I'm almost There!

Well, I made it to St. Loulis in record time. This takes so much less time than driving. And the stewardess was so nice to me.
Here is the view from my seat in business class. I found that my disguise was not effective almost as soon as I got to the airport in Phoenix. The man at the TSA counter wanted to see my photo ID. Well, fortunately he accepted one of my business cards and the number from my dog license, but he did tell me to be careful and not take any dog biscuits from strangers.

Then, wouldn't you know it....my tags set off the metal detector and I had to get help from the nice little girl in line behind me to get my collar off and back on at the end of the line. Whew.

Muzzer packed me a snack pack, because she said the food was not good for doggies on the airplane. But I must confess that I found the pretzels in the little bag quite tasty! And the stewardess brought my water in a little cup, which was difficult, but she also brought extra napkins. I hope I did not make too much of a mess.

It was a long flight, and I had been a long time without a pit stop, so I was in a bit of a hurry at St. Loulis to get outside and find a comfort bush.

I did stop long enough to snap a photo of this the cute little plane they had hanging from the ceiling. Muzzer told me the story about Charles Lindbergh, a man who flew this plane to France, all by himself. No co-pilot, no stewardness, not even a little dog to keep him warm. I think he must have been brave, if misguided. After all, he should have just asked his muzzer for her frequent flyer miles.

I had to wait a little while for my cousin Scott to come pick me up. He is loaning me the truck and trailer to pull to Butcho's. He and his family live in St. Peter's Mo., which is pretty much on the way to Iowa, I think.

Anyway, I stopped at his house for another snack, borrowed his vehicles and took off for my first stop. Friendship Village and the Gussie Fan club! Everyone was glad to see me, Aunt Re had been fretting because she thinks I am to small to fly by myself, and also too young for overnight parties. But I calmed her down, and then cuddled with her last night. She misses Uncle Ray, and Muzzer said I should be very nice to her.

I checked my e-mail this morning at the St. Louis County Public Library. I had a nice note from Wally, who is looking forward to the party tonight too. Wally mentioned that he was hoping we wouldn't be over-run by presidential candidates while in Iowa. HA! Even last summer when we went to Miss Snickers' pawty, the candidates were all over the place. You could pretty much take your pick of parties and Candidates. There was the guy in the picture above, who represents my state in the Senate, and who was wisely wearing his ball cap, not because Iowa is big on ball caps, but because he has had some problems with skin cancer, and has learned caution in his old age. Despite that, muzzer says she does not endorse this candidate or any other candidate in the race at this time. Dad my have his button that says "If I were 21 I'd vote for Barry." That does not reflect our current politics any more than Mom's collection of "Clean Gene" T-shirts.

And of course, this fellow. Muzzer says his family is either very brave, or very crazy. His wife Elizabeth is having a recurrence of breast cancer, and they are still campaigning. Muzzer feels some solidarity with his wife, but does not necessarily endorse this candidate either.

I know that Barack Obama is in Iowa this summer. My Uncle Ray was very excited about him before he died. He told Dad one day that if he was still alive when it is time to vote, he was gonna vote for that "Italian fella with the Democrats." And Dad was confused, he said "Rudy Guliani?" And Uncle Ray said, "No, NO, he is a Republican now anyway. You know, that Italian fella whose name ends in an A!" And he got pretty mad at dad when dad couldn't figure out who he was talking about. Finally muzzer came through the living room. She said "I think he means Barack Obama." Uncle Ray said, "Yeah, that's him. Good lookin fella, looks like Marie's relatives." And muzzer just rolled her eyes. And Dad had a coughing fit. And Aunt Marie said "TCH, RAYMOND!" Sometimes with Uncle Ray, you weren't quite sure whether he was pulling your leg or having a bout of dementia when he said things like that.