The first day of our “Healthy Pets Visit Vets” tour for “Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual” is in the rear-view mirror — and I mean that literally, as we’re already more than an hour down I-10 to our next events, in New Orleans. If every day goes as quickly as this one, the tour will be over in no time at all.
For me, though, it started with an eviction. Because of McKenzie, our official tour dog.
See, we booked hotel rooms and meetings through Marriott corporate, and not all the properties take dogs. But the Marriott people wanted the business, and assured us that as part of the BIG Bus Tour, McKenzie would be made to feel welcome at every stop. That promise, unfortunately, didn’t even apply on Day 1.
McKenzie and I had just checked in when the phone rang in the hotel room. “Ms. Spadafori,” said a brusque female voice. “It seems we have a situation. We are a no-pets hotel. You will have to remove the animal from the premises immediately, and we will be charging you to clean the room.”
I tried to explain that the dog had been approved. Failing that, I said that there was no way she was charging me a cleaning fee for a room I’d been in less than an hour. She countered by letting me know that staff was heading my way to toss my ass and the furry ass of “that animal” onto the curb.
Well, boy-howdy, welcome to Houston.
In the end, McKenzie and I spent the night in the rock-star suite on the bus, and today, our tour manager got on the phone and personally started making sure this didn’t happen again. So … most nights McKenzie and I will be in hotel rooms … although I have to say the bus wasn’t at all bad! By the way; I do not recommend the Marriott Courtyard in Katy, TX. That woman was a bitch, and I don’t mean that in the McKenzie- is-one-too kind of way.
With that behind us, things got better. The day started with Arden Moore interviewing Dr. Becker for her show, “Oh Behave!” Then it was the first of our VIP (Veterinary Important Person) luncheons for area veterinarians. From there, it was off to the PETCO, where a friendly crowd waited to have their books signed.
Tonight, Dr. Becker’s friend Emeril Lagasse promised us a very good meal in his restaurant. Then we have our first media interview — “Good Morning, New Orleans” — at 6:14 a.m ET. before the VIP event and the PETCO booksigning.
I knew Dr. Becker would handle everything perfectly, but I wasn’t sure how McKenzie would handle it all. But she was great, too. She has handled everything with good manners and an outgoing attitude, and even happily let Dr. Becker brush her teeth for a TV interview. To keep herself entertained, however, she manged to fish out three tennis balls from under the shelves in the PETCO. Sadly (in her opinion), I bought her only one of her finds.
From somewhere west of New Orleans … more tomorrow.
Top: Dr. Becker is interviewed by KTKR-TV in Houston; above: McKenzie with her found tennis balls in the PETCO in Spring, TX.
No comments:
Post a Comment