One of my favorite authors from my English classes in high school was John Steinbeck.  I’ve always gravitated toward ‘historical fiction’ and his observations on society were very different than my experiences growing up.

Steinbeck’s non-fictional story, “Travels with Charley: In Search of America,” was my favorite of his books though.   He travelled across the country he loved with his French poodle.  After reading the book as a teenager, I immediately wanted to journey across the country with my future dog.

For better or worse — thanks to COVID — I had the chance to drive across a quarter of the country the last two weeks with our newest Patriot Pooch, Hercules.   Herc is a mix of beagle, pitbull, and golden retriever.   We adopted him in July 2020 from a home that wasn’t a good fit for him; he had been abused by the kids in the house.   He’s had some emotional issues since joining our home which we are still working through.   But it turns out, he was a wonderful road companion.

I’m going to write another post or two about the trip.   It turns out I drove nearly the same route in March of 2020 — “two weeks” after the COVID lockdowns began.  So I’ve seen a lot of how America is doing — at least in the Southeast.   And it isn’t good.

For now, here is Herc.   He’s a good boy.