It’s time for our first motorhome trip. Destination – lake Garda.
Problem number one: I don’t have a cage to travel in yet, it all happened so quickly.
Problem solved. Mum borrowed a plastic transporting cage from a friend. But the only place the cage fitted was at the back of the van under the bed in the dark. Mom was afraid that I’d be too warm back there because the air conditioning probably couldn’t reach the back. But it turned out that it was quite a nice temperature because the van was so well isolated. It was only April, but the weather was getting really warm and the temperatures were already around 20 degrees.
Problem number two: I didn’t like it there. It was dark, lonely and jumpy.
I needed a little help to get in the cage. But I managed and our journey started. I soon realized I didn’t like it there. I was all alone. It was noisy. I couldn’t see or hear my pawrents. It was dark. And jumpy. I could feel every bump we ran over. Ouch. I want to get out of there. Can anyone hear me? Please! Get me out of there… Please…
It was our first trip with a motorhome. A four-day journey that we prolonged into a five-day journey. The first stop we made was Ikea. We had to buy some cooking equipment for our new wheels. So I went shopping. Yes, dogs are welcome in Italy, too. But it was boring. Lots of walking, without any food or something to smell. The small dogs were riding in trolleys. Weird. Can’t they walk by themselves? Why do people even go shopping? Waste of time.
Anyway, after the shopping, we made one more stop in Soave, a pretty medieval village. We walked around the village and went to see the castle. When we finally arrived at Lake Garda, it was almost dark. We parked at the guarded parking lot for motorhomes and went for a walk. Of course, I also went for a quick swim in Lake Garda. Then there came the third problem.
Problem number three: we couldn’t close the sliding doors.
It was already around 10:30 pm. Everyone was probably asleep, but we were slamming the sliding doors that wouldn’t lock. We probably woke up a few neighbors. No other way than to sleep unlocked. Dad somehow tied the front three doors so that no one could open them and I was assigned to be a guard on duty. If anyone tries to break in I have to act viciously, show them my teeth, growl, bark loudly and bite to scare them away. Seriously? They must have been joking. Ok, I’ll bark, but out of fear. And then I’ll hide. No idea where because there is no hiding place in this small van, but I’ll think of something. Me, a guard dog? Huh… I intend to sleep all night, not guard.
Luckily, it was a peaceful night. No one tried to break in so I didn’t have to bite anyone. I slept very well actually. I was tired of all the stress of riding in that scary dark box in the back. Our journey continued. Now at daylight, we somehow fixed the sliding doors. Otherwise, it’d be impossible to go sightseeing. We went to Sirmione on the little walk and what I remember the most was lots of swimming in front of the city. Pleasantly cooled, we then walked around the city. And when we finally found something for me, ice cream for dogs, no one was around to sell it. Most of the people were licking their huge ice creams, and me? Huh, no ice cream for me! That’s really unfair. I mean, there are lots of dogs walking around, why is no one selling dog ice cream?
We continued our trip around the lake. We stopped now and then, did some sightseeing and I was lucky enough to be allowed for lots of swimming otherwise it’d be already too hot for me. We even found a dog beach. How cool is that?
Problem number four: we received a parking ticket on day three
Damn Italians. The parking was meant for cars as well as for motorhomes. And we actually asked a policeman if we could park in this area as we fitted between the lines and he said it was okay. But when we returned two hours later, there was a parking ticket on our windshield. Don’t ever trust a policeman in Italy. I don’t know if it was the same policeman or another, but that was really unfair. We didn’t bother anyone and we parked well between the lines.
In low spirits, we continued our journey to the north, still on the east coast. Now, after we received a parking ticket, we decided to avoid certain places with fewer parking possibilities. We decided to make a detour away from Lake Garda to lake Ledra, away from the crowds. That’s what we all love about motorhoming; we can change and adapt our plans any time we like. So we drove to a beautiful lake Ledra with nice parking for motorhomes. But this lake was much higher than Garda and was quite cold up there. It was only about zero degrees during the night. We tested the heating and it worked. I was sleeping curled up on a blanket beside the bed all night. We walked to the lake and guess what? I went swimming. The water was very cold, but I didn’t care. Luckily, my mum understands me well; if I see a river or a lake or whatever source of water, I just have to go in and get wet. And most of the time she allows me because she knows how happy swimming makes me.
Ok, to sum up our first motorhome trip: I didn’t like traveling in the cage at the back of the van. It was dark, lonely and bouncy. I was whining and complaining, but I could do nothing. Mum tried to explain to me it was much safer for all of us if I’m traveling in a cage. I can’t just walk around freely while we’re driving. That’s really very, very unsafe. She promised to find another solution, soon. But if I forget the cage part, I loved our new way of traveling very much. It’s a little crowded when we’re closed inside the van, but I could choose my place by the door, being always in the way to both of my pawrents. I love adventures, I love swimming and I hope to see many new places and have many long walks and adventures. There were so many things happening while traveling with a motorhome that I was always very tired at the end of the day. Hopefully, the next time we’ll have less problems on the way.
