Hello everyone, Bert here.Mom thought that Dad was procrastinating
writing this Christmas letter, so she asked me to do it. I will start by hoping
that you are all in good health and able to be with your loved ones this Holiday Season.If
you have any leftovers that you don't want, my number is. never mind.
Mom, Dad, and I have had a real good year.It was comprised of three major parts: 1)
Preparing for our trip to Alaska,
2) the trip itself, 3) recovering from the trip.This year, for the very first time in my
life, I took a real vacation with Mom and Dad.We all piled into our motor home and headed
north.We were gone for about 2 ½ months and
saw some wonderful sights. We also
visited with several family friends along the way. Good times.
The very first night out we had a little mishap.Dad had built a folding ramp to make it
easier for me to access the motor home.You see, I don't do steps very well.Well, Mom was helping me up the ramp after my evening walk when my rear
foot slipped off the darned thing.Apparently, I don't do ramps very well either.When she bent over to help me, my big head
swung around and caught her upside the head.That hurt her more than it hurt me.By the next morning, she had a real nice shiner starting on her left eye
and it got worse with time.It took over
three weeks to finally disappear.The
funny part is that every time they would go into a store to buy supplies, all
the women would give Mom a very sympathetic look which rapidly turned to sheer
hatred when their gaze shifted to Dad.It got so bad that Dad refused to walk with her in the stores.
Dad bought a
nifty GPS so we wouldn't get lost.Now I
ask you, since there is exactly ONE road that goes to Alaska, how lost could one get?Mom was his co-pilot/navigator. I was good with that and used my time to best
advantage sleeping on the couch.That
way, I could be nearby in case I was needed, or if we stopped for lunch.I also discovered that I am ambidextrous.I can sleep at either end of the couch with
equal comfort.By the way, in the group
photos, I'm the short, handsome one in front, with the curly hair.Just so you know.
We spent a couple days in Yellowstone
NP looking for Yogi.I was hoping he
would share his pic-a-nic basket with me.No joy, he was MIA. Although, we
did see beaucoup buffs and elk.
Our trip
through Canada
included some of the most beautiful scenery I ever saw.Canada has some strange rules about
dogs, however.Mom needed all sorts of
paper work attesting to the status of my health and immunizations just for me
to enter Canuckville.The border dude
didn't even ask if we had a dog along so I sat quietly next to Mom and Dad
never mentioned me.So I snuck into Canada, twice,
undetected.I bet you didn't know I was
a stealth Airedale, did you?One thing Canada is big
on is Visitors Centers.Just about any
town bigger than a crossroads has one and Mom felt compelled to visit them
all.Of course, they all welcomed dogs so
I felt right at home.All the ladies
loved me and gave me biscuits.Life is
good.They didn't seem to mind that I
was an illegal alien. Dad would load up
on free maps and cookies and soon we would be on our way.
We eventually made it to Dawson Creek,
BC which is the starting point of the Alaska Highway.So
far, the weather had been perfect but it couldn't last forever.It was pretty much solid clouds with
occasional rain from Whitehorse, Yukon all the way to Alaska.This summer was a strange one in AK with all the rain and clouds.We didn't see the sun but a few times during
our entire stay.There's not much you
can do about death, taxes, or the weather except take it as it comes.
One of the
strangest events on the entire trip was my encounter with a genuine
Sasquatch.I spied him standing outside
a restaurant.He just stood there, real
still and all, while Mom took our picture.I figured that the night before had been pretty cold and he was still a
bit frozen.I tried to thaw him out a little
by whizzing on his leg.He didn't even
flinch.Go figure.
Whilst in Wasilla, AK, we met my Auntie Jan who coordinates the Alaska Airedale Rescue
for the entire state.She hosted a
barbeque in my honor and invited a whole bunch of 'dales and their uprights to
meet me.There must have been ten dogs
there.I ran and played with all of them
and had fun.But the best part was all
the food.Yumm.
During the
trip home, I noticed that all the communities in British Columbia had magnificent floral
gardens planted throughout the town.These
displays must have germinated from the English tradition of maintaining a
proper garden.It seemed as if each city
was in competition with all the others to see who could be the best.As far as I was concerned, they are all the
best.They were absolutely
beautiful.Mom took about a zillion pics
but the best one is shown here.That's me, in case you were wondering.
We spent some time in Oregon visiting Mom's sister, my Auntie
Karlyn.We drove along the coast and at
one spot I was able to take my very first walk on a real beach.That soft sand felt real good squishing up
between my toes.It felt so good, in
fact, that it stimulated my bowels and I had to take a big dump in the
sand.Mom didn't have any poop bags or
anything to pick it up with so Dad dug a big hole with his shoe and buried it
deep so no one would step in it.What
else could he do?We hadn't walked
twenty feet when this sour looking crone came swooping down the beach with a
bag in hand and dug up my deposit and picked it up.The entire time she was orating to Dad, in no
uncertain terms, about proper doggy beach etiquette.She must have been the beach dog poop
Nazi.Hey lady, excuse me for having
bodily functions, but peristalsis happens.Get a life!
Now it's almost Christmas and we have pretty much
recovered from the adventure. We had a
wonderful trip.As I write this, Mom is
busy baking cinnamon rolls to take to the neighbors.I sure hope she makes a batch for me.I'm not sure where Dad is, as long as he
doesn't interfere with Mom's baking.BTW, it's hard to tell from these tiny
pictures, but this year Dad lost a ton of weight.Personally, I think he still has about a ton
and a half to go, but you didn't hear that from me.
We wish you the happiest Holiday Season and the very best that 2009 has to offer.
Love,
Bert,
Kay, and Jim
Copyright Bert Krause. Article and photographs published with permission of the author.
Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the author is
prohibited. If you would like to reprint any of the articles, please contact the
who will put you in touch with Bert's agent.
Dad bought a
nifty GPS so we wouldn't get lost. Now I
ask you, since there is exactly ONE road that goes to 
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