(Saturday, March 2): Today marked our final day of preparations for the trip back to Ohio. The primary goals for today included getting and loading the UHaul trailer and taking the dogs for their final training lesson at PetSmart.
After breakfast, Chris and I took the dogs for their final romp at the Dog Park in Columbia. Here the dogs seem to be saying “We’re always on the wrong side of the fence …â€
Trolley had a good run through the snow.
They even got to tell one of their friends about the adventure ahead of them …
On the way home from the Dog Park, we picked up the UHaul trailer for the trip, and I got in some practice driving the jeep and trailer combo.
Sue and Patty stayed at the house to get more packing done. Here, Cinnamon offered his excellent packing assistance. First he supervised the packing …
Then he decided to get involved, making sure that the suitcase was packed correctly.
We also took some photos of the house. This is the living room, with Chris’s wall of antique tools.
This is a tribute to Bruiser, Patty and Chris’s Beagle – Basset Hound mix who passed away during their time in Columbia.
Rainbow made an appearance to grab some food while no one was looking ..
Once we got the Jeep & Trailer parked, we began the process of loading it for travel. We made sure to follow the UHaul guidelines of making the front of the trailer heavier than the back.
Cinnamon was all around … supervising the process of removing boxes from the house.
Eventually all the contents of our “imaginary trailer†(staging area) had been transferred out to the actual trailer.
Chris took some time out to start baking some seriously decadent chocolate chip cookies.
Around 3:30 pm (CST), we started getting the dogs ready for their trip to PetSmart for their final dog training lesson. The lesson was for 4:00 pm.
The dogs reinforced their “Watch me …†command …
… and the “Target …†command, getting rewarded with treats after each successful attempt.
The trainer had brought in her dog so Trolley and Lady Bug could get some practice on their commands with another animal present.
Aunt Sue also got into the fun so she can help with the dogs when visiting in Akron.
Next the dogs did some practice in the aisle of the store, trying to stay focused with all the distractions of strange smells and sounds.
And then the lesson was over! Everyone posed with the trainer for the graduation picture. Of course, there is more practice and reinforcement from here on out!
After the lesson, we took the dogs for a walk around the shopping plaza so they could get in some more exercise for the day.
Finally we headed home to meet up with Javier, the handyman who has been helping Patty and Chris prep their Missouri home for sale. Javier and Chris have removed carpet from all the bathrooms and put down tile floors, they have painted rooms, and done a great job of “neutralizing†the house so it is more attractive to potential buyers. This was Patty’s chance to say goodbye and thank him for all his work.
Javier and Chris will continue working on the house in the next couple of months to finalize all the items requested by the realtors.
We finished off the day with a delicious chicken and rice dinner, which Chris home-cooked for us. Then we did a little more packing to wind up the night.
Coming tomorrow … we begin the trip back to Ohio!
More pictures below! (Click on any photo to enlarge)
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