Baxter's Big Adventure

One problem with being a workaholic is you never seem to get to travel anywhere. Well this year Mari and I decided to take our new puppy Baxter on a road-trip. Since we didn't want to fly we looked for somewhere close by but interesting. Since we both love the ocean we decided to head out to Nova Scotia Canada. Our route had us passing through the State of Maine. Since we are both Stephen King fans we thought it would be interesting to check out some of the sites where his stories take place. From Maine we'd head up to New Brunswick for a night then on to Nova Scotia. That was the plan...

Our first two days in Maine were fantastic. We stayed in Bangor and the Four Points Sheraton Hotel. We found our way to Betts Bookstore, the ultimate source for Stephen King material and collectibles. Stuart Tinker, the owner, provided us with a map of famous locations throughout the city. Stu's selection of novels, short stories and articles dating right back to the beginning of King's career are unbelievable. He also carries many interesting pieces of art and other collectables from King's Universe. We spent a long time talking with Stu and after a few pictures we made our way to visit some of the sites on the Map.

Throughout the trip Baxter behaved like a champ. His training is really paying off. He relaxed in the car for the 14 hour ride from Toronto to Bangor. His first trip in an elevator made the poor little guy tremble but after the second or third time he'd sit at my heel waiting for the doors to open. It was fun to watch the expressions of people when the door slid open. Some would get in and some wouldn't but the ones who did really liked him and commented on how well behaved he was. Outside Baxter found a new favorite food; cigarette butts. There's noting like reaching into a Dobe's mouth at 6:00 in the morning to pull out somebody's used smoke. But I digress...

The next leg of our trip took us back into Canada to the Province of New Brunswick. Here we stayed at the historic Tanner's Inn Bed & Breakfast. This was a beautiful century home in downtown St. Johns. Mercer and Terry, our hosts, were lovely people who made us feel right at home Baxter also made a friend at Tanner's Inn. Bismarck, a Sheppard cross belongs to the Munn's. Baxter and Bismarck went on a nice long walk and visited some interesting historical buildings as well as the docks.

Wow, that's a lot of driving and we weren't even at our target destination. Mari and I talked about the amount of driving ahead of us still and it was a little disheartening. We decided that since we had such a great time in Bangor, and the people we just so friendly, we'd go back and spend the rest of the trip there, touring the rest of the map and relaxing a bit. It was a GREAT decision!

Stu also introduced us to his parents. They were interested in meeting Baxter as they used to raise Doberman Pinschers. The Tinkers were the most lovely couple, inviting us back to their home were Baxter could run in their fenced yard. We all had a great time and Baxter enjoyed carrying around large pieces of fallen wood. Lots of kids came to the fence from the day care center next door to see what the crazy dog was doing. Bax mostly ignored them and ran around. While he did that, we looked at photos of some of the Tinkers earlier dogs.

Mr. Tinker and Stuart are both pilots. We were invited in to see Mr. Tinker's collection of aviation memorabilia. There is a climate controlled loft which contains only a small portion of the photos, models, books and other items he has amassed. I was totally amazed.

We had a wonderful time during our two visits with the Tinkers and even managed to meet Stu's wife who had just got back from California. Coincidentally the Tinkers have a Golden Retriever. His name is Baxter too.

Well that was a lot of touring around for one young Doberman so he also liked his time back a the hotel. The Four Points Sheraton was a great place to stay. We had very comfortable rooms, great service and they were dog friendly (right up to the free dog cookies at the parking lot gates). The hotel was adjacent to the Bangor International Airport but the traffic wasn't so heavy and it didn't bother us at all. Maine's Air National Guard is also stationed nearby.

After a week of fun, touring and eating LOTS of seafood it was time to pack up and head back to Toronto. We set our TomTom GPS up to take us home through New Hampshire and Vermont. It was a long drive and aside from the Frost Heaves on the New Hampshire shorelines it wasn't too bad. Once again, Baxter slept like a good boy.

Well Baxter's first Big Adventure went great with everyone having an amazing time. The people of Maine and of New Brunswick were just fantastic and friendly. We won't be waiting another ten years before our next vacation! As for Nova Scotia: We'll get there in time.