Barktober Fest in Gilbert, AZ

Happy Howlween to you! Tomorrow is the big day, but Mom and I started celebrating early by attending the Barkober Festival in Gilbert, AZ a couple of weekends ago. Friends for Life Animal Rescue, located at 952 W. Melody Avenue, hosted the fund-raising event, which they do every year for free.

You missed this year’s, but you might want to attend next year. The drive was only 45 minutes from North Phoenix early on a Saturday morning via the 101 Freeway East to the US 60 East toward Globe. Take exit 181 for Stapley Drive and turn right. Continue onto N Cooper Road, turn right onto W Merrill Avenue, and a right onto N Marvin Street. This is the parking lot for the animal rescue place. Looking to adopt? Check them out!

FYI: The parking is free, but it is a dirt lot. Mom had just washed her car, and well, it was covered in dirt.

The event starts at 8 AM and concludes at 1 pm, with a costume contest at 9 AM. Before I go any further, I have to share a funny story. I have been arfing at 3 to 4 in the morning to be let out, and Mom is losing her mind from lack of sleep. She isn’t laughing about that, but what she did was hysterical.

Mom dressed up at The Super Pooper Scooper, and I was The Super Shedding Shiba since I am blowing my coat in a big way this year. We were decked out, and Mom was loading up the car with my leash, her walking pack, water, and purse. She was good to go. She opened up the garage and put the car in reverse. We were good to good except for one tiny, itty-bitty detail: she forgot me! I was sitting on the stoop by the door in the garage. “Um, Mom. I’d like to go to the Barktober Fest, please.” DOH!!! She forgot to put me in the car with her.

She blames it on stress brain, but I’ll be milking this one for months to come! Forget me? Seriously?? Once I was actually in the car, we took off. She’s lucky my bolting and running days are over, or I would have shown her. Woof! Anyway, we were pleased to make it in time for the costume contest. They asked for $1 donation to participate.

We knew we wouldn’t win, but we really enjoyed seeing all the other costumes. Wow, some humans went to a lot of trouble. The winner was a Snoopy Dog in his house, which was on wheel so his scarf would blow in the wind. Very cool! Second was ZZ Top Dog with his own car.

All the humans were friendly, and the MC was quite good at playing songs related to dogs and Halloween. After the contest, we walked around the booths. Some were doggie oriented like food, treats, or bling, and others were home focused. They had a couple of food trucks and a little bit of shade, but I must admit, I got hot in that cape!

We were still in the 100s a couple of weeks ago, and I was done in 1 ½ hours. On our way back to the car, we ran into two other Shiba Inus: Wonton and Sheebo. We had both read about a Shiba Inu Meet Up at the event, but we were the only Shiba’s we could see. They were awesome, and our humans chit chatted while we did the proper sniff and swirl.

Back on the road we went, 98 miles total. Good thing Mom’s Mazda CX5 gets 28 miles per gallon. I think she is the only doggy Mom who would drive all that way for their pup to have an adventure. She’s the best! Maybe I won’t punish her too much for almost leaving me behind.

On our way home, we stopped at Chick-fil-A for lunch. Wholly biscuits! For two small sandwich meals and drinks, it was $27. Now THAT’s scary. Have a safe and happy Halloween everyone.

My mom, Lorraine Bossé-Smith, is kind enough to help me share my Great Adventures, big and small. My mom is a motivational speaker, corporate trainer, executive recruiter, business consultant, coach, fitness expert, and author of nine published books. More importantly, she’s the best doggy mom ever!

Enjoy my blog at https://www.lorrainebosse-smith.com/category/kuma/kumas-great-adventures/

and be sure to follow me on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Kumathedog/ and Instagram: kumaitothedog

Get outside! You never know what you’ll discover, and our paths just might cross. Happy tails!