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So you think you've been there, done that? Well, let me test it right now – have you been to the Adventure Suites in New Hampshire? I didn't think so!

Of course I am slightly prejudiced, but I have never had a sweeter canine or feline companion as Susie Sweet Dog.  The moment we first met on a large horse farm in northern Georgia she came out to meet me and put her head in my lap and looked at me with those big brown eyes. It was over – she had finally found her permanent home at the age of 4 ½. 

One of Susie’s many good friends, in this case a human one, told her about a marvelous camp for dogs and their significant others in the beautiful setting of Vermont. Susie’s ears perked up immediately with the familiar “let’s go” look on her face. She made it clear to her daddy that he should check in to this.

Susie wants to let everyone know about an amazing boutique hotel in Glen Ellen, California – the Olea Hotel, which only has twelve rooms, three of which are pet friendly.

On Sunday, June 9, 2013, Susie and I said our goodbyes to our new friends in St.Jean-sur-Richelieu and began our trek to our next overnight stop in Niagara Falls, Ontario. We only had limited time, but had a few hours in the morning to take a quick tour of Montreal.

Time, 3338 miles, 7 states, 2 provinces, and hundreds of dog treats fly by quickly when you’re having fun! But every great journey has a beginning and begins with the first steps. Susie was born ready, and turned out to be a great traveler. She and her pal, Lambchop, were packed and ready to roll.

If you want a great Florida get-away for you and your dog at a reasonable price, check out the Low-Key Hideaway at Cedar Key, Florida. Cedar Key is an island off the west coast of the Florida peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico. Cedar Key is 57 miles southwest of Gainesville and 143 miles north of Clearwater and Tampa.

After visiting and making our purchases at the King Arthur Flour complex, Susie and I headed back south on I-91 to I-89 to head north toward Canada. Only a short way up the road we saw the signs that a Vermont Information Center was just ahead. We pulled into the rest stop so Susie and I could both answer the call of nature. We were amazed at what we found there.

Susie has been talking to her British cousins about great places for dogs in the UK so we can provide recommendations for places our European readers can visit with their best friends. One of her pals from across the water brought a whole bunch of hotels and B&B’s to our attention in the United Kingdom. Susie and Beau are ready to hop on the Cunard Queen Mary II to visit them.  This option was featured in a recent pet patrol article entitled “Cruise with your Pet?: The Options are Limited.”

On our arrival at camp on Sunday, June 2, it was a warm to hot summer day. Our room was on the second floor of Marlboro North and fortunately we brought a fan to help cool things down. Of course a front moved through and the rest of the week was cool, but for a couple of Southerners cool water and iced drinks were imperative.

Want to combine luxury for both you and your pet? Bardessono in Yountville, California is the place for you and your best friend. In fact for the one-time pet cleaning fee of $150 you can have up to two pets stay with you in your room.

In Albany our new friends Sheri and Anne, who are already alumni of Camp Gone to the Dogs, told us about the camp and gave us an address to input into the GPS. The Garmin actually found it, but typical of most GPS’ it decided to route us by what it saw as the most direct route, which was in the back way through the woods.

Susie was pleased to find an inn in the United Kingdom that really speaks to dogs and their human companions. On the web site of the Joiner’s Arms one of the main menu items is “Man’s Best Friend.”

Dog Mountain came to our attention when Susie and I were at Camp Gone to the Dogs.  The proceeds from an auction at the end of our week at camp were dedicated to the support of Dog Mountain in northeastern Vermont near St.Johnsbury. Unfortunately our schedule did not allow for a visit on this trip, since we were traveling up the western side of the state into Canada on our way to Montreal.

Susie and her daddy are preparing for their first big trip together, and would like to share some of the forethought gone into the preparations for the journey. When the dynamic duo returns, they will also share not only tales(or “ tails”) of their experiences, but also any travel tips that they picked up on the road – or as Susie prefers to call it “the Pawed Pathway.” Susie’s daddy remembers traveling with his brother, parents and pet Beagle, Peggy, with great fondness and looks forward to sharing the same experience with Susie.

Speaking of unique places to stay that are also pet friendly, the two shepherd’s huts at Wriggly Tin in Hampshire certainly fill the bill. Being a herding dog, Susie is especially interested in the possibility of her and Beau or her European buddies to stay in a place where she can once again say, “Where are the sheep?”

After leaving Montpelier we decided to start looking for a place to have lunch as we approached Burlington. We exited just before Burlington, but couldn’t find any restaurants close to I-89. Since we had our Garmin GPS to get back on track, we continued about five miles down the road until we came to Essex Junction and saw the Firebird Café on the left-hand side. Since this was obviously a local place and not a fast-food chain, we decided to stop and check it out.

Susie was delighted to find a unique travel and vacation experience in northwest England. The Farmhouse at “A Corner of Eden” is located near Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria and is another pet friendly property that can be easily accessed in particular by our European patrol members.  Kirby Stephen is 94 miles north of Manchester and 75 miles southwest of Newcastle.

The week seemed to fly by and the time had come to leave camp and head north through Vermont to Canada. Susie had a fun and productive week and had made many new friends, both canine and human. She was going to miss her camp buddies especially Brie, Lucy, Rascal, Digby and another Aussie, Phil a blue merle from the Bronx.