I have travelled the world promoting the Disney film and Bob’s novel “Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog”, receiving a Nobel Peace Prize and meeting the Pope and all sorts of politicos. I think Dylan the Westie and I have peed and pooped all over the world. But at times it is a blur and it is very tiring and sometimes stressful. Time for a vacation! Bob and Fay decided during this silly COVID mess to take Dylan the Westie and I on a real vacation. No paparazzi, no television shows or hours long photo shoots. And we are going to Niagara-on-the-Lake to a fancy inn called the Oban Inn and Spa.
It is about 90 minutes away from Toronto on some busy highways but I love a good car ride especially when I have something to look forward to! Off the highway on country roads we had to stop at a drawbridge and watch a huge ship pass through the Welland Canal. A massive ship! Then the bridge lowers and we cross it. I am not at Niagara-on-the-Lake but am so excited already to see that ship! As we pass through some town called St Catherine’s I think it is called, the scenery gets very nice and I feel like I am in the country. Dylan the Westie and I remark how clean smelling the air is even in the winter.
I hear Bob reciting the name of the wineries we pass. Humans like to drink wine and Bob writes about wine as a hobby and he says this and that winery make good or mediocre wine. There are so many wineries here!
We arrive at the Oban Inn and Spa which is a small but really comfy and they have a couple of dog friendly rooms which have a nice backyard and Dylan the Westie and I go for a badly needed pee there when we arrive. It is so peaceful and quiet here and after checking in we go for a walk along the waterfront and meet a Westie called Tucker. It is December and it is cold but Dylan the Westie and I have coats and Fay has given us fancy collars and leashes so we are prancing and bobbing around like kings oblivious to the cold.
We are tired from the trip and our waterfront walk so Bob and Fay decide they will eat in our room and Bob goes to pick up the pizza at some bistro called Bistro Six One and some wine as after all we are in wine country. Bob is tired from the stressful drive so he sits outside and has a cold local beer from Oast called “Farmbrew”. We go outside and sniff and run about. The pizza smells so good! And after our kibble Dylan the Westie and I have a small piece of pizza and is it ever grand!!!! Bob has a glass of Malivoire Farmstead Gamay and Fay a glass of Malivoire Lady Bug Rosé. They really like it and say we are having a special dinner tomorrow night with the master and mistress of PENNY!!!!!
We have a very good sleep but Dylan the Westie barked to go pee at 4 in the morning. He had taken his monthly anti-parasitical medication before we left which makes him tired and very thirsty and what water comes in must go out. I am sleepy but go out with Dylan the Westie to keep him company and since I am out in the backyard have a pee myself! Bonus time as we jump into bed with Fay and Bob and drift off in a happy and warm sleep.
In the morning Bob figures out the coffee machine and makes some coffee for Fay and grabs a tea and pastry a few minutes from the Oban and we are off to Niagara Falls! I have seen the Falls on a BBC documentary but seeing them up close is both terrifying and exhilarating! The roar. The mist. The power. I will not forget this wonder ever! Then we go to the Botanical Gardens for short walk and stop at various scenic lookouts and see the power of the river. And that floral clock must be a sight in the summer!
We return to the Oban Bob telling us there is going to be a SHORT RECEPTION at the Oban restaurant with local dignitaries wanting to meet me, Bob, Fay and Dylan the Westie. Bob had insisted all the wines being served are Malivoire wines because as he said, “They make damn good wine!” Fay loves the Moira Chardonnay and Bob says the Analog Gamay is amazing. Thank goodness there are some children there and we get lots of pets. And Bob slips us a bit of delicious crab cakes. Who is the chef at this place? He knows his food for sure.
We have an hour before dinner with the mistress and master of Penny so Bob and Fay catch up with their phones and e-mail. You humans spend too much time looking at your phones! I have seen it all over the world. More than a dozen times I have seen couples at restaurants not talking to each other and instead looking at their phones? Bob and Fay never do that.
The restaurant has been closed to the public just for our special dinner with Penny and her “parents” and they arrive. Dylan the Westie, Penny and I are allowed to stay at the restaurant and it is so exciting to see Penny. We talk all dinner long. Penny is very excited about her new Oodlecopter especially with its missile launcher capable of firing Iranian X 600 mini rockets. She shows us her new headphones she will be wearing in her Oodlecopter.
The food arrives and there are crab cakes, shrimp and scallops, chicken with mushroom and truffle risotto and confit of duck. All three dogs get a small piece of duck. We dogs LOVE MEAT! And boy it is really fantastic!
After dinner Bob and Fay watch the CBC news and incessant stories of more unrelenting COVID crap.
It has been a long day and I feel like I am on my first real vacation! Good food, interesting people and a nice quiet sleep without planes flying overhead. Bob and Fay we should be going to Greece for our next vacation. Bob says it will help with his next book “Mutantism on the March” some of which is set on the Greek island of Samos.
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