Two If By Sea: A British Pet Landing
Two If By Sea: A British Pet Landing
We've crossed an ocean to get here!
He said to his friend, “If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch
Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,—
One if by land, and two if by sea;
…….
Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride,
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse’s side,
Now gazed on the landscape far and near,
Then impetuous stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Paul Revere’s Ride
Dear Reader,
It was with some amusement that I stood in the Novotel Southampton Hotel lobby in England, waiting for an Uber Eats gluten-free pizza to arrive, watching scenes of Montana pass by on the lobby big-screen television.
On the television in front of me, gray wolves howled, bison pawed the earth, the Yellowstone River flowed through the Paradise Valley, and cowboys drove herds of cattle to pasture. Scenes I have witnessed hundreds, if not thousands of times in real life.
“Where am I?” I thought. “What an odd coincidence.”
Thousands of miles from home, an ocean away, and my roots still follow me wherever I go.
Since I last wrote to you, my dog Loki and I finished our crossing of the North Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2 and landed in Southampton, England on Thursday morning.
It was a rough crossing, which is expected in January. We ended up going through 10 to 11 meter waves, and reached a 10-11 on the Beaufort wind scale (the only thing greater is hurricane force winds of 12).
But on Tuesday, the weather eased and I got my sea legs! One day it was actually sunny!
One of my compatriots in the kennels, a woman from Germany who traveled with her husband and three kids because they are all afraid of flying, told me a funny story after the storm passed.
“I went up to the captain and told him how grateful I was that he got us through the storm safely, and he just looked at me and said, ‘Didn’t you like the snow madame? I thought it was quite lovely.”
Ah, the British sense of humor. Gotta love it!
If you study the photo above you’ll see 13 dogs of all different types (one is hiding) and 3 cats. It reminded me of the movie Best in Show. Each of us mimicking the personality qualities of our chosen pets.
There was a Siberian husky, a Schipperke, goldendoodle, a boxer, a wire fox terrier, a Scottish terrier, two Boston terriers, a Yorkshire terrier, springer spaniel puppy, an American Labrador retriever (Loki), an Irish golden retriever, and 3 beautiful cats of assorted colors.
The cats ruled. All of the dogs loved them. The husky even got protective and tried to keep the other dogs away from its favorite kitty, Lola.
We spent a lot of time together, us pet parents. Visiting hours were from 8 a.m. - 12 p.m., 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m., and 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. It was our responsibility to walk our pets, take them out of the kennels, and feed them. Most of us also spent those hours sitting with our pets inside while the winds howled outside.
Oliver, the kennel master from the Philippines who has 8 dogs of his own, did a lot of the food prep (to keep us all from elbowing each other in the small kitchen), and even provided freshly cooked steak, chicken, salmon, and eggs (unseasoned, no oils) to add to our kibble to entice them. Plus we could add rice or pumpkin if needed.
I really never thought I would be sitting in a small room with about 8 people and their dogs and at least one cat, all of them either sleeping or getting along peacefully while we chatted.
The pets handled the waves way better than the people did.
Fortunately, I had my sweet friend Marilee by my side when I went downstairs to keep me calm. She pronounced everything “fascinating” and approached the whole voyage with an attitude of curiosity, while I worried at every rock of the boat.
Our first night we started a tradition of going to the pub quiz at 10:00 p.m. and having an after dinner drink while we tried to remember which presidents were actually on Mount Rushmore, or guessed whether magnets could get demagnetized by heating (the answer is yes).
Pretty soon we had gathered other pet parents on our quiz team, and each night we kept trying to beat a group of elderly Brits who refused to be overtaken.
I think they probably won 7 bottles of wine on the trip from those quizzes!
Two of our pub quiz players were in their 90s, married retired civil servants from Washington D.C. who were traveling on the full World Cruise, which was going from Southampton to South Africa, and on to Australia.
We also participated in the Roaring Twenties Gala, with feathers, gloves, and sparkly outfits.
When we pulled into the Southampton UK docks, it was calm and dry. The sun was just rising and a pink glow hung over the city horizon. We waited in a queue while Oliver and Nekko (his assistant) organized us all.
Because of his age and arthritis, Loki got special treatment during disembarkation. He went out on a trolly wrapped in saran wrap!
We wheeled him down all of the ramps, all of us holding our breaths that we wouldn’t get pulled over for some last minute pet paperwork check.
After finding our luggage we walked out into the taxi area, where the next challenge would begin. Finding a taxi that would take pets to the hotel.
The taxi coordinator went through about 50 taxis before finding a driver in a van who decided to do him (and us) a favor. He flagged him down and then motioned back to Lauren with her husky Kaiya to see if they could join us.
The driver loaded our luggage in the back of the van while explaining it was against the rules to do this and then motioned for the four of us to get into one of the back seats together. We hesitated for just one moment, and then both decided to go for it.
I wish I had a photo of the two 55+ pound dogs on our laps on that van seat, looking as if it was all totally normal.
They behaved perfectly and we each gave enormous tips, hugged each other goodbye and promised to stay in touch.
We landed!
Let the next adventure begin.
Love,
Janelle
P.S. Next time I’ll share a video roundup and the story of how we got from Southampton to Portugal.
Hope you’re well!
You did it! 🎉 I am so happy for you. ❤️
Congratulations to you and Loki on your safe arrival! Let the adventures begin. Many blessings!