Dear Holly,
It was great to get your last letter. I'm glad you and Sam are finding some fun things to do when the weather warms up some more. I wanted to let you know we made it home safely.
Remember how I told you The Writer had a surprise for us? You won’t believe what it was!
When we finally got our truck back, we were able to continue our trip, so we headed south, just as planned, although we no longer planned to go as far as Arizona. Billy and I had stopped being disappointed about it, though, because The Writer had told us there would be a surprise, and we were excited to find out what the surprise was.
It took us two days to reach our final destination. (That means where we planned to go after we gave up on going to Arizona.) Billy and I rode in the trailer and talked about what we saw when we went through a town, or a place where we could see mountains.
Remember how I told you how cold it was where we stayed for almost three weeks? Well, it got warmer the second day, and when we came to a stop, and the trailer was backed into our new campsite, it was still cool, but warmer than before. Our human family members said it was pleasant, and they didn't bother to put the dog's coat on him.
We looked out the windows to see what was out there, and we discovered we had a very nice view. We could see birds in the trees and people walking their dogs. We could see the mountains in the distance. Later in the evening, we saw the sunset. It was pretty.
This new campground had a lake. The Writer and her husband took their dog for a walk around the lake. You may remember their dog from our story, “The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf.” He played the part of the wolf in that story, only the wolf was really just a dog the boy thought was a wolf. The real dog's name is Dusty. He likes to chew on toys, but he leaves us alone.
While they were walking, The Writer took photos and let us look at them on her phone when they got back.
They told us all about their walk. They saw several geese, mostly the same kind we have at home. They are called Canada Geese.
There were also some ducks out on the lake.
They even got a photo of a turtle sunning itself on a log.
The Writer told us that there were fish in the lake, and people can go fishing in the lake if they like. They can’t keep the fish they catch, though. When they catch one, they have to put it back in the water. She said that was called catch and release. It’s for people who like to fish for fun but not to get something to eat. The people who own the campground put the fish in the lake, however, and they want to keep them for others to enjoy. I don't know whether the fish enjoy it or not. I wasn't around when any were caught.
Some of the trailers and motorhomes were right up close to the water. Those spots are more expensive, and you need a reservation. That means you have to call ahead or go online and pay some money before you arrive.
After we finished looking at the photos they took, we asked The Writer if this was the surprise she had told us about.
That’s when she told us: They were getting a puppy! The Writer showed us a photo of the new puppy on her phone and told us his name was Sandy. The photo was taken the week before, on the day they were supposed to pick him up (before we had our pickup break down).
If we had gone to Arizona as planned, The Writer explained, we would have stopped in this town and picked him up that day on our way back home. Now they were going to go pick him up, and we would start our way back home.
The Writer told us a young puppy might be scared if he saw a doll, because he hasn’t had very many experiences yet, so she asked us to stay out of sight when they brought the puppy to the trailer. We could meet him when we got home. That was OK with us. We were excited about the puppy but ready to go home.
We watched them leave in the pickup. Dusty went with them.
One of the nice things about a trailer is that they can disconnect it from the car or truck that pulls it. Then they can drive to the store or a hiking trail or a restaurant, so they can drive to pick up the puppy. You don't have to take your home on wheels with you everywhere you go. The Writer said the place was only six minutes away, but they would probably be gone an hour, because they wanted the new puppy to get acquainted with Dusty before they brought him to the trailer and let him out of his crate, which is sort of a cage where the puppy can be kept safe.
After they left, we went and sat in the closet. Well, The Writer calls it a hanging locker because you can hang clothes in it, but it’s like our closets at home, only much smaller.
We closed the door to the hanging locker when we heard them come back. They put the puppy’s food and toys away, and then they went for a walk. We came out of the hanging locker and watched from a window.
A puppy needs to learn to walk on a leash. This puppy clearly hadn't yet learned to walk on a leash. He kept crossing in front of the human people and Dusty. He had a lot to learn. When we saw them coming back, the puppy was doing better. We ran and hid in the hanging locker again.
Later we heard a lot of barking, and squeaking noises, too. We thought at first that the dogs were fighting, but then we remembered that dogs have toys that make that squeaking sound, so we thought maybe they were playing, and dogs often pretend they’re fighting when they play, so it's easy to mistake it for real fighting. Our human people would stop them, if they were fighting for real.
After what seemed like a long time, it got very quiet and stayed quiet. We decided that the dogs were resting, because we know they do that.
The Writer showed us photos later, after the puppy had gone to bed in his crate for the night. The first photo they showed us was when they first met their puppy.
The Writer explained that the big piece of canvas fabric they put down on the floor of the trailer was called a drop cloth. A drop cloth is a piece of cloth or plastic that covers something to protect it from weather, paint or other damage. The Writer told us that house painters often use drop cloths to keep paint from getting on the floor.
This drop cloth, though, wasn't to protect the floor. It was to protect the puppy from germs that might be in the carpeting, because we had been where there were other dogs––maybe some that haven't been vaccinated and might be sick. The new puppy hadn’t had all his shots yet. The Writer and her husband used the trailer seat cushions and the puppy's crate to keep him on the drop cloth. The campground has a place with washing machines and dryers, and The Writer and her husband had washed all the bedding, because Dusty walks on it. They had to clean both dogs' feet when they came back from walks. They had to take off their shoes at the door to the trailer. Everything the puppy could touch had to be clean.
The next day, our humans connected the trailer to the pickup truck again, and we were on our way back. It took three days to get home, because it's a long way. We noticed it was getting colder again. I told Billy we should have put on our hoodies, because The Writer would feel cold when she looked at us. At least, that's what she tells us.
During our trip home nothing went wrong. We kept pretending to hold our breath, waiting for a snow storm or a flat tire or for the lights to stop working, but none of that happened.
When we finally got home, The Writer put us on the couch to watch while the puppy explored his new home. After he had seen all of the downstairs, she picked him up and put him onto the couch to meet us. We tried to be very still. The puppy sniffed us cautiously. Then he decided to taste Billy’s hair.
I guess he figured out that we aren't real children, because we don't smell like real children. (Dogs use their noses a lot to learn about things.) Real children sometimes pull puppies' ears or tails, if they don't know better, and he might not like it. It made me turn my head when Sandy started chewing Billy's hair, but Billy didn't move. We weren't worried, though, because The Writer was right there. We knew she would protect us.
I think having a puppy in the house is going to be very interesting. Maybe living in a house with dolls who run around and do things will be interesting for the puppy, too.
Maybe some of our readers won't be surprised about the puppy. The Writer said something about how maybe it wouldn't surprise anyone because of leaks, which didn't make any sense to me, because we fixed the leaks where the water went into the trailer. Maybe there's another kind of leak. Anyway, we were surprised, and it was exciting to be the first dolls to meet the new family member.
We saw a trailer with a wheelchair ramp in one of the places we stayed. I think you and Sam would find it fun if you got to travel with a trailer and stay in a campground. I hope you get to try it someday!
Now that we're home again, you can write to me at our regular address again.
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.
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