The Oak Knoll Iditerod

By Connie Warnock
Oak Knoll Kennels

In November, I received a call from a friend in Spokane telling me of the birth of a litter of two puppies, one of which was the spitting image of my darling fourteen-year-old Demi Sue, Pen Sans Demitasse. Was I interested ?? I was not only hooked, I was halfway reeled in!! The catch was that the puppy would be going back up to Lethbridge, Alberta, with his mom, dad, and the co-owner of the litter. We would have to drive up there to pick him up. The other catch was that the co-owner didn't want to keep the puppy past the age of nine weeks and had a "waiting list!" This meant driving north in the dead of winter, (Hubby would be crazy about that !) to buy another dog (that would surely push him over the edge!). All during December I gently persisted. By Christmas, he had graciously accepted the inevitable.

The puppy reached nine weeks on January 4th. We left Sandy at 8:00am on January 5th. Packed to the gills with blankets, warm clothes, puppy food, bottled water, newspapers, a small pen behind my seat, chocolate bars in the glove box, cans of de-icer, and several crossword puzzles, we embarked on the "Great Puppy Run" or the Oak Knoll Iditerod!!

We listened to the radio for weather reports as we drove through Spokane. It began to snow-huge puffy flakes that made it seem more like Christmas than Christmas! ! We stopped for coffee, checked the map, and agreed that this was really kind of fun. A few hours later, I wasn't sure if "fun" was exactly the right word. We had been driving on packed snow and ice for several hours when we crossed into Canada, under the threat of a major winter storm. (I wondered what we were in and decided it must be minor!!) Much of the time, we were the only vehicle on the road. There's a lot to be said for a husband who can drive on and through anything and for a four-wheel-drive car with ABS brakes and I said it all-often! !

We stopped for the night in Cranbrook, British Columbia. It was very cold. The next morning, we ate breakfast while the car warmed up. It was 19 degrees below, Celsius-about 7 degrees above, Fahrenheit, and snowing lightly. The weather reports were ominous. We were four hours from Lethbridge. On the road again, the snow was soon joined by wind. Drifts of snow blew across the road, twice stopping us due to zero visibility. Sunk deep in our own thoughts, it was a quiet drive-Hubby thinking: "Why did I ever agree to this!" Me thinking: "What if I'm disappointed in this puppy?" I'm buying it anyway, that's what! And I'll carry the disappointment quietly to my grave! ! !"

We arrived in Lethbridge at 1:00 pm. And there was "Demi" at nine weeks, chewing on a begonia leaf in a cozy sunroom. We were back on the road by 2:00 pm-new puppy snuggled in my arms. The look on my face helped make up for the road conditions, which had worsened, if it were possible. At 4:00 pm, we were advised by road sings to look "up" to see big-horned sheep. At 4:15 pm, we stopped for an entire herd, standing roadside! ! They weren't born yesterday-obviously "up" was even worse weather! They looked beautiful, and cold.

We made it to Sand Point, Idaho, for the night. After a great dinner, we borrowed a can opener (the one thing I forget!), from the manager, who wanted to see our new "baby." The little guy didn't miss a beat or utter a whimper. He ate, played, and slept through the night, curled around my head. Sunday morning dawned with freezing rain, landing of course on top of snow and ice! ! We warmed up the car during breakfast, and were on our way by 9:30am. We stopped for a breather in Spokane, and finally, three hours out, we hit plain old wet road-no snow, no ice, no freezing rain, just good old liquid sunshine!

Home never looked so good! Elated that we made it safe and sound, we hit the sack with Puppy between our pillows. So-what do you call a man who would drive 1,500 miles in three days through ice, blizzards, and freezing rain to buy his wife a puppy?? Well, the answer is you call him your Valentine (and you let him name the puppy Buzz Lightyear-cuz, after all, he just drove "to infinity and beyond!"

Connie and the Kitchen Kennel
Plus "Buzz"