Thursday 25th January, up early for the first day of the IAADP Board Meeting today. Noticeably colder outside, and by lunchtime there was a snowstorm. There were intermittent snow showers all afternoon but it has only settled on a few grassy areas locally.

Even the dogs were heading inside quickly after their toiket breaks!

We spent the evening relaxing at the hotel and preparing for the IAADP conference day next week.

Wednesday 24th January, we enjoyed a pleasant walk downtown and around the harbour area today. It was pretty cold, but as long as we kept moving, things weren't too bad. We had a slightly hairy moment when my trike appeared to malfunction and kept cutting out, it appears to have been a problem with the electric cutout, which rather by luck than judgement, we have fixed for now, so fingers crossed!

We also found our first geocache of the trip today, although in the past couple of days we have found a couple of benchmarks. Karen initially looked as the immediate area wasn't wheelchair accessible, but when it wasn't immediately evident Wendy joined the search, and after clambering over some rocks, found the cache right away! Big grins all round!

We changed hotel rooms today as the past couple of nights have been punctuated by a very noisy radiator that sounding like a kettle constantly on the boil. The hotel were very sweet and gave us appetisers and also a gift hamper in our new room.

Several other IAADP board members arrived today, so we spent the evening catching up on news and relaxing together. The dogs all enjoyed romping around together too.





















Karen with the Maryland hamper and Wendy with the geocache

Tuesday 23rd January, after a very long lie in and superb breakfast, Which for once, Caesar was allowed to share, we set off again to find dog food! Thankfully the hotel concierge was able to give us a map and excellent directions to a pet store about 2 1/2 miles away, we walked there and took a taxi back. The walk took us around the edge of the historic Inner Harbor area of Baltimore and it was very pleasant, sunny but a definite chill in the air.

When we reached the shopping area, we did a bit of grocery shopping and visited McDonalds as well as the pet store.

In McDonalds I was asked to leave because Caesar is not a Seeing Eye dog! Once again, I needed to explain that under the Anmericans with Disabilities act, Service Dogs are permitted entry. An interesting conversation ensued and we were allowed to stay.

We had a rest back at the hotel and caught up with some of the other Board members and enjoyed a very pleasant dinner at a local seafood restaurant this evening. Once again, and early night to catch up on some sleep.



It happens everywhere, sign at McDonalds, East Fort Ave, Baltimore claims only "Dogs Leading The Blind" are welcome!

Monday 22cnd January, we've arrived safely in Baltimore after a journey of 23 hours door to door! Karen, Caesar and myself are all pretty tired and won't be doing much except checking the quality of the beds for the next few hours!

We had an uneventful flight but the airport transfer took longer than we had hoped. Imagine our surprise when the plane came in to land when we saw everywhere was under a blanket of snow! Almost immediatey we got to the hotel we took a taxi to find a pet store to get some food for Caesar (law prohibits that we bring any in with us from the UK). Urrgh, the driver (an Ethiopian gentleman) initially refused to take Caesar, insisting he was a pet; however, we managed to explain and we ably backed up by the hotel doorman.

The food run was unsuccessful, so we'll try again tomorrow.















Caesar in flight

Caesars' coming! Delightfully, Caesar got the all clear to travel last week, and we're almost ready to go. He's back to full fitness and his stamina seems normal now, he just needs a little more hair to grow (where the vet had to shave his front legs to put an IV line in), and he will look normal then too!

We're looking forward to seeing many old friends during the trip, but perhaps not looking forward to the colder weather we've been warned about!

Happy New Year! In the weeks since my last post here, so much has happened, perhaps the most worrying was that Caesar has been poorly and was on a drip in hospital for two days and a night. He was taken ill very suddenly whilst in London on 1st December, but thankfully due to swift expert attention he is virtually back to normal now; he just needs some hair to grow on his front legs to cover the areas where they had to shave him, I on the other hand have a few grey hairs as a result! This has meant I have been unsure whether he will accompany me on the upcoming trip to USA. Together with his vet and trainer a decision will be made next week. He has been working again for a couple of weeks now.

None of this affected Caesars' enjoyment of Christmas!

All the flights and hotels are booked for the trip to Baltimore and Washington D.C. and advance packing has begun!