* * *  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…

* * *  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 m…

* * *  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.  An…

* * *  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.  Ob…

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 (un…

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 cruelt…

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-morni…

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 …

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?”  …

“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 th…