Dog Friendly Road Trip
We were so excited to wake up early in the morning with our car jam-packed with luggage, sleeping bags, a cooler full of drinks and lunch, an audio book for our listening pleasure, snacks, and of course the BEST DOG IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, Blue Belle, who joined us on our road trip to to the great Northwest. We traveled from Boise, Idaho on the interstate freeway system through Oregon, over the Columbia River to Washington State, through scenic wine country and finally to venture through the picturesque cascade mountains and Kittitas County. We truly love to travel the state highways through the beautiful small communities. As soon as we could, we hopped off the interstate to relax on the slower pace of the Washington state highway.
Shortly after leaving our home in Boise I realized that I should have given Blue Belle a bath the day before we left. Riding in our small car, with Blue Belle snuggling up between us, caused some discussion about the unpleasant odor we would have to endure for several days. It didn’t seem to bother Murry much, but I do have a very good sense of smell. So we looked online to see if there was a self service dog wash somewhere on our route. We knew we would be spending the night in Cle Elum, WA, and the next day stopping to take Blue Belle for a walk and enjoy the awesome view of Snoqualmie Falls, so we searched google for a self serve dog wash near Snoqualmie.
Our search brought us to a fantastic jewel of a find, Pet Place Market, located in North Bend, WA. We sent an online message to let them know that we would be traveling through North Bend the next day and would be so happy to give Blue Belle a bath in their self serve dog wash. When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised when we stepped inside to say we were traveling and needed to use their self serve dog wash. The nice lady said “this must be Blue Belle”. Yah! They read our message. We were greeted by the Manager, Amanda, and a nice young man named Zack.
Amanda showed us into the back room where the doggie spa was located. A nice sized room that was very nicely decorated with several bath stations. She gave us a tour and explained how everything worked. First we put on some stylish blue (Boise State Colors, by the way) rubber aprons and took Blue Belle to a table where we brushed her. If we wanted we could do a few other grooming things like clip her nails. Then we took her to the bathing station. The water was already set to the proper temperature and ready to go. Amanda showed us how to use the shampoo and conditioner, how to hold the sprayer for the water and how to use the blow dryer. We even had scented spray to use after she was all cleaned up. We chose the lavender spray. She smelled so good.
After her bath we looked through the pet store and found a product to add to our purchase – an organic dog treat made with real berries produced locally. Wet Noses grain free dog treats are USDA organic Non-GMO and made nearby in Monroe, Washington. I found this information about their facility on their website: “Every single one of our treats are produced at our facility in Monroe, Washington – about 30 minutes north of Seattle. Wet Noses has called the beautiful Pacific Northwest home for nearly 20 years, since our beginnings in a Seattle kitchen in the late 1990s”. They also say “Our company is founded on one very basic philosophy, if you wouldn’t eat it – don’t give it to your pet”. What a great attitude!
We were so thrilled to find this super duper pet place with such a friendly staff. We plan to stop in again when we take another road trip with the BEST SMELLING DOG IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD.
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