Hi, Moss the Dartmoor Dog Blogger here! I was really excited when Lisa presented me with my latest blog challenge… dinner and an over-night stay at the Two Bridges Hotel near Princetown.
We seemed to spend ages packing as she had to take my dinner and breakfast and my bed and all that stuff. Her luggage was quite minimal by comparison. Oh well… I like to travel in style.
We had to drive across Dartmoor to reach the Hotel and that was great as I like to look at the sheep and ponies as we drive past. We arrived at the Hotel… and there were all these big white birds in the car park – I did not know what to think! She said they were geese! I have never seen such things before. As we got out of the car, I went to give one of them a sniff, but it hissed at me, so I decided to ignore it.
In the entrance to the hotel, there was a row of hooks that said ‘pause for paws’. She hung my dog towel up so that when I went out for a walk, I could be wiped down and nice and clean before I went inside. A very good dog-friendly idea I thought… well, carpet friendly really.
We sat in front of a lovely big log fire, and I had a nap, all this blogging is very tiring you know. They did a lot of talking, drank some of that fizzy wine stuff and she turned a bit pink, she said it was the heat of the fire, but I am not sure I believed her.
The staff explained that, as I wasn’t allowed in the restaurant they would set up a table by the window in the lounge bar. This was excellent news, as I got to peer out of the window, asked for titbits from their meal AND watched everyone coming in and out of the Hotel as well! They seemed to eat an awful lot, and I got some tasty chicken off cuts and a bit of bread roll, so not bad I suppose. I had another nap under the table.
She asked the lady in charge if there was a map for our morning walk, and she gave us a whole leaflet with details about a walk to Wistman’s Wood which starts right opposite the hotel. The wood is very old and very famous… and a bit creepy!
And so after that, we said goodbye to Lisa who had to drive home, and I had a walk outside in the dark, it was a bit wet, but there were lots of interesting smells. There were also very good doggy toilet facilities, but I don’t think I ought to go into detail about that really…
And so to bed. She fussed around a lot getting ready while I settled down in my nice cosy bed (you have to bring your own dog bed and food bowls, of course) and I fell fast asleep… only for her to wake me up and tell me to stop snoring. Very rude.
In the morning, I was full of beans and ready for my walk! We got up early and came downstairs very quietly, it was still a bit dark. But then – oh dear! There was a lady busily vacuuming the entrance hall (it is a very clean and tidy Hotel) and I am afraid I let the side down. I don’t like vacuums you see, because I know that really… they are snakes! So I did a lot of really quite big barks and I think I woke everyone up. So I publicly, here and now, apologise.
And so… we set off and went part of the way towards Wistman’s Wood, but to be honest, neither of us was that keen. It was very misty and wet and a bit scary. She said something about it being like ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ and I didn’t really like that much. So we raced back to the hotel. I had my breakfast in the room while she had a shower and then I sat and begged for bits of toast as she ate her very nice looking breakfast at the table in the window again.
Then we packed up, thanked everyone and set off home. It had been very nice. We got almost all the way home… when she remembered she had left my bed behind, so we turned around and went all the way back and I got to enjoy another dive across the moor, looking at the sheep and ponies!
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