Update (Old trip, new trip, and life)

WHEW.
It's been a while.
After planning to 75% specificity our New England trip, we've made a few major changes. First off, were going south, not north.
Pretty major. And tentative.
We both have only visited our grandparents down in Florida once or twice, and in my boyfriend's case, never. When my grandparents casually invited me to come and visit, I thought, why the hell not? As awesome as NE sounds, I have never visited most of the southern states. I also have family in VA Beach, Baltimore/Washington, and Western (not to be confused with west...) Virgina.
This means that a totally new journey will be archived here, with more planning advice: including the mistakes that we learned from our last trip, and of course, the good ole internet.
Oh yeah, and this time, the pup's a long for the ride.

How could I leave that smile behind?

At the time of the last trip, I didn't have Stella. Now I can't imagine a road trip without her.
While I've driven to Philly and back more times than I can count, with or without Stella, she's a handful. She howls/barks/whines whenever she's in the car.
I've tried everything:
-toys
-treats
-comfy and familiar blankets
-Thundershirt
-letting her out to pee a lot
-making sure she get's lots of exercise
-loud music
-quiet music
-talking to her
-ignoring her
-benadryl
...EVERYTHING that has been suggested to me, ever. The only thing that works is lots of exercise, which is not always easy or effective when your riving 6-8 hours a day. It's even more impossible when your on your way to somewhere why you want to wear her out. Like the dog park, for instance. Who wants to take a dog for a 45 minute walk or 20 minute run before you can take her to the dog park for more exercise.

Anyway. Questions I'm currently tacking:
-Dates of travel
-Exact stops
-Approval from the relatives that I'm staying with that dates all agree, and that Stella is okay. Most I haven't even asked yet because everything is still so up in the air. If not, it's not a big deal- she loves going to doggie day care/ overnight camp!
So yeah. Pretty much have to iron out the whole itinerary. But I'm so excited! Below is the general framework. We'll be going in either late June or mid August.

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More to come!