* * *  COUNTDOWN:  20 DAYS TO LA/XC-3  * * * All right, I think it’s about time I admit it.  My annual September road trip across America with Ricky the Beagle is no longer about driving the beloved family LA/XC-32013 dog out to see our poor homesick boy in far-away California.  Oh, sure, it started out that way.  And don’t get me wrong:  Robby will still be elated when I arrive on campus with his pup.  But now, the third time around, it’s a little less about...

* * *  COUNTDOWN:  24 DAYS TO LA/XC-3  * * * Meet “Hank.”  Hank’s a French bulldog, and he’s Beagle Man’s latest friend.  The B-Man is always inordinately Hank fascinated when he runs into another creature named Hank.  They met in front of Jack’s Coffee in Amagansett, and the way B-Man was oohing and ahhing over him was kind of revolting.  There were a lot of dogs there that day — including Hank’s brother, Bear.  Actually, there are always...

* * *  COUNTDOWN:  31 DAYS TO LA/XC-3  * * * Okay, it may not be as awesome as Beagle Man’s Dog Bark Park Inn, but here’s the place I really want to go.  Which probably means we won’t.  Sure, I get to write whatever I want in the Roof Rack Report — but the B-Man is still in the driver’s seat.  Anyway, my spot is called The Dog Bar, and it’s in Charlotte, NC, which I just happen to know is right on the road from Atlanta to Chapel Hill — two planned stops...

* * *  COUNTDOWN:  35 DAYS TO LA/XC-3  * * * The Trojan beagle? Earlier this week, in his Roof Rack Report, Ricky described my feeble attempts at getting myself acclimated to the new Audi, the Official Vehicle of LA/XC-3.  Obviously, that post put awareness of our upcoming cross-country road trip in the air.  The next day I got a call from Jerry, my old frat bro, in D.C.  “You’re doing it again?” he said.  “Are you seeing anyone about this?”  My Teaneck...

For reasons not entirely clear to me, Beagle Man and the missus got rid of the trusty old Acura MDX that carried us across the country and back in comfort and style not once, but twice — and that I fully expected would be our vehicle for the upcoming LA/XC-3 — and replaced it with a brand-new (untested, unfamiliar . . . different!) Audi Q-5.  I was there when the salesman told them “everything will be intuitive,” and “every control you’ll ever need you can...

Every Friday this summer I watch Beagle Man packing up the car.  The big green duffel.  Mrs. B’s red, flowery overnight bag.  B-Man’s backpack.  The blue beach bag with the RKH on the side.  And then, they pat me on the head, say, “Bye-bye, Cutey” . . . and take off without me!  Talk about cruelty to animals.  Last Friday, though, they sunk to a new low.  They got the car all loaded, lifted me in — I’m like, “All right!  We’re off to...

Broken perch (You can see the perch/arm drooping more clearly in the close-up photo, left) Back home in WePo after the long, glorious, perfect-sizzling-sunny-summer-beach-weather weekend in Paradise, aka Montauk.  Early-morning breakfast/exercise routine out there was the same for me every day:  Hop on my bike (actually, Matt’s bike; his is way better than mine and he was away in Iceland, fcol); ride across Napeague Meadow; cruise Cranberry Hole Road into Amagansett; glance...

I’ve told the story a bunch of times about the night during LA/XC-1 that my Garmin went kablooey on me in the Badlands and I had to slink into a cowboy bar and ask for directions.  I knew I’d be pegged as an outsider, but I was hoping to look as little like a pathetic easterner as possible, so I stashed my shiny SUV in a far corner of the parking lot, and left Ricky locked up inside with the windows cracked.  No need for the regulars on their bar stools to know I...

Beagle Man asked Robby to lift me into the shotgun seat of his Jeep.  He always says it’s because of his back, but I think he just gets lazy.  Anyway, he told Robby he was taking me to Town Hall to renew my dog license.  “What does he need a dog license for?” Robby asked.  “To show he’s a dog?”  I was kind of wondering the same thing.  I thought it might be for driving . . . but then I remembered that the B-Man already tried to get me a...

“Ricky, lie down and fall asleep on the tile floor in the kitchen. Good boy!” No, it’s not your imagination; Robby’s been making way more appearances in Beagle Man than usual lately.  That’s cause he’s home from school for the summer, and he and I hang out with Ricky a lot.  Here’s our very latest brilliant idea for our beagle’s well-being. We got this brainstorm when an obnoxious air conditioner repair guy came to our house.  He was...