Blog: With Liza and Snitz by Jessie Close

Liza, Snitz and I took off for Whitefish, Montana together.  ROAD TRIP!  I have found that road trips can make or break friendships.  This trip was no different.  We were driving six hours to see a friend of mine who I hadn’t seen for 30 years.  30 years!  Susie lives in Virginia and I didn’t know how I would ever get to see her if I didn’t take this trip.  I would have done this drive with just Snitz (my 7 pound Service Dog) but was thrilled when Liza said she’d come along.  I’d booked a room at the Kandahar Lodge.  Even though they said “No Dogs Allowed” I knew that Snitz’s Service Dog vest would get her passed the innkeeper, and it did.  He never said a word.

We drove by Missoula then took 93 up to Kalispell.  But, at the junction, we spotted a McDonald’s.  Now, Liza and I usually eat only healthy food and I’m on a very strict diet to lose what I’ve put on by taking medication and not watching my diet, BUT we looked at the McDonald’s then looked at each other. 
Liza asked, “How do you feel about McDonald’s?” and I told her I love McDonald’s but I usually don’t eat their food except in the month of December, and only once then, as a naughty Christmas present to myself.  The upshot of this discussion was that we drove up to the little microphone and ordered and it was so good!  Insidious is how I would describe McDonald’s.

So, full of crappy food, we kept going into Kalispell then out the other end and into Whitefish.  I called the lodge and got directions but Liza saw that I probably needed a pen and handed me one.  I asked the man to repeat the instructions.  We kept driving and driving and driving and found ourselves winding up a steep mountain, switchback after switchback, and the farther we went the more we laughed until we were screaming and I was saying that I must have booked us into a ski lodge!  And that’s what it is.  But there were other guests and we discovered that their chef is well known, so, all was okay.  Snitz, Liza and I dragged our luggage in and checked out our room.  I got Susie on the phone and made arrangements to see her the following day.  Then we discovered a door at the end of the hall that led out to a beautiful garden!  All was great and wonderful.  Then we fell asleep and a nightmare started for Liza.  It was a waking nightmare…  Both Snitz and I snore!

Liza is a musician and has studied many types of music so she put her buds in her ears and started trying to NOT hear me snore.  She began with Gregorian Chants but there were too many spaces between the notes so she tried binaural beats.  That didn’t work either.  Finally, she yelled at me!  I don’t even remember it. 

The next day Liza was exhausted and insisted that if she could find a certain type of earplug she’d be able to sleep.  I was well rested.  We drove to the hotel where Susie and her husband were staying.  Susie had told us that she’d meet us by the bear.  I wasn’t sure if we were at the right hotel so I asked a grounds man if there was a bear around there.  He said, “Yes, in the lobby.” So, we parked and walked in and there was Susie, 30 years later, near a huge bear.  I couldn’t believe it!  It’s a very strange thing to see someone after so much time.  Susie’s voice and way of speaking were the same.  Her hair had grey in it, as does mine.  She wears glasses now, as do I.  I wondered how she thought I looked, really.  We had fun walking around Whitefish and looking in stores.  We exchanged information about our families and she reminded me that my mother never liked her as she thought Susie was a bad influence on me.  Funny!  I was no crème puff. We had a great visit and it was difficult to say goodbye.

Back at the lodge, Liza and I continued on our ROAD TRIP mode.  We ordered pizza from the restaurant below and then, because it was so good, we ordered MORE!  But it was fun to eat pizza and watch the Democratic Convention. Liza had purchased huge earplugs but still heard me snore.
We hit the road the next day.  When we got to my house we unloaded all and then Liza ate two chocolate covered pistachios off the floor of my truck!  Damn - I was going to eat those!  And that’s how our trip went, in tune as a good team, except for the snoring.