Bookworm Press

Now, people and pups are finally ready for the awesome road trip from Ohio to Arizona. We will be driving through nine states: Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

AAA Triptic Cincinnati to Arizona

Good luck to all. Have a safe journey, no flat tires, no sick pups (or humans). May the Force be with you!

Goodbye old house.

And off we are. Goodbye Ohio. Welcome Kentucky.

It didn’t take long until a very insistent Gulliver declared in no uncertain doggy terms that he didn’t want to sit in the back but insisted on a premium front seat!

Now, that’s much better, isn’t it! His brother in the back is of course jealous.

Fortunately, Gulliver settled down quite nicely on the floor, which is much safer, and slept through much of the journey.

At the eastern and middle part of the journey, the landscape was lush but the farther west we got, it became more savanna and eventually desert-like. Here are a few pics from Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. We missed some of the welcome signs and in some cases there weren’t any. So I have to depend on my memory. Well forget that!

Lots of wide-open space and windmills everywhere.

Not to forget! The famous Highway 66!

Taking pictures through the car window is of course not ideal. With limited time and five pups in the back, we couldn’t do any sightseeing. Bathroom and rest stops at gas stations don’t make for beautiful imagery. Oh, well. I tried my best to at least capture the changing scenery.

And here is our first pet-friendly motel in Missouri. Time to relax after a long day. The first day went without a hitch. Two more to go!

More later!

As I mentioned in my last post, I didn’t know Cincinnati before. I was pleasantly surprised  find out what an interesting and beautiful city it was. Here is a link to an article about the city on the Britannica website. What alerted me to it was the statement that “in 1842 Cincinnati was one of the few American cities admired by the British author Charles Dickens.”

Cincinnati | Ohio, United States | Britannica

Since I was in the city for a couple of days, we didn’t have too much time to explore it. My friend Barb Piatt with whom I stayed drove me through the different parts of the city. One of the high points was the visit to Krohn Conservatory with its beautiful botanical gardens and its Butterflies of Bali exhibit. In an enclosed part of the gardens, thousands of butterflies in all colors were flying around and, if you were lucky, even landed on you. Barb was one of the lucky ones. Obviously a butterfly loved her reddish hair!

The butterfly exhibit as well as the botanical gardens were very special and a real treat. Here are a few more pictures.

Outside the conservatory we had a great view of the Ohio River.

All this sightseeing made us hungry. The next stop therefore was at a restaurant, called Skyline, where they serve some of the most typical “Cincy” meals: “Cheese-Coneys” and “3-Ways.” They are based on a recipe from the Lambinides family, which originated in their hometown of Kastoria, Greece, and was handed down through generations. Here is some background: Skyline Chili – Local Restaurants Near Me | Skyline.

Of course, I had to try the somewhat unusual meal (unusual for me at least). I’ve never had anything like it. I wouldn’t eat it every day, but it was indeed very tasty.

Our visit to Skyline was the perfect ending to the interesting and very pleasant sightseeing drive through Cincinnati. Thank you Barb! More later!

A couple of weeks ago I flew from Los Angeles to Cincinnati, Ohio, to meet my friend Diane and accompany her (and her five little Chihuahuas–all rescue dogs!) on her move to Sun City, Arizona. The furniture was being transported with a U-haul truck, driven by her friend Mike. Diane and I drove her SUV (with her precious “cargo” on the backseat.)

Here are three of the pups! The one in front is Griffith.

It took us three days and we spent two nights at a pet-friendly motel. But before our trek through the country, I spent a few days sightseeing in Cincinnati, a city I didn’t know. Since Diane was finishing up her packing, trying not to go completely crazy, I stayed at her friend Barb’s gorgeous house and let myself be spoiled with yummy food and tours through the city.

Cincinnati is a very beautiful and interesting place. Many German immigrants made the city their home and a few of the historical parts of the city have a German feeling about them.

When I arrived at Cincinnati airport (which is actually located in neighboring state of Kentucky), I was surprised how attractive and easy to navigate it was (compared to LAX, the Los Angeles airport). I flew overnight and at 5 am on Friday, Starbucks in the airport was open to welcome sleepy travelers and I was greeted by a sculpture of a mammoth.

Diane picked me up at the airport and drove me to her home which was, of course, full of boxes and five very excited and confused dogs who didn’t understand what all this commotion was about. The best thing to do was to take them on a walk to the park to wear them out and calm them down! The littlest and oldest one stayed home, sleeping. Maddy is a somewhat grouchy grandma. Here are the other four. The two black ones from left to right: Hope and Echo. The brown ones, the one on the right is Gulliver and the one showing his butt is Griffith.

After our walk in the park, it was time for the pups to relax at home and for us to have a leisurely breakfast/brunch at a great coffee shop in Cincinnati, called First Watch. The first thing I noticed, aside from the delicious breakfast choice, was the much lower prices than I was used to in California. The Golden State, as we all know, is not cheap!

The next few days I spent with Diane’s friend, Barb, who had invited me to stay at her gorgeous house.

And here is Mimsy, Barb’s little sweetheart.

The following few days, Barb drove me around Cincinnati where we visited a few interesting places. More about that in the next post.