Sadie The Thieving Dog

Heading out of Athens, GA we passed a Waffle House with a horse contentedly munching on grass in the parking lot. We are not in CT anymore...

Sadie, though on anti-anxiety medication, is still showing signs of stress. While we would like to chalk up her thieving to stress relief, we know better. She is a shameless scavenger of anything remotely food-like. This trip has been quite the bonanza for her. So far: one bag of Cheerios outside of Harrisburg, PA; one box of leftover brisket & BBQ ribs in Roanoke, VA; one blueberry muffin in Greenwood, SC. She's like the canine version of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations as she eats her way across the country.

Speaking of BBQ, we have had two opportunities to compare. The aforementioned Roanoke meal and a North Carolina version. Much preferred the NC BBQ. While the actual BBG was pretty good in VA, EVERYthing served with it was too sweet: the cornbread (with honey butter,) baked beans and iced tea and cole slaw were all wicked sweet. Half way through the meal we were practically in a diabetic coma.

The NC BBQ was vinegar-based. While they didn't serve cornbread at this particular establishment, they did have hushpuppies. Yum!

Last night we stayed with Chris, a friend of Aaron's from his high school job in Asheville. Chris is allergic to dogs but he gallantly allowed Sadie to bed down in his stairwell rather than have her sleep in the car when it was 22 degrees. She was of course a nutcase and scratched at the door all night. Olivia had her first really fretful night in recent memory, finally splaying herself on her back across Aaron's head and chest. Fortunately my husband can sleep on a picket fence and so her thrashing didn't disturb him much.