We Text Picture of Dagney to Make our Kids Jealous — RVing in Retirement

When our children moved out of our house and started families of their own, the house felt empty. An eerie quiet filled the rooms. Going to work and visiting with friends, kept us busy, at first. My husband and I enjoyed the peacefulness — until we retired. Then the house seemed too quiet.

Waking up each morning without a reason to get out of bed led me to believe something was missing. So, we adopted Dagney. Though sometimes waking to a face lick can be abrupt, dog kisses put joy in my mornings. Now that she has been a member of the family for three years, I can’t imagine what life would be without her.

Just as we planned, retirement brought travel. One of our favorite modes of transportation is riding our Harley Davidson motorcycles. Thankfully, Dagney loves the ride. In fact, she shakes uncontrollable with excitement when she hears the roar of the Harley engines. We do not dare go for a ride without her; once, when we did, she didn’t talk to us for a week.

After we load up the bikes with only the essentials for ourselves: a change of clothes, medicine, and toiletries, we fill the remaining space with Dagney’s essentials: bully sticks, food, water dish, leash, harness, toys, special blanket, shampoo/conditioner, tangle free spray, breath freshener, snacks, and Benadryl. She has allergies.

When my husband attaches the dog travel seat, I prepare Dagney for the ride by securing her hat, googles, and leash. We tether her in so she cannot jump or fall out when moving.

Since our little girl rides behind Randy, I enjoy watching drivers pass by and then slow down for a second look. It’s a wonder gawkers have not caused an accident when they suddenly hit the breaks to align themselves with us to snap a picture. At stoplights, passengers in cars next to us ask permission to take a picture. I imagine there are multiple Facebook post floating around.

The three of us have traveled from Boise, Idaho on numerous trips through Montana, to North Dakota, and along Highway 101 along the ocean’s coast. We all love the ride.

Our daughters complain

Our daughters simply shake their heads and complain that we treat our dog better than we did them when they lived at home. They claim she is spoiled.

True!

We remind them that Dagney doesn’t talk back, ask to borrow money, stay out all night and bring boys home. She’s been spayed.

When we travel, simply to annoy our children, we text pictures of Dagney as she explored new adventures. We share pics of all her firsts and anything that makes us smile.

We have shared picture of her first ferry boat ride, standing with a pirate and in a pirate’s ship, posing with statues on the Oregon beach — anything that documenting her travels.

Our daughters simply responded with snarky comments, inappropriate memes or silence.

We bought an RV

Though Dagney loves riding the bikes with the wind blowing through her hair and the attention she receives, we discovered a few drawbacks during longer trips. We couldn’t go into restaurants, leave our little girl alone in hotels, and nighttime potty emergencies became nuisances. So, we purchased an RV — providing our daughters another thing to complain about. They think we spend too much money on the dog.

True!

However, now we are self-contained and ready to roll. The RV provides us freedom because we leave our princess in a safe, familiar environment if we venture out and we can pull the bikes if a ride in on the itinerary. Dagney loves it.

Of course, our daughters roll their eyes and make comments about Dagney being the most spoiled dog on Earth.

True!

We did buy her a motorhome so she could have all the comforts of home. She spends hours observing out the windows and knows she is the queen of her domain.

When we sent them this picture, they responded with an emotional response. I know because it was in all caps. YOU NEVER LET US STAND ON THE TABLE!

True!

They are just jealous.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subscribe today to receive free feel-good stories.

My retirement hobby is to write stories that make readers laugh and appreciate the love of their furfriends.

Belief Statement: Humans make life too complicated. If we want to appreciate life, watch a dog for a day. They don't over think problems, perseverate on the impossible, worry about outcomes, or hold back affection. They see what they want, sniff it, lick it, roll in it and accept it.

Subscribe today to receive free feel-good stories.

Happy tails. :)