There & Back Again... A Corgi Tail by Christine Cocozza

As we pulled out of Huntington Beach State Park last year, I was already booking site 121 for this year. Last year was amazing, but we had to move around the camp ground a bit, which is hard when you have to take your house everywhere you go and reset up. This year, we are going to have over a week in the same spot. People might think that we're crazy.Driving this many hours in a twenty foot camper van with five corgis, but let me tell you it's worth it. You'll see the glory of the beach.And how much fun the puppies have, but let's get there first. You can see us in the photo above at a rest stop in virginia. This was our first evening, and it may not seem grand but it's perfect for a quick on and off the highway. Okay.Walking five dogs in the crappy triangle of grass is not ideal but other than that, pretty cool. On the second day we planned to stop at George Washington's birthplace. This is a national monument that Mike and I had not hit yet. Yes, it was an hour out of the way, but when else we were going to be in this part of virginia. Amazingly, it's only a couple of miles from Robert. E Lee's birthplace. I had no idea that they spent the first five or six years of their life so close together. Of course, we all know that George Washington ended up moving to Mount Vernon, where he is buried, but this is where he was born. Unfortunately, the original family home does not exist.

The home that you can see in the top, right was actually designed for george washington's two hundredth birthday in 1932. Inside it is beautifully decorated with period pieces, but none of them were the Washingtons'. The room that you can see with the spinning wheel is to the left of the main house and is also typical of the period. Unfortunately, you can't see the workshop in the photo, but it is back and to the left of the small building with the spinning wheel. They're actually gearing up for George's three hundredth birthday, so perhaps Mike and I will actually have to come back and see the updated park movie and other exhibits. We've been told they're going to do more with the native tribes in the area who lived along the Pope River long before the Washington's.

Traveling in the van with corgis seems all well and good, until they decide that it's time for you to get up!!! Then really it's every man, woman, and dog for themselves.

I mean, they won't even let each other walk through the van unassailed. Unless, of course, they all decide that it's time for a puppy pile underneath my feet.

You can't tell it from the photograph, but Gracie is on the floor and Yennefer is sitting on top of her. Blaze is sitting on my lap, but what you can't see is that both Trillium and Luna Belle are underneath the blanket that Blaze is roosting on. Yes, in some amazing way, five corgi's can fit in the footwell of a Dodge Ram Van. It's at this point that I started telling the puppies, how many times we were going to get out of the van before we got there. I have to say our next stop was monumentally amazing. Not because it was a truck stop that got married to walmart, but because one of my students last year was obsessed with this walmart truck stop marriage and I had to honor his memory by stopping too.

I have to say it was about a hundred times better than I expected it to. All the merchandise is amazingly kitchy, and fun, the food is better than you can possibly expect, and everyone is excited to be there. You all know that I don't make a ton of impulse purchases, but I have to say this is one of them, and I'm so happy I did...

After refueling our stomachs and spirits at Buc-Ee's we had a very short drive Huntington Beach Dtate Park. But fear, not the puppies made a grumpy hour out of it 😂

But of course, we did finally arrive and get everything set up. Make sure to check back for great memories on the beach.