In August, we received a fed ex package from Pedigree telling us that there had been such an overwhelming response to the Program (over 100,000 votes) that they were bringing all six nominees, at Pedigree’s expense, to NYC for the awards ceremony to be held on September 29, 2004. The excitement began. Being nominated was a tremendous honor, but getting to go to the awards ceremony was the icing on the cake. But, then, how to get there?

    We were informed that United Airlines would allow Ben to fly in the cabin with me, but my concern was that since he had never been on a plane, how would he react. If he became fearful, how would I get him back on the plane for the return trip? And was there really enough room in the bulkhead for him to be comfortable? If we didn’t fly, there was only one other realistic option, drive in the van!

    Never say never, I guess. When we moved to the west coast from NY 10 years ago, I said I would never make that trip in a car again! And here I was working with AAA to plan our road trip to NYC for the Awards Ceremony!

    I planned how many days I could comfortably drive and not make the trip a burden for either of us. AAA found the dog-friendly hotels in each of the locations I designated and then all I needed to do was to decide on the date of our departure. Tuesday, September 21st became the day I targeted. We were lucky enough to have two friends volunteer to drive different parts of the journey with us….one with an ulterior motive of seeing NYC for the first time in her life and the other who just plain loves road trips!

    After days of planning and packing for a three week, 6400 mile trip on the road, 6 a.m. on September 21 finally arrived and Ben and I pulled out of our driveway with our first stop to be in Twin Falls, ID…some 570 miles away. What I thought would take about 8 hours, took us about 10. At our pit stops we met so many wonderful people and Ben posed for many pictures. Before this trip, Ben had never been in a hotel so I had no idea what to expect, but true to the nature of the Newfoundland, he took it all in stride. The first night was the most challenging as I tried to figure out how best to organize the things that had to be taken from the van each night and to make sure that Ben was as comfortable as possible. This is a Newfoundland who has a dog door and a huge fenced yard and who rarely has to ask to go out. What an adjustment for the two of us! Plus, traveling with a natural diet proved to be an interesting challenge. Two coolers, one to store the food for the long haul and the other to take into the hotel each night.

    Getting up at 5 a.m. to get everything done in order to be back on the road by 6:30 shortly became our routine. Day 2 took us to Laramie, WY, another 10 hours day and about 580 miles, and an encounter with snow. Fortunately most was in the higher elevation, but the cold weather made for a very happy newfie and a mom with very cold feet since slip-ons with no socks is my preferred way of traveling! Such beautiful scenery as we went through Utah and the western parts of Wyoming! Again, meeting so many fun people at our various stops.

    Omaha, NB was our targeted destination for Day 3 and I was anxious to see how Ben would react when we met up with our eastward bound co-pilot. Just think three days in new environments and not seeing anyone familiar and now 1800 miles into our trip, and a familiar face. This was the first hotel in which Ben was not comfortable so by the time our friend arrived from the airport, Ben was pretty stressed. I think seeing a familiar friend helped tremendously in calming him. It was very warm and humid, so another adjustment for the boy to make from the night before walking in freezing temperatures.

    Day 4 was one of our longest days as we made our way to Shipshewana, Indiana. We were getting into more populated areas and encountering slower traffic speeds. No more wide open country, but at least we once again found a Starbucks! Our stop in Indiana was in an Amish community and Ben was beside himself with all of the different sites and smells.

    While I knew we could make the trip in five days, I opted to stretch it by a day so that we would not have to push it so hard once we got into the more populated areas. So Day 5 was our lightest day (400 miles and only 7 hours) as we headed towards Brookville, PA. We had encountered beautiful weather for driving with no rain, and while this day was overcast, it made for a more comfortable time in the van. We noticed that once we had left Iowa, the rest stops were not as numerous nor were they as nice as those in the earlier part of our trip.

    Day 6 was our transition day. Before going into the City we stopped at our cousins’ home in New Brunswick NJ for lunch and an opportunity to just be in a yard and a home. We planned to leave there during the daylight for the hour drive into the City, but we were enjoying their company and that of their two Portuguese Water Dogs, that we ended up not getting into the City until about 7:30 p.m. Imagine that wonderful City at night seen through the eyes of our friend who had never been there. And she drove expertly through the Lincoln tunnel amidst all of the New Yorkers returning from the weekend!

    We arrive at the hotel, The City Club, which is just a few blocks away from Times Square, and are greeted by a hotel staff which immediately fall in love with Ben and can’t seem to keep their hands off of him. With a smile, they assisted in unloading all of the stuff (and believe me, there was lots) and helping us get settled in our hotel room on the second floor. Once Ben had had his drink and surveyed the room (plush but very small), we headed off to find something that would suffice as grass. High hopes when they told us that Bryant Park (which we were told had a huge grassy area!) was only two blocks away down the Avenue of the Americas. Off we go. Two very tired women and a big brown newf who thought that this adventure with the smells and sounds he was encountering was the best thing around! It took forever to find the Park because of the number of people who stopped to ask questions, have pictures taken and pet Ben. Now this was living. Get to the Park only to find that the grass was cordoned off due to re-sodding! Fashion week was held there two weeks before and all the grass was killed so would be two weeks before it would be opened for use! So I look at Ben and say, okay, country boy, either use the ivy or learn that the concrete is okay to use! While the security guards had told us the ivy was not for dogs to use, Ben charmed his way into, ‘okay, we understand’ and we never had a problem in the four days we were there.

    Yea, finally a morning we can sleep in! Monday was a free day and our friend took off to explore the City and Ben and I headed to the Park with a book and a brush and water and water bowl…oh, and a drool towel! Here we are making our way down the Avenue of the Americas in rush hour and meeting harried New Yorkers on their way to work stopping for pets and leaving with smiles on their faces! And technology at its finest…people with camera phones taking pictures of Ben and sending to their friends!

    Conveniently located at the entrance to Bryant Park is a Starbucks so I know I can comfortably stay in the Park all day. Which is exactly what we ended up doing! I wish I had had a tape recorder or a video camera because we met so many people with such interesting stories. From a person I am sure makes his home on the streets to a woman doctor who is there on political asylum and had so many interesting stories to tell about her life and pets. Fortunately I had loads of Ben’s trading cards (even if voting had ended, it helped to tell his story) to give to people.

    We had been there about four hours and a man whom we had previously met come up to me and asked if I would like to know how many times I had said ‘he’s a Newfoundland’? At that point I really had no interest as the novelty was wearing a bit thin. He told that he had been sitting at the table opposite us reading the paper and making hash marks to keep track. And since I didn’t want to know, he said it was more than 100 and less than 500!

    When Ben and I got back to our table at the Park from what turned out to be a long in time, short in distance walk, my cell rang and my husband and other friend were at the hotel. Our other friend had just returned from her shopping/sightseeing trip so we all met in the Park I graciously let the others take their turns at answering the many questions from passerbys. Once Ben had had a drink, I put his collapsible water bowl on a chair and the rest of us visited. A woman who had been talking to my husband reached into her purse and withdrew some money asking if the bowl was for donations!!!

    Before we headed back to the hotel, we began to see other familiar faces there for the awards ceremony and I think Ben was happy to finally meet some other dogs. And what wonderful friends they and their handlers became in such a short time.

    Ben’s many trips to and from the Park soon made him a permanent resident of the ‘neighborhood’. People we passed began calling him by name and wishing him good luck and to have a fun trip! Tuesday was the welcoming event at Pedigree so lots of grooming and preparation for the various activities. The weather forecast predicted torrential downpours in the late afternoon and evening! And the event was located far enough away that they were providing transportation. We all met in the lobby at 3 p.m. and while we were waiting my cell phone rang. It was the director of the Program telling me that Ben had gotten the most votes and had won! But I was not tell anyone because while they had let those who didn’t win know, they didn’t want to make the announcement until the next morning! So here I was amongst the others trying to be nonchalant! They had shared with me that they were having two winners because Trouble, the Agricultural beagle had also gotten a significant share of the votes.

    It was pouring outside and there had been a mix up in the vehicles they had sent so we had to wait in the lobby for almost an hour and a half. And when the van for Ben came, I knew I should have said no, but Ben tried to get in. It was a very high SUV and they had not taken out one of the seats as they were requested. Ben jumped and hit his shoulder on the seat and fell back into the street. Fortunately, my husband is right behind him to help him. Naturally I am panicking and hop out of the van to make sure Ben is okay. He is dripping wet but moving fine and no pain, but we decide that it would be best that I go to the event and rehearsal and Ben and Jeff go up to the room.

    I felt horrible about the incident and sad that Ben was not there, but I knew that he would do fine the next day and as wet as he was, he and others would not have been as comfortable. It continued to pour buckets of rain and the while the event was only a couple of hours, with traffic in the rain, it was almost four hours before I returned to the Hotel. With the event scheduled to be outside the next day, there was no sleep for this lady as I lay awake listening to the rain beating against the windows!

    Jeff took Ben out about 3 a.m. in the pouring rain and upon their return, I fired up the blow dryer and spent the next two hours drying and grooming. Miraculously, the rain stopped about 5:30 a.m., a half hour before we were to meet in the lobby to head out for our first event. We arrived at Fox studios and began the many of our to be ‘waits’ throughout the morning. At 7 a.m., we were staged for our moment of fame on “Fox and Friends” where the winning dogs were announced. Even though I knew that Ben had won, it was still a proud moment to hear it announced to the public.

    Then off to Rockefeller Center to get ready for the actual awards ceremony. And then we waited again while they set up the stage and ran through our roles and places. About 2 hours later, the event began! We were joined by two of the International dogs who had participated in similar programs in their countries. A German Shepherd who was with the German Red Cross Search and Rescue Program and a golden retriever therapy dog from South Korea.

    Speeches were made by Pedigree representatives, The Humane Society of the United States and the second in command of Homeland Security. Medals were presented to the dogs and then Ben and Trouble were given cement slabs into which we were asked to imprint their paws and then sign their names. (The other dogs had done this earlier in the morning). One of Ben’s prints was perfect while one looks similar to a Mastodon as he yanked his paw back without raising it from the cement! At this time, Pedigree is uncertain as to where the Paws of Fame will be established as a permanent exhibit.

    Once the formal ceremony was over, we were surrounded by the various media for interviews and pictures. And while, Ben and I were ready to move onto the next phase of our adventure, we were informed that we needed to stay an extra day for a Thursday morning TV show! Oh well, the price of fame, and as I said to Ben many times on this trip…remember, buddyo, this is an adventure of a lifetime!

    After what seemed like an eternity of answering questions and smiling, we finally made our way out and to the Park. My husband and Melissa, our eastward bound friend took off for the airport while Marty, my westward-bound friend, Ben and I had lunch in the Park and just relaxed as we re-planned our trip home.

    Thursday was a very early morning since the van had to be packed and we had to find our way to the TV station. Hotel staff, again, was so helpful. They had had pictures taken with Ben the night before so our focus was all in fitting everything into the van and heading out for our last commitment. The TV show was at the WB studios and was pretty much a repeat of the day before but we added even more friends! The NJ Nets dancers were on before us and they each had to have their picture taken snuggling up to Ben. I did learn that the outfits they wear are perfect for being around newfs! They do not show drool or shedded fur!

    Show over and we head out of the City. I will never forget the look on Ben’s face when we pulled into the first stop we found in NJ and he saw the grassy area. He took off running in that direction and began to roll around and then just lay there with the most contented look on his face. Even though I told him we were heading up to Upstate NY to visit my old stomping grounds on the shores of Lake Ontario, he refused to budge…..please, just let me savor this grass!

    What an adventure (13 states twice in 18 days!) and what wonderful people we met. Some, I am sure will become life friends. I was so touched by the enthusiasm and creativity that went into helping Ben win! The Newf Community was the best! I have received so many emails from folks asking for pictures and details. Ben had fans from all around the world voting for him….Switzerland, Germany, France, England, Australia, and so many other places. Each of the places we visit in his therapy assignments had programs in place to get people to vote and then when the AP interviewed us and the article was published in various places, the voting community grew larger.

    I have had many experiences in my life, but can honestly say that there are none that have moved me as much as this one has. It allowed me to develop an even more special relationship with Ben and to learn so much about behaviors…. his, mine and others we met…and didn’t meet. I now can honestly say it was an ‘adventure of a lifetime’!