Beagle in the charter bus

circa 2000

A beagle dog named Susie was given to Sonlight Camp. The dog had been kept in a small pen in Arizona for it 3-4 years of life before Sonlight. We were told by the donors that the dog would run away if not in a small pen. Right! So, after they left Sonlight, the first thing we did was let the dog go. Susie ran and ran and ran. But, after a couple of days, she came back to camp. Good for her. Let her run. Susie discovered where home was and who fed her and took care of her. She was a good dog but a runner. No problem.

Susie loved to play capture the flag with the campers. Her game was to run down the field, capture the flag and then run off into the woods with the flag. She did not quite have the concept of returning the flag back over the middle line to win the game. One game, we tied the flag (a bandana) to Susie’s collar and let her just run around the meadow. With 50 campers chasing her about, Susie thought this the best fun ever.

One weekend night during ski season, Sonlight had a youth group in from somewhere. They were in a charter bus. We offered the driver a camp vehicle to go back into town for his motel. Leave the bus at Sonlight and not have to drive back and forth in the big bus. He did this. As Mary and I were walking home late that night, we could not find Susie. Maybe she was already at our cabin. We walked by the bus, which was parked under the street light, and saw Susie sitting in the driver’s seat ready to drive the bus! Apparently, Susie had gotten on the bus earlier and been locked inside when the driver went to town. Yes, the bus was locked with the dog inside. We had to drive to town, wake up the driver and get the key to the bus. The dog seemed relieved to get out of the cold bus and into her warm cabin for the rest of the night.

What a funny site. Susie, the beagle, sitting in the driver’s seat of this big charter bus, ready to go. She was a great dog.