For anyone who has been worrying about Barney, please know that he’s been very safe here in Edmonton, Alberta. It took him quite a while to make the journey from Loveland, Colorado. Canada Customs don’t let any purple dinosaurs cross the border without serious scrutiny. We’re lucky he made it at all.
Barney’s journey started on April 9th from Loveland but he didn’t arrive until April 19th, the day of Catie’s fourth chemo treatment. His visit was unexpectedly lengthy for several reasons and we apologize for the delay; Catie wasn’t herself for the first week and there was a simply a lot of other stuff going on.
Edmonton can’t compare to places with charming names (a nickname of ours is Deadmonton) like Loveland or Fairbanks, Portage Lake, Madison or Livermore (well, maybe not Livermore), but Catie and Riley were happy and grateful to Spirit Peyton, Cami, Kris, Dillon and Rhys for sending him our way.
We have to admit it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. Barney’s introduction was greeted with suspicion. He didn’t do himself any initial favours by bursting out of the box in a frenzied purple blur to immediately perform all kinds of agility tricks. He scared Catie and Riley half to death. Who taught him those tricks and what was with the sweater? Why did he smell like a pug? What was with the puppy breath? Where the heck were the fritos? Was there a danish somewhere here? Who put barbecue sauce on him and who dropped all those leaves in the bottom of the box? It all simply confounded poor Catie and Riley’s old factory senses.
When things calmed down (mostly when Barney stopped showing off his fancy dinosaur manoeuvres) and they all got used to one another, we made sure Barney had some fun with Catie and Riley at the dog park.
- Barney playing peek-a-boo
We took Barney, Catie and Riley downtown for a little urban tour, consisting primarily of our art museum and some governmental monuments. We’re not sure he was particularly interested in our municipal and parliamentary procedures (our politics are pretty boring) but he was a good sport about it all.
Everyone was pretty much tuckered out by the time we got home. Barney went for a much-needed lie-down in the guest bedroom. Yes, he had his own room; it was the least we could offer after his long trip.
We were stunned when we checked on him a while later to find the bed much more occupied than when we left him.
All in all, we had a great time during Barney’s extended stay. We didn’t get to do quite as much as we’d hoped but we hope he enjoyed his visit. Although he was welcome to stay as long as he wanted, wanderlust is making him keen to move on. We are sad to see him go but we know there are so many other Tripawds yearning to see him and he’s getting packed and ready to go. He’s an absolutely tangibly huggable, funny-looking, soft-bellied, warm-hearted ambassador of all the overwhelming support and love on this site.
We’re happy we found you.
Thank you.
Carmen, Rick, Catie and Riley
I love you
You love me
We’re a happy family
With a great big hug
And a kiss from me to you
Won’t you say you love me too?
Barney Lyrics byLee Bernstein
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THE LAST WORD FROM RILEY: Catie and mom liked Barney way more than I did. And those weren’t love bites I was giving him. Seriously, the dude really bugged me when he stole my ball.