely through.
 

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
I’ve just returned from a road trip with my mom and sister. (Note for next time: Do NOT invite this sister on a road trip again. But that’s another story.) We took my mom’s car, which is a brand new sporty model. I did most of the driving. My mom did say “slow down!” a few times, and I responded “this car speeds up by itself!” It was amazing to drive such a zippy powerful car (BMW). But for the most, I am the slowest driver on the highway, also perpetually behind the trucks. Very cautious! Driving through a toll tunnel was white knuckle stuff. My eyes are terrible at night (it was dark in there!) and all I could see were halos of headlights of the massive trucks barrelling down towards me at 80km/h in this narrow tunnel. I was terrified I’d clip them on the side. I had a queue of cars behind me as I tried to keep at a decent speed to get out of there asap, but also really just wanting to crawl safely through.
The whole thing - sister PLUS tunnel driving - sounds pretty stressful! Good for you to take it on and tell the tale afterwards.

I’m a strictly solo long-haul road-tripper. I just can’t relax or concentrate as well with someone else in the car. Maybe if I had more practice driving with another human in the car, or would learn to just be quiet (I talk WAY too much), but until then, Carbón is my best co-pilot. 😁
 

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Hola amigos! I have now been safely landed for a week in California, the home of sunshine, Cookie Man, and second breakfasts and third dinners!

As I am getting to be more of a distinguished silver fox Spanish gentleman (think George Clooney with a better accent), I must say that jet lag has kicked me in my adorable furry backside this time around and I am still feeling quite sleepy and in need of a siesta in the afternoons.

ML also insists on taking me to meet with amigos and then watch them talk for hours which is soooooo aburrido, BORING! However we have had a couple good hunts for Halloween cheer and one visit to the Egyptian gardens for a photo shoot. Ojalá that we have a few more leeeetle adventures coming up that I can share with you!

Posing like a pro at the Egyptian gardens. ML would like me to point out that she took more photos but I had my eyes closed in most of them. Pfft! Is it my fault she changed time zones on me?
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My beloved California duck helps with napping.
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And now for some loco Halloween decor!
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Hola amigos! I have now been safely landed for a week in California, the home of sunshine, Cookie Man, and second breakfasts and third dinners!

As I am getting to be more of a distinguished silver fox Spanish gentleman (think George Clooney with a better accent), I must say that jet lag has kicked me in my adorable furry backside this time around and I am still feeling quite sleepy and in need of a siesta in the afternoons.

ML also insists on taking me to meet with amigos and then watch them talk for hours which is soooooo aburrido, BORING! However we have had a couple good hunts for Halloween cheer and one visit to the Egyptian gardens for a photo shoot. Ojalá that we have a few more leeeetle adventures coming up that I can share with you!

Posing like a pro at the Egyptian gardens. ML would like me to point out that she took more photos but I had my eyes closed in most of them. Pfft! Is it my fault she changed time zones on me?
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My beloved California duck helps with napping.
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And now for some loco Halloween decor!
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The kids LOVED your photos!!

We had lots of fund trick or treating tonight. Here are the boys...
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And one house even had a bag of doggy treats for Ella too 😁
 

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Handsome Carbon, but those Halloween things are very scary!
Oh no, I will tell you a leeeetle secret: during the day the scary things cannot move, so they cannot eat me. The first year we saw them, I was very scared, que horror!, but then I learned that is why we only go to visit in the daytime, because in the dark, they WILL eat you!

The kids LOVED your photos!!
Que bien! That makes my leeetle Labrador heart very happy!
 

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Hola amigos! De verdad, truly, this visit has been just a leeeeetle on the boring side. We sit on Cookie Man’s sofa for a few days, then ML packs us up and drags us up the hill, then we sit on Auntie Mimi’s sofa for a few days, and then Cookie Man’s and then Mimi’s!

Que suerte, what luck, that we have had a few pequeñas adventures amongst the back and forth. Primero, first, is my ongoing war with Auntie Mimi’s cat Louie. He is an evil leeetle diablo devil cat who wants to eat me AND my ML. We are both afraid of him. I think maybe even Auntie Mimi is afraid of him. His only good point is that he likes to play fetch and when the balls bounce the wrong way, I can run after them and get them! No matter that they are made of felt and are very very tiny: a ball is always muy bueno!

ML and I have also had some really nice jogs around Auntie Mimi’s neighborhood in Reno. She lives on the edge of the desert and you can see the snow-covered mountains in the distance. It is all very rugged frontier cowboy: a caballero like me feels right at home.

Our other leeetle adventure was that ML’s big back molar tooth got a big crack in it and died. AND got infected. Oooh amigos, she was grumpy with her first ever real toothache.

She left me alone with Cookie Man for a few long emergency procedures, after which we both needed a cuddle. Cookie Man is great, but since she busted me out of jail, ML only leaves me alone for less than an hour for grocery shopping and the ONE time longer with Auntie @kateincornwall and best amigo Reuben. Even then I was pretty worried at first! Pues, you can imagine that after three long tooth appointments, my ML and and I were both pretty shook up.

However I am happy to report that after only one more tooth appointment, ML’s tooth will be all better. ML says that since this happened in the US and not in Germany, she will now have to sell a kidney to pay for it. MAYBE she is only keeeeding? Ojalá!

Pues, now you are all caught up with the news. One and a half weeks and we are back in Germany and then on to Portugal. Buuuut… the magical holiday of THANKSGIVING comes first. If I think very positive Spanish gentleman thoughts, maybe someone will remember to make me a plate of turkey too!

Because we only sit on the sofa these days and sometimes you have to make limonada out of your limones, here is a sofa-based photo shoot!

Warming up my sofa game
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My I’m an adorable puppy face
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Watching Louie play ball
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My I’m an absolute angel pose ❤
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