Rescuing Tully

I had a dream last night about Tully being safe and well. I know it's my job as Flatman to find him today. Zachary and Jake are coming home to Alaska and will want to see both their dogs, not just HomeBoy. I slipped under the door and sat in the snow watching two of the visiting dogs wrestle in the white stuff, Forty-West and Lucy.

If I were a dog and wanted to go on a hike, which direction would I choose?

I noticed some houses to the east of Beanie's house and thought that might be a place to go if I were a dog.

I got out my awesome snowboard and followed a ski trail in the woods, passing a Mama Moose and her baby on the way. At the end I found a few houses, and immediately noticed a yellow lab in a fenced yard. He looked happy but a bit confused. I slid under the fence and asked if his name was Tully? He smiled, wagged his tail and I knew I had found him. He was only two streets over from Beanie's house on Katie Jean Circle.

Tully had made friends with a family that had two little kids and two big hairy dogs. He told me he got confused in the wind during the blizzard and saw a purple door thinking he was home (Beanie has a purple back door). Anyhow it was 4 degrees and he had been outside for over an hour and was so cold he was shivering. He sat by the door and whined until the family let him in the house. He had been there for the past two days and was wondering how he was ever going to find his family again. He was so glad to see me and asked if I could show him the way.

I told him to just follow me as I slid under the fence. He said goodbye to the family and thanked them for their dogpitality before he tried to squeeze under behind me. I quickly realized that Tully was not a FlatDog, and could not fit under the fence like me! Instead I opened the latch on the gate for him. He ran through the woods behind my snowboard all the way home. When we reached Beanie's house all 17 dogs were barking "Tully's home, Tully's home" on the front deck. Homer was especially thrilled to see his big brother!

Beanie and all the dogs were so glad to see us that we both got kisses, licks and hugs. Beanie called me her hero for finding Tully. I felt so proud! We were both so tired that when Tully jumped on the bed for a nap I was right beside him.

He whispered in my flat ear that I would always be his best pal for showing him the way home.

Flatman Josh with the not so FlatDog Tully, signing off for tonight. Goodnight!

Christmas Day

Christmas at Beanie's was awesome. She made banana pancakes with walnuts for all 17 dogs and me! Then we went for a long walk with dogs running everywhere, and me snowboarding on the road. So much fun! The dogs all stayed with us because Beanie has a pocket full of treats so when they came back to check in, they got a tasty liver bite! When I came back to check in she gave me a Gummy Bear! The dogs and I had a race back to the house and of course I won because I slid under the door and they had to wait for Beanie to open the glass door before they could come in. They all had their noses sniffing under the door trying to figure how I did it. I told them they would have to make themselves flat if they wanted to do that trick.

There is so much snow here in Homer and snowboarding is great. My flat body glides over the moguls. The sun came out for a few hours but it is mostly dark all the time in Alaska this time of year. The dogs were tired after our hike so everyone crashed by the fire for a nap.

Beanie made us all a turkey dinner with gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing and gingerbread cookies.

I am so full and so are the doggies. For a snack before bed I had a piece of French Chocolate Cake with vanilla ice cream. If I keep eating like this I will soon become round instead of flat! Yikes!

Beanie gave me an awesome book for Christmas that I've had my nose in all afternoon! It's called Avatars of Gaia - the Escape from Hazard Hollow.

I love it and want to take it back to Ohio to share with 3-D Josh. He will love it too! Beanie says she will mail me home in an envelope so I won't have to change buses so many times and I will get there much faster. Plus, I can take my new book with me in the envelope!

We placed ads on the radio stations to try and find Tully, Jake & Zach's dog. No one called us back though and Beanie said it's because it's Christmas and who's listening to the radio anyway? I've been surveying the area trying to figure out where a silly yellow lab might wander and am formulating a rescue plan for tomorrow if he doesn't come home tonight.

Stay tuned! But for tonight Flatman Josh is signing off.
Goodnight :)

The Adventure North

It was a long, hard trip sliding from Columbus Ohio to Homer Alaska, but I made it. I wanted to be there for Christmas with Beanie and all the dogs, and made it just in time on Christmas Eve. She owns Tails-By-The-Bay Dog Camp and has 17 dogs in camp for the holidays! Yippee, what fun! I am so excited. Now that I have made myself a Flatman it is easy to travel.

Getting from Columbus to Canada was my biggest challenge. I slipped into the baggage area of a Greyhound bus. My mom and dad once rode a bus to Seattle and weren't speaking by the time they arrived. I can understand why. It was the longest ride of my life because I had to change buses 3 times - once in Chicago where the Bears were playing football and there were a gazillion people getting off at this station. Next I changed in Big Sky Montana where the temperature dropped below zero and caused me to shiver and shake along the station floor getting to the next bus. But the blue skies were awesome! Finally we arrived in rainy Seattle where the Seahawks were also playing football and lots more people left the Greyhound. I almost missed my last bus. The hatch was closing and I was barely able to squeeze through. Good thing I am nice and flat. The last stop before leaving for Alaska was beautiful Vancouver, B.C.

Luckily I was able to slide under the closing door of a cargo van in the Vancouver parking lot and ride all the way from British Columbia to Anchorage. I saw moose, elk, caribou and black bears along the way. It was so cool! Once the cargo van was unloading boxes and I was able to glide along the snow covered road with two buffalos and their babies for a bit before I had to get back in the van and continue on north to Alaska.

Once we arrived I then had to hop a train to Girdwood where I skidded on the snow into an open car door bound for Homer. No one noticed me since I am so flat.

I found Beanie's house by snowboarding through the blizzard to Katie Jean Circle. It was great to finally see her green VW called Meems in the driveway. I knew this was it! It was difficult getting up the steps because the snow was soooo deep, but after several attempts I finally made it to the sliding glass door and of course slid on in the house without being noticed.

That is, except for Rudy the Cocker Spaniel who had to come smell me alerting all the dogs that I had arrived.

There was a blazing fire in the woodstove so I skidded over there to warm up. It's only 4 degrees outside so I was freezing cold.

The fire warmed me up and made me very sleepy. I found the back bedroom and slipped under the snowman sheets and down comforter for a good long sleep.

There is a sadness at TBTB Dog Camp because my cousin Jake's dog has disappeared. It's a mission for tomorrow. But first, I need some sleep.

Flatman Josh signing off for tonight. Goodnight.