Dog Days of Summer

I’m writing this post instead of packing for our trip to San Diego. We are ending our summer by flying down to San Diego to pick up a gas guzzling SUV I bought for $50, visit family, and then drive back home to San Francisco.

This is the very first time that we take Put Pie on a plane and a road trip. I’m sure it won’t be the last. I am so excited about having her meet my family. She’ll be surrounded by people who speak Spanish! Yay!

Taking my daughter on this trip reminds me of all the trips I took as child during the summer. I grew up in Los Angeles and summertime meant there would be at least one road trip. Sometimes we would head north to Sacramento or Roseville, but most of the time we would head south to Tijuana or Mexicali.

These trips had a huge impact on me. I wouldn’t be the person I am without those experiences.

One time I accompanied a friend of the family, La Soldada (I can’t remember her real name) to Mexicali. I was around 9 or 10 at the time and extremely shy. When we got to her family’s house I really had to pee. I went into their bathroom and all I saw was a bathtub and sink. I asked where the toilet was and I was told to go outside.

No big deal, I’d been to lots of places in Mexico that had outhouses, but when I went outside it was so dark I could hardly see a few feet in front of me. The outhouse looked terrifying. I did not want to go in there where it would be pitch dark and I’d never been in there before. What was I supposed to do? Feel my way around! Yuck!

I decided I would just have to squat and pee in the yard. No one would see me anyway. Well, I dropped my pants and chonies, squatted, and started to pee. Mostly, I felt relief after holding it in for so long, but then I started to feel something really strange. I can only describe it as a warm wet lapping sensation. I looked over my shoulder ( mind you I’m still peeing ) and I find myself looking into the eyes of the mangiest dog I have ever seen.

I ended up falling forward into the dirt while this dog was still trying to lap at my nether regions. I wasn’t even done peeing, but there was no way I was going to finish with that pee-loving dog around! I pulled up my chonies and pants, and ran into the house.

I was so mortified, I couldn’t tell anyone. I mean, I didn’t even really know these people, I wasn’t about to tell them that there dog had been intimate with me. I sat there and waited and waited until everyone went to bed and fell asleep, then I walked into the bathroom and peed in the bathtub.

This most certainly is not one of my favorite road trips from childhood, but I will never forget it and I learned some valuable lessons. If I’m ever in a similar situation I will take a flashlight to the outhouse, if there is no flashlight then I’m peeing in the bathtub -DEAL WITH IT!

I hope my daughter never has a mangy dog lapping at her nether regions, but I do hope she has many wonderful trips filled with adventures, family, and Spanish.

This post was inspired by prompt #4 of this weeks Writer’s Workshop.