Doggone Good Vacation

If anyone is a Dye-hard golf nut, I'm sure you've heard of Pete Dye. He has designed golf courses all over the world, and is quite famous for doing so. This story is not about golf.
I hate golf. This story is about his son Perry Dye, kinda....

Perry Dye's dad (Pete, remember) owned a very large house (small mansion) on Lake Maxinkuckee in Northern Indiana, home of the famous Culver Military Academy. Perry worked with my first husband selling real estate and although we were not that close to Perry, we did socialize with him and his wife occasionally. Perry was having a big 4th of July blow-out at his dad's house in Culver and had invited us, along with about 10-12 other couples, up there for a 4-day weekend. Great! Not only did Perry invite a lot of people for the long weekend, he told everyone to also bring their DOGS! What? Dogs? I had to call Perry on this one.

"Perry, gosh, I have 3 dogs and I don't know which one to bring, and then I'd have to have someone watch the other two while I was gone. So, I'll just not bring my dogs, ok?"
Perry was having none of this: "Bring 'em all," he told me, "everybody's bringing their dogs."

On the way up there we were wondering how many dog fights we'd have to contend with and is anyone going to be able to walk barefoot along the beach? I mean, really! That's a lot of dog poop. We arrived in the afternoon, most of the others did too, and Perry was assessing the dog situation and who got what bedrooms. There were about 7-8 bedrooms in the house (scratching my head, trying to remember back that far) and only 2 or 3 bathrooms, if I remember correctly, but that never seemed to be a problem the entire weekend.

I had the most dogs, a few couples had 2 dogs - most had just 1 dog, so my husband and I got a downstairs bedroom all to ourselves. Some of the other couples had to share. To say that the first day there was utter chaos is an understatement. We had dogs running everywhere, barking, sniffing, jumping and doing what dogs do. By the end of that first day we decided that it would be ridiculous to try to leash these dogs or tie them up away from each other so the general consensus was to.....let 'em go. We wanted to enjoy our weekend and not have to worry about walking dogs or where to put them all. This was gonna be interesting to say the least.

In the kitchen, Perry had designed a huge poster that hung on the wall. This poster had every meal listed - 3 meals a day for 4 days - and names were assigned to each meal as to who would cook that meal and who would clean up afterwards. He also had other duties for each day including "pooper scooper" duties and planned activities. The second day was to be a hog roast and the last day was going to be a dog show. He had thought of everything. He gave every couple 2 brand new white beach towels with the Steak 'n Shake logo, that his dad got for free (it's all in who you know, folks). I still have one of those beach towels and I forbid anyone to use it. Don't know what happened to the other.

By the second day, everyone was getting used to the "open door policy" that we had established the first day, after all it was July and really hot out. All doors were to remain open at all times so that the dogs could come and go at will. Even though the house was owned by a rich famous guy, there was no A/C - just fans. Believe it or not there were no dog fights and we had all sizes and breeds of dogs. Those listed on the roster to prepare the hog roast were out early in the morning; they dug a hole in the back yard close to the beach and that's where they were gonna roast the hog. It cooked all day and smelled so good. By evening everybodys mouth was watering. I was neither listed to cook nor clean that day, so my day was spent out on the dock and the beach soaking in the rays, and drinking. I had more comments on my dogs then anyone else because they followed me everywhere. They literally would not let me out of their sight at anytime. I would go to the end of the dock, jump off, swim out a ways and when I looked back there were 3 little poodles swimming single file after me. People on the dock were pointing and laughing. When everyone else went swimming, their dogs just lay there and waited for them to return. Not mine! Someone had brought a bloodhound named John Henry and at any given time of the day or night, you would find John Henry asleep on the couch in the living room in front of the fan; probably the smartest dog there. Anytime anyone would walk through the living room they'd say (in a low deep voice) "John Henry" and would be lucky if they could get him to open even one eye. We were all amazed at how well behaved the 15 (or so) dogs were and how they stayed close to home. They could have taken off down the beach, but none did.
The hog roast was a success. Absolutely delicious. After that huge meal we all just sat around in little groups and talked, drank, played cards, reminisced about the weekend so far, passed out or just went to bed.

I was one of the first ones to awake on the morning after the hog roast. My shriek brought almost everyone immediately to the kitchen. Words cannot describe what disaster had struck!
Not only were there dog prints on top of the counters and tables, but the refrigerator was open and everything that HAD been in the fridge or on the counter was now gone - eaten! The kitchen was in such disarray that you could not walk safely through it. The floor was greasy and slippery. There were sacks, bags, dishes & containers - all on the floor and all empty. Even the leftover roasted hog, which was going to be a meal for this day - gone! I guess that's what we get for drinking & eating too much and sleeping so soundly. The dogs had a heyday in there and no one heard them! It must have been "John Henry" (the smart one) that opened the refrigerator door. So he really could move off that couch if he wanted to....hmmm. Again I must say, words could not describe it. You just had to be there. It took all morning to get that kitchen back in order, while the dogs slept it off. As we were cleaning up we were thinking about revoking the open door policy but then decided - what the heck! The damage had been done and there's only one day left, forget it.

The last day we all were exhausted, to say the least. So the dog show was a half-hearted effort, but fun just the same. Most of us lounged around the beach and generally relaxed. My husband took off for home the day before (which is a whole other unpleasant story) so I rode back with some friends.
All in all it was one of the most fun vacations I'd ever had. And if Perry ever reads this, I'm sorry but I forgot your wife's name. I think it was either Ann or Susy. It was so long ago.