This is Bates on the car ride home from being adopted. It rained the entire trip there and the road was closed twice for two wrecks. His rescue group was nice enough to stay open longer to wait for us. When we arrived, he just trotted right over to meet us. It’s like he instinctively knew we were his family. We knew he’d lost an eye but only learned when he was missing quite a few teeth that day. He did not have any teeth on the top or bottom rows from canine tooth to canine tooth, and he was missing a few on the side. We brought Libby to meet him first, then we brought Fletch over to meet him. We brought a new dog bed for Bates to have his own space on the ride home, but he barely sat in it. Libby sat in the driver’s seat, Fletch in the passenger’s seat, and Bates on the center console. Luckily in my car it is flat and wide so he was comfortable. We stopped for a walk at a picnic area on the way home. Libby and Fletch were curious and sniffed Bates’ stitches where his eye was removed. We got back into the car and everyone assumed the same positions as if it was the 100th car ride together. This trip covered the 21st and 22nd states for Libby. Bates was exactly one week from meeting his best friend and soulmate. (See previous post)