Vinnie

Meet Vinnie! Melinda and I went to pick up Vinnie from Chicago O'Hare (he flew in from Portland, Oregon). O'Hare is quite the place. We went into the airport to find out where we were supposed to be. "Uh... not here" says the airport guy, "You need to go to cargo. I don't know how to get there, but if you just go across that parking lot and into that little building, they'll be able to tell you how to get there." We go to that little building and explain what we need. The nice lady at the counter whips out and map and proceeds to add to it (a lot!). She very nicely highlights it and explains that we are to basically go out of the airport and around to the cargo area behind the airport. "It's really easy to get there" says she, "but, I have not been there for years." (years??? this is not sounding good! does she realize how much can happen in "years"???) So we drive around the airport and eventually find the cargo area. We are about an hour early, but check with the folks in cargo to see if we are in the right place. Yep... it's the right place. "So" I ask "how long after his flight lands will he get here?" "Oh, about ten to fifteen minutes." replies the airport person. I'll believe that when I see it! Melinda and I entertained ourselves for the next hour watching some guy rearranging the FedEx trucks across the street. Vinnie's plane was due to land at 4:55, so at 5:05 we walked back inside (figuring the puppy would be no where in site). Well, he wasn't in site, but we sure could HEAR him! That boy has a set of lungs that could peel paint off your walls (ask Melinda, but speak up - she's a little hard of hearing these days!)

We sprung Vinnie from the hands of United and took him out to the parking lot to check him out. He recovered from his flight in about thirty seconds! He played and chased a ball of tape off of his crate and just generally had a good time - ignoring all the trucks and loud noises around him. We put him in the van after trying to wear him out a bit. Off we went - trying to find our way OUT of Chicago (gotta love Garmin!!!). Vinnie was NOT ready to be back in a kennel at all and he let us know about it. Melinda was stuffing food into the crate to keep him quiet. Once we got out of Chicago, we both wanted dinner and the van needed gas and GLORY BE - there was a Petco and a McDonald's right on the side of the road!!! Vinnie got a new Kong and some Kong stuffing for the road (hopefully to keep him quiet!). Martha and I got fish and chicken - she got the fish - I got the chicken (which was NOT all that good!). We got gas (for the van!) and we were off again.
We made it home at 10:30pm (after dropping Melinda off at her car), made brief introductions and headed to bed.