NewfStock, Day One

Here begins the travelogue of our journey up into the Great White North, narrated by me: Kloofbear's Nanook of the North. It is only fitting that I should be the one to tell the story of our return to the land next to our ancestral homeland. Anyway, I'd been there before. Twice! It was definitely North, though not precisely white.

It WAS, however, very great indeed. (If anyone is interested, here is a link to the official Newf Friends NewfStock Wrap Up Blog Post. Note - there are many pictures of us in it. Because we are that awesome.)

On Thursday, shortly after lunch, (during which Pooka and I spent a great deal of time drooling on the Mama's knees and begging shamelessly,) the Papa mysteriously returned home. It was much earlier in the day than he normally appears, and Pooka and I were both thrown into much confusion of spirits.

Then the suitcases began to appear! DOOM! So I immediately attached myself to the Mama's hip and would not be budged. Then she whispered in my ear; "Nanook, you're coming with us!" This was reassuring, but I refused to be parted from her just in case she forgot me at home by accident. I saw her pack my dog bed, and my precious Fuzzy Ball, (the Fuzzy Ball is sacred!), and our food, and our brushes and combs and some toys, and our blow dryer, and a gas powered generator for our blow dryer, and poop bags, and lots of towels, and cookies, fans, our cool bed, our collars and leashes, our bibs...I don't think anything got left at home! Then she and the Papa packed themselves two little itsy bitsy bags, and the Papa brought his camera, and the Mama packed her camera, and they grabbed certificates that they said proved we didn't have Rabies, and two little blue square things that they said proved they were American, and then we all got into the car.

And we drove for FOREVER.

We stopped a few times along the road, to get gas or food or to go potty. Pooka was having a hard time with the trip, he kept coughing and gagging - the Mama thinks he stress-drools and the drool is very viscous and thick and then it gets caught in his throat. So she kept climbing into the back with us to offer him a drink of water or an ice cube.

Spoiled.

Anyway, once she bought us chicken nuggets! That was exciting. By 9 p.m. we were at the border crossing by the 1,000 Islands. We stopped one last time on the New York side of the bridge to get gas, and to let Pooka and I go to the bathroom. It was cold, and raining. So, in other words, it was perfect Newf weather! Pooka and I galloped around a bit, stretching our legs, while the Mama went "wheeeeeeeee!" behind us at the very end of our leashes. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what she was saying. She sounded really excited about how energetic we were.

(The Mama's Note: "Excited" doesn't even come close to how I felt about getting whiplash from those two fur-covered psychopaths, not to mention being dragged through soaking wet knee-high grass..normally they are excellent on leash, but after 6 hours in the car I couldn't really blame them for being a bit high-spirited. But I could, and did, do some creative swearing...)

We crossed the border, which involved driving over two really high, narrow bridges, and then we went through customs. The Papa says the Mama acts like she's doing something very illegal when she goes through customs - crazy overly-helpful and nervous.

(The Mama's Note: It's totally true. I turn into a complete moron when faced with authoritative men in uniforms.)

We passed through Gananoque shortly after the border patrol guy let us through, (after sharing a long commiserating look with the Papa). Gananoque is where the Canadian Newf National Specialty Dog Show is often held! I've attended it twice in the past. Pooka had never been across the border though so the Mama kept telling him how cosmopawlitan he now was, for having visited two countries.

And then we drove for what felt like FOREVER, in the dark, through absolute wilderness, to Bancroft - Canada.

We arrived at the Best Western Sword Motor Inn a little after 11:30 p.m. The Mama went inside to check us in and get our room keys, and the Papa took us out of the car and for a walk to go potty and get a drink. He fed us dinner really quick, too, because he said he had no idea what would happen if he fed Pooka after midnight.

The folks at Newf Friends had arranged ahead of time for the Sword Motor Inn to accept guests with Newfs, even though the motel normally has a 10 lb pet policy. It was very kind of the Sword Motor Inn to waive their normal pet fees and restrictions for us, and we tried to repay them by not totally trashing the place. When we travel with our people, they always make an effort to minimize our impact on a hotel room - they bring extra sheets and towels to throw over the bed to prevent us from shedding and drooling on the hotel's bedding. They buy cleaning products to wipe down the bathroom since we tend to spend lots of time sleeping on the tiles in there, or drinking out of the tub and leaving drool and fur stuck to the tub sides. They brush down the carpets to try and get as much of our fur up as possible before housekeeping has to clean. AND they always leave a generous tip for the housekeepers, because they know that even though they've done all of that, we still will have managed to make the housekeeper's job much more difficult. So we hope if Newf Friends decides to have another NewfStock in Bancroft, the Sword Motor Inn will allow us 10+ lb dogs to visit again!

While we were outside having dinner, we noticed a big red van with Newf stickers on the sides and the name "Scarlet." My niece was already there! Kloofbear's Gone With the Wind! She's the daughter of my brother Polo! So I was all excited to see her in the morning. But she was already asleep, and it was definitely bedtime for us too. The Mama had spread the extra sheet over the bedding, and brought out the fuzzy ball for me, and the fan for Pooka, and we all went right to sleep because it had been a very long day.

In the morning, we Newfs had our breakfast, and then the Mama and the Papa drove us to some place called Tim Horton's.

We visited there a lot while we were in Canada. The Mama ordered plain glazed Timbits for Pooka and I. They were awesome. Canada is awesome. Tim Horton's is awesome. I loved everything and everyone, while the Timbits were flowing in.

We got back to the hotel and went for a walk around downtown Bancroft. We visited West Wind, a store owned by Sandra N., one of the founders of Newf Friends and the main driving force behind NewfStock. It is Newf Friendly because Sandra and her husband Jim own four newfs of their own and a basset hound - so we were allowed to go in and shop with our people!

We grabbed Subway sandwiches on our way back to the hotel, and had a quick lunch, then it was off to the first NewfStock event - a Meet and Greet Swim Party at local Diamond Lake!

(That's my niece, Scarlet, attacking the water and almost disappearing!
She's a real Water Dog...)






(The Papa had packed his swim suit so he could go into the water with us! Pooka is bringing him back the Wubba and I am following him.)

(Floyd! Sandra's Basset.)




(Scarlet again.)


(From Left to Right: Pooka, Nanook, Ozzy, and the Papa)




(The Mama says Pooka sometimes looks like the Loch Ness Monster when he is water.)




(Pooka attempting to make a Love Connection. He thought the whole event was some kind of Speed Dating party thrown just for him to meet chicks.

He likes blondes.)


(The Papa's Native American name is "Dances with Newfs.")

The beach faced west, into the sun, so the Mama moved along it to a point where the light would be a bit better. This necessitated that we gallop along the beach to check on her every so often, since she was not in the main group of people.

(Pooka checking on the Mama.)




(Nanook and Ozzy)








(Nanook and Pooka)








(Look how amazing my fur looks here!)

It wasn't just us that checked on the Mama though - Newfs in general are very solicitous. Here a Newf named Harley checks in on the Mama also. At top speed!

(Mama's Note: Check out the Newf in the upper right hand corner of this picture. Hahahahahahahahahahahah!)

His name is Clifford. Here are some more hilarious photographs of him. The Mama really liked him. She said he had a lot of "movement" to him.

I can do "movement" too, Mama!

(Pooka with some new friends. Note how gigantic Pooka is, even next to other Newfs.)


(The crowd on the beach.)


(Ozzy.)


(Pooka being gorgeous.)


(Pooka looking around to see if any of the ladies were noticing him being gorgeous.)


(Pooka looking disgruntled because none of the ladies had noticed him being gorgeous.)


(Byron.)


(Murphy and his Mama, Jen.)


(A Golden named Darwin - we all agreed he deserved to be an honorary Newf.
Look at those floogers!)

Pooka and I taking a solitary swim. We were practically the last newfs left at the lake - we don't know when to quit rocking out! We got to use the generator for the first time to run the blow dryer, to get us all dry and get the sand off before going back to the hotel.

That evening our people went to dinner with all the other Newf owners staying at the hotel, and we had to hang out in the car by ourselves. But since it was like, 40 degrees Fahrenheit out, that wasn't so bad. And we were pretty tired from all the swimming and being gorgeous that we'd done earlier - we just took a nap. Saturday would be the main NewfStock event, at Millenium Park, so we needed our beauty rest!