Leg 2: Norfolk to Sumter, SC

We left that afternoon and headed south again, this time to my Aunt Donna and Uncle Mike’s place in South Carolina. The last time I had seen them it was 1998 or 1999 at the best, so getting there was an adventure down back roads that were unpaved, but we finally got there, and for Halley at least, is was worth the bumpy ride! We were greeted with a cavalcade of 5 dogs running out to greet us. Halley did not know what do and really, neither did I. Having not met the dogs before and still waiting for Aunt Donna or Uncle Mike to come outside, since the dogs and Halley had never been formally acquainted, I left Halley in the car with Hillary. Halley sat in the drivers seat barking, shaking and nervous which was made even worse when tiny dog named Crumb came running over to the car, looked right at Halley and started to bark. With that came barking from the house and more from inside the car. Before I could let this get out of hand and drive Hillary up a wall, I got Halley from the car and rescued her from the pack of 5 dogs: Princess, a mini Dachshund; Tiny, a Yorkshire Terrier; Bear, Tiny’s dad, also a Yorkshire Terrier; Crumb, a mini-pinscher, and Goliath, a Bull Mastiff, sort of like a Pit Bull Terrier, like Halley but but bigger and goofy as hell. All these dogs got Halley worked up so I let her run loose, praying that she didn't get into anything. Sitting on the porch at night, drinking beers with Hillary and chain-smoking with Donna, we listened to the bugs chirping all around and watched a quiet fog roll in on the lawn. Bed was calling and sleep was needed. 

Leg 2: 375 miles           

In the morning, Halley wanted to get out of the bedroom and explore, so I let her out to play with the dogs while we slept in. When we finally got out of bed, we went outside and saw that Halley had all the room in the world to run around. Flat, grassy and warm, a perfect combo for Halley, both then and now. All of us laid around the house, enjoyed the sun, watched the dogs lap heavily from a giant bowl and listened to Aunt Donna tell stories. Halley dined on the treats the other dogs got by the handful while we were treated to bona fide southern cooking from a Jersey native; everything was rich and delicious.

We stayed in Sumter for another night, since there was no sense rushing with at least three days at our next destination in Orlando. Besides, aside from Aunt Donna and Uncle Mike and my cousins Michelle, Michael and Joseph, there were no other first-cousins in the family and we wanted to enjoy the time we had here together. Hanging out on the porch, smoking cigarettes and talking about a little bit of everything was nice and relaxing.

Aunt Donna, Me, Uncle Mike, Sumter, SC.  Guess which one I’m related to

Then I noticed Halley wasn't around or with the other dogs. Having headed beyond the fence, Halley was now on the neighbors property and was pretty much fucking with a horse. I never saw her approach the horse, bur the horse was jumping around, dodging something and throwing its legs up in the air, which was about the time I saw her avoid the horses wrath and notice me fast approaching to get her the hell out of there. I ducked under the electric wire fence and picked her up, tossed her through the wooden fence and got out of there before I got trampled. For all the relaxation we had, it was a stressful end to things.