Day one

Today we started the LONG drive south to take Joe IFT. (Ely got dropped off at some friends house last night; I think Ely knew that Joe was leaving as he hung out with Joe most of the day.)  We left this morning around 8:00 and Joe was passed out asleep within just a few minutes. We stopped 3 times and made it to St. Augustine by 3:45 (where we will be staying the night). At the Florida welcome center Joe got dolled over by all the ladies who worked there while Joe enjoyed the nice cold floor. Joe slept with his head on my leg most of the way down. Riding puts him right to sleep and he slept very well on the almost 8 hour trip down. 

Once we got to the hotel, he was very stretchy after all that sleeping. We went out to dinner at a restaurant next door to the hotel and set up on the deck on the roof. Joe enjoyed the cool beach breeze. There were a lot of wild parrots flying around which is something you don’t see every day. After we ate, we came back up to our room where my dad and Joe were looking out the window when they saw a gorgeous guide dog walking down the sidewalk! (which is really the perfect thing to see when you are taking your puppy back!)

Next up was Joe’s first trip to the beach, he LOVED it! His ears were just a flapping in the wind and he was sniffing up all the good smells that came with it. He enjoyed bouncing through the waves and it was really fun to watch his puppyness come out. Joe could easily be a beach bum. Joe got exposed to quite a few other doggies on the beach and he did awesome about ignoring them. There were also 2 coast guard helicopters that flew right over, so he only looked up at the first one to see what it was and ignored the second one. And of course being the sweet natured puppy that he is, he pointed out a grasshopper who was almost in the water so that it could be saved. 

He is enjoying looking out the windows while getting blasted by the air conditioner. Right now he is curled up in a little ball fast asleep.