Rolling Dinner

One of our favorite rides with both our motorcycle groups is the Rolling Dinner.  This is when three members volunteer to host one course of the meal, and we would spend the day riding and eating.  This is the whole purpose of the day, ride - eat, ride - eat, ride - eat.

So, the day would go like this.   We all meet in the morning for coffee and to wait for all the members to arrive.  Once we're all there, we have a riders meeting, then set out on our bikes.  We then ride a scenic route to the first house where we have appetizers and socialize for an hour or so.  We all leave a couple dollars in a paper cup to help pay for the food.  Cooper gets to sniff and pee outside and play with anyone who wants to play.  I usually make sure he gets a drink and may give him a tid-bit of something to eat if there is something he would like.  Believe it or not, he will eat apple and other kinds of fruit, so it's not usually hard to find something healthy for him.

When we're ready to go, we all get on our bikes and the leader takes us along a lot of back roads for an hour or so to the next person's house.  This is the main course.  By this time it should be between noon and 1:00.  We will eat and socialize again for an hour or more.  At this stop we usually leave $5 to help pay for the meal.  The food is always good and there is so much of it, it's hard to save room for dessert, which will be our last stop.  Cooper will usually get another tid-bit, but not every time.  I don't like to get him to expect it.  I won't feed him at the table either.  We get outside before he will usually see any little snack for him.  I won't risk ruining his training and cause him to beg.

I added some fruit to Cooper's water.  He didn't like cantaloup.

As you probably guessed, when we leave the second house, we take a long ride to the third house where we get dessert.  We leave a couple dollars again to help pay for the spread and settle in for how ever long we want to stay.  Most of the time, the last stop will be a party of some sort.  They may have a pool or a big yard where there are games set up.  We have been known to squirt each other with a hose on a hot day and really play like children.  It's so much fun. Cooper loves the light hearted stuff.  Sometimes he doesn't understand the rough-housing but I'm there to get him to deal with it well.  I remember one party that ended with almost everyone camping in the yard of the last house.  There was a birthday, so it turned into a big birthday bash.  That was before Cooper.  

To make things more interesting for Cooper, some of the hostesses have cats.  A couple even have dogs.  Sometimes we go in the house, sometimes we don't.  If we go in, Cooper gets to meet the other animals, but he's not allowed to chase or play with them.  He has to be on his best behavior and on leash.  He's always on leash in other people's houses.  I don't allow him to wanter around at all.  Male dogs tend to sniff and mark their spots.  They don't seem to see it as peeing in the house.  As good as Cooper is, I never trust him not to "mark".  I know many excellent male dogs who will pee in someone's home.  In dog world, 'It's a guy thing'.  They might want to mark a house plant or the corner of a wall that smells like another dog.

Berta, one of our hostesses.

Cooper knows he's not supposed to leave me while in another person's home.  He's used to being on leash because it's the way it's always been.  I love taking him on rolling dinners because the day is so filled with training opportunities for me and play time for Cooper.