The Van

 

I grew up with my father always having old vehicles - mostly because he was frugal. We had a number of VW's throughout my life - and in his later years my dad had 3 different Westys. I have had a few VWs as well. I decided to start looking for a Westy in 2020 as I wanted to do more travelling and camping with Harvey. I found one for sale in Kamloops - it was in good shape and the price was good so I bought it. 

The day I was to go and pick it up, I had somethings to do, so I took Harvey to daycare and took the car home. I walked to the house of the woman who was selling it and we went out and did the transfer and insurance. I now owned a big teal van. 

I went to the daycare to pick up Harvey when I was done. I parked in the pick-up lot and left the side sliding door open. Harvey was always super-excited when I came to pick him up - as if he had been left for months. I leashed him and took him outside and he went straight to the van and hopped in and jumped up on the backseat. It was as if he knew it was ours and adventures awaited us. 

I opened all of the windows and we drove off! Harvey sat in the backseat looking around and smiling. He could see everything and the smells of the world flowed in the open windows. We just drove around for a while - both of us getting used to our new van. 

I always thought I should name it the Har-Vee but friends shot that name down quickly. The van was our go to transportation on the weekends. As soon as I grabbed his leash and headed to the back yard he knew we were out for an adventure - big or small. Out to Harper Mountain for a hike, or to the river for a swim, or just downtown for a chai and a pup cup. Every time out in the van was fun. 

Sometimes we would go out camping with Bevin and Rio or by ourselves. Harvey loved laying in the grass by the van keeping a close eye on things while the rest of us set up camp and Rio swam in the closest body of water. He never really slept at night while camping. His Great Pyrenees instincts kicked in and he kept a watchfull eye over us while we slept. It made him happy and fulfilled.