She’s Here!

I’d been staring at her photo online all week. On Friday morning with much excitement I left home at 8 am for a 3-hour trip to Snoqualmie, Washington to go and meet “Rainy” and bring her home. Just 10 km from the border I decided to get something to eat, and while pulling a U-turn near a construction site I ran over a sharp curb and ripped a hole in my right front tire. Determined not to let anything get in my way, I called up 24 Hour Roadside Assistance and within 30 minutes a tow truck had come to put on my spare tire. Unfortunately, both the driver and my owner’s manual strongly advised against travelling on the Freeway for hours with the spare on. Okay, next challenge: find a tire. Thank goodness for my iPhone!

I located a few tire places around me but when I began calling around I learned that my tire is not a common model and eventually I learned that the nearest one to me was currently sitting in a warehouse in Edmonton. Feeling more frustrated now I debated what to do and finally decided that since I was so close to the border I might as well cross and see if anyone in WA had my tire. While waiting in line at the border I found a guy in Marysville – on my way – who would have my tire in one hour. Perfect. Things were looking up. Meanwhile, I had to go to the bathroom and was thinking of the rest stop that memory told me was right on the other side of the crossing.

As I passed through I was randomly selected by the computer for an inspection. Pull over there, ma’am. Take this paper inside, ma’am. Oh, long lineup. Okay, I’ll just go pee before I get in line. Uh…there are no washrooms and then I saw the big sign that said “No cell phones, No PDAs, No Washroom”. Apparently Canadians not only need to show passports now but they can’t be trusted to go pee lest they try to flush their stash of pot down the toilet (BC is full of hippie liberals, ya know). Fun.

It ended up okay. Everybody was nice to me – prob’ly trying to make up for the joy of being randomly selected for a half-hour delay – and eventually, when they were convinced I wasn’t a terrorist, they escorted me to a locked washroom. See, American’s are nice!

Finally, I was on the I-5 heading South and trying hard to stay under the 80 kph speed limit that my spare tire carries. That’s about 50 mph and I was on a freeway with a 70 mph speed limit. Thank god the Americans know how to build highways – with four full lanes of traffic in each direction I was easy to pass. And pass me they did – semi trailers, trucks pulling huge campers, and little old ladies. When the road got a bit rough I worried with every bump. But finally I made it to Marysville and in less than 30 minutes I was on my way with a new tire.

I finally arrived at the Three Rivers Rescue around 2:30 – about three hours later than I’d planned. And there I got my first full look at Rain. She is absolutely gorgeous, the most beautiful markings I’ve ever seen. She’s also a total suck and a love-bunny! We took her outside and did the paperwork for the adoption. Kim filled me in on her background and gave me some tips on what to expect as she settles in. Then she was introduced to her new crate in the car and we headed North to Banfield where she had an appointment for a rabies shot (needed to cross the border). She handled the crate just fine, was very nervous (but still adorable) at the vet, and despite hitting lots of traffic the ride home was uneventful. We did make a couple pit stops but she didn’t drink, eat, or eliminate – still too nervous at all the new happenings.

We finally got home just before 9 pm – almost 13 hours after I left! But the kids adored her on sight, she was fantastic with them, and even Husband seemed smitten. She’s a timid girl and quite submissive but in the 36 hours she’s been here she has opened up a bit. She is eating, drinking, eliminating and was positively bouncy on our walk this morning. She is learning to play fetch (either that or just deciding it’s okay here) and I’m planning on taking her for a run tomorrow. She is great on a leash and much fun to walk with.

The kids fight over who gets to walk her, are still trying desperately to lure her outside to play (she’ll come if I’m there but still too timid to go with just them), and have told me they are so glad we have a dog. I’m so very happy, loving the excuse to go for early morning walks, when the air is cool and humid and the forest is filled with birdsong. I couldn’t be happier with her, and I think she’s pretty happy too.