Traveling Tales A Life Unleashed

Traveling Tales by Missy Mae

If you are a dog lover, or not, I hope that by telling this tale you will understand how complete devotion changed my life. I hope at least it will help you to appreciate how animals are here to teach us humans about unconditional love. Let me introduce you to my friend Murphy. She is a Carin terrier who on the day I met never took her eyes off me once. How we came together is a whole different story and that was six years ago. Let us just say that God works in mysterious ways, and he knows better what we need then we do. I know that people think that I am crazy because where I go Murphy goes but it is only because they have never had such a loving companion like she is to me. I do not think you have to be a dog lover to appreciate when someone is there besides you because they know you need the comfort, but more importantly is that they love you. To me she is one of the best friends I have had in all my life because I know that she will not desert me, leave me, or abandon me like many humans have. She never questions what I am doing, why I am doing it, or where we are going. These are the reasons she makes the best traveling companion. My mistakes that I make, the wrong turns that I take, or the weird places that I want to stop she is always ready to accept. She does not criticize, she does not question, and she does not complain. She is always ready to go and adventure to wherever I choose to take her and these last couple of years I have taken her on some interesting travels.

To say that we are unchained, gaining our independence, discovering, and experiencing new things in life is an understatement. Our travels began in late 2019, but actually was a growing thought way before that, when I quit my job of 17 years as a Pathology Secretary/Transcriptionist, purchased a 28 ft ultralight travel trailer in the fall of 2019, asked my husband of 30 years for a divorce so I could follow a calling on a spiritual quest that embraced the words on a bracelet that I had purchased stating “God has a plan, trust it, live it, and enjoy it”. I have not taken this bracelet off since I put it on, and I have had the spirit of God speaking to me every step I take towards fulfilling this journey, while Murphy has been right beside me every day and every night as my constant companion, my furry non-shedding angel, my confidante, and my copilot Murphy.

There is much that led to our travels it cannot be told in one short story; however, to understand what led us to these moments was a need to heal from years of giving so much of myself to others and not getting the appreciation or affection back in return. Of course, at the time I didn't realize why I felt this need to be free, all I knew was I desperately needed to break the restraints that had bound me for so long, find independence to be who I was and not what others expected from me, and to go explore what opportunities life could provide. It seemed so selfish, however, I felt like I could not do anything right no matter how hard I tried, and I was slowly dying from being locked in a cage created by others’ ideas of what and how I should live. I gave, and I gave, and I gave but it was never enough and eventually I had nothing left but emptiness. People’s expectations are unfair and unkind whether it is toward themselves, toward each other as human to human, or human to animals. One thing I have learned over 50 years is that people will disappoint you no matter how much they try, or what they do because we are not perfect not even one of us and will always wrestle with giving unconditional love. Dogs on the other hand are created with unconditional love in their genetics and that is why they are referred to as man/woman’s best friend.

Nobody in my life understood what was happening inside my head and heart or why including myself but it never mattered to Murphy. She was my ride or die partner in ever decision-making and so we stepped out of our secure, comfort zone, and fenced yard to take to wandering through life unleashed. You are welcome to ride along as I reminisce one such adventure of ours to Northern California in the fall 2019. If you recall, I purchased a travel trailer after I decided to divorce. My thoughts were that I would rather have my own private space where I could have Murphy with me, and since I didn’t know where this spiritual journey that I was on was going to take me I’d better have the freedom to move when I needed to and not be locked into a lease or rent. Money of course was a big consideration as well. It is difficult to produce first month, last month and deposit not to mention pet fees if they allow a pet at all when renting. However, I never had pulled anything big behind my truck except one or two times a small flatbed trailer. I have difficulty backing up and parking a my 10x12 trailer so pulling a 28 ft trailer with a tip out all by myself was a daunting new experience. Even though in July I had taken a small trip to see my parents in Oregon with Murphy as my copilot, which is another tale, it felt like the first time I had ever pulled a trailer when we got ready to leave in October. From the time I told my husband that I wanted a divorce in 2018 we continued to live together for over a year, then we legally divorced in August of 2019 amicably, as we are still best friends, but in October I knew it was time for me to make a change. Therefore, I started to pack and planned a trip from Southern Idaho to the Northern California Coast. Murphy and I were about to have a life experience to remember, our second road trip, pulling our home a 28ft trailer that I fondly call our castle, with very minimal experience, minimal itinerary, a hope, and a prayer. Very few people in their right mind would have agreed to travel with me considering my lack of experience, no direction, and truly little idea of what or where I was going. Nobody I knew would take such a chance on me, especially without an opinion or complaint, but Murphy only looked at me with love in her eyes, support in her soul and a confidence in me that I did not even feel myself. The only thing she was concerned about was that I was not going to leave her behind.

The day of departure started out as beautiful sunny day with clear blue skies and excitement in the air. I had mapped out a rough travel itinerary which would first take us to Reno to visit my niece, travel west on Hwy 80 over Donner’s Pass to Santa Rosa, California, then visit Napa Valley, California, head over to Hwy 101, connecting to Hwy 1 at South end and traveling North up the coast on Hwy 1 until it ended at Fort Bragg, switching back inland to Hwy 101 visiting the Redwoods, and from there following Hwy 101 all the way up the West coast to Astoria, Oregon where my parent’s home is, stay and visit them. I planned on crossing back over through Portland onto I-84 along the Gorge to get back home to Idaho. I was not on a tight time schedule as I had given myself two weeks to travel. I had time to see and roam where I wanted to within reason. Murphy, she did not care where we were heading just as long as she came along. So, the day arrived for us to leave, a beautiful fall day, we could not ask for a better omen. The days leading up to this I had cleaned the trailer, checked the batteries, and gone over what I thought to be the important stuff. My ex helped me hook the trailer up the day before, I packed some tools, had my propane tanks filled, and parked in the front driveway to wash my castle down as well as wash and clean my truck. Wow everything looked sharp and during all this Murphy was never far away. I do not know who was more excited about this trip, me or Murphy. Traveling from my home in Idaho to Reno, Nevada according to Google Maps was a 5-hour drive (Thank goodness for internet and cell phones). I decided that if I left around noon, I would arrive after my niece got off work, and we could have dinner. No rushing, no stress, and no worries. Hah, great laid plans go array, as I started to put things away in the trailer I panicked and started thinking about what if I didn’t want to come back or found a place to work and live, it was the strangest feeling of being pushed by an unseen energy, an uncontrollable urge to flee and never come back. I can imagine what it feels like for a dog who has been caged in all day, their natural ability to run free taken away from them, and why they are so excitable when they finally obtain that small amount of freedom. People just take it for granted that they do not know any difference, they are only animals; therefore, they must obey, but it is not true. It is not healthy for a dog to sit in a small box called a kennel 8 to 12-hrs a day. They are meant to run free, to chase things, and to play. It is their loyalty to us and their love for us that calls them back to be obedient and give up the instinct to flee and run wild. Look at cats and how independent they are, people admire them for it, but think dogs should behave differently. Dogs I believe feel that it is their duty to stay by us humans to protect us, to comfort us, watch over us, and love us unconditionally. There is not another animal or human on this earth that is more loyal. So, as it worked out time slipped away and soon it was 2:00 p.m. I looked at Murphy and ask, “You ready to go traveling”? She answered with two complete circles, a complete circle is her signature “Yes” that she started on her own, and direct eye contact that resulted in her jumping into the truck and in her car seat. We both felt the excitement and she knew this was an important part of my life. Murphy understands words, English, Spanish, and Basque because my mother-in-law, is elderly and lives alone but close, she would keep Murphy during the day while I worked long hours and during that time, she had nobody to talk to during the day but her dog Gus and Murphy. It has always been natural for me to talk to Murphy as a friend, I never have had to spend time with commands, training tools, or tricks. She has always understood what I say. The other quality she has is that her eyes are very intense, and she “speaks” directly to you from her beautiful amber colored glance. Although, she does not require direct commands, she still likes her treats for being understood. Yes, Murphy has me well trained on giving out treats (LoL).

Okay so we both were ready to find the open road, Murphy was in her car seat on the passenger side (which is a Styrofoam box the size of a small cooler that my grandmother, years before pet seats became commercial, covered in material decorated with variation of dog faces) and it’s a perfect fit for her to see out or lay down in, and I started the truck and the backup camera. Oh No! Wait, what is wrong with the backup camera? It worked the day before, I played with the wires, turned it on/off trying to pair it, got out went and looked to see if something happened on the actual camera on the back of the trailer. Wait this is not good because I use it not only to backup, but to see traffic coming from behind, and to see if I cleared obstacles before turning or changing lanes. Ugh, now it is getting to be around 3:00 p.m. and I have a 5-hr drive to make and I sure did not plan to do that in the dark especially without a backup camera. After messing with the book and trying to remember what to do and not coming up with a solution or a fix I looked over at Murphy who was sitting patiently in her seat watching every move I had made and asked “Well what do you think? Go for it?” She kindly looked back at me and slowing gave my hand a kiss. A kiss is another affirmation of Yes in Murphy’s language. Where most people would have all kinds of conversation, discussion, even arguments by this time my dear furry, faithful friend trusted me and encouraged me to go for it, and we did. Just the two of us girls left home in Idaho at 4:00 in the afternoon, without a backup camera, only the 2nd time pulling a 28ft travel trailer, never traveling any amount of distance alone, with only the whisper of the wind and protection of God and my angels above. Haha, image the bets that were taking place up in heaven on how I was going to manage to accomplish this adventure? It was quite ironic that I was heading to Nevada, and I’m positive the odds were higher on it not happening, but that strange energy pushed me forward and soon the two of us were on Hwy 95 traveling west towards Reno, going 65 mph, trailer gliding behind us, alternative rock music playing on the Sirus XM, afternoon sun shining warmly on us and a smile on our faces. Yes, Murphy smiles with her eyes since her beard covers her lips. This was the first step to independence, a new storybook, and an open road.