And miles to go before we sleep

Matt and I recently spent a total of nearly 40 hours in the car. We drove home to Minnesota and back to Maryland, a trip that usually takes about 17 or 18 hours each way, but which took us much longer because we had Barley with us.

That much time in a car is bound to make anyone a bit loopy. There are only so many rounds of 20 Questions or I Spy people can play. At one point, somewhere in the middle of Indiana or Ohio, Matt started making up song parodies with Barley's name. My favorite was "Barley Boy," sung to the tune of "Danny Boy":

Oh Barley boy,
Your fur, your fur is fuzzy.
Your eyes are brown,
And your bark is really loud.

After the fourth or fifth encore, however, even "Barley Boy" wore a bit thin.

As crazy as Matt and I may have gone in the car, we were nothing compared to poor Barley. Hours in the car without someone petting him drove him to grab the attention however he could:


And when he wasn't getting attention--or when he just couldn't articulate how uncomfortable he was--Barley let us know just how much he dislikes the car: