When we were little, a dinner at McDs was a special treat. Back when burgers were 29 cents (really). Back when we noticed when the sign changed from "Over Five Million Sold" to "Over Six Million."

Yes, that's right. Millions, not Billions.

And from the time I was two, we always had Bostons in the family. Tasha knows who i mean.

Folks still do (I, on the other hand, discovered heelers).

We would all save the last of our milkshakes for the Bostons, tearing the side of the cup down so they could lap it up clear to the bottom.

Modern cups won't let you do that. Try, and it is just as likely to split all the way down, making a lovely mess on your lap.

But heelers love chocolate shakes just as much as Bostons, so we always had to dig out their water bowl from under the seat, dust it off and hold it while they enjoyed their share. Waiting forever for the last drops to pour out into the bowl. And then wiping the bowl clean afterwards so it wouldn't sour.

Well, on this trip to SoDak, the obvious solution just slapped me in the face. Only the maskless heeler came along (her mother and sister stayed home with youngest son), and I let her take her share of the shake first, lapping it off the top.

So much easier!

'Course you gotta pay attention. Heelers have long tongues. She was well below the halfway mark before I stopped her the first time. On the way home, I timed it better, actually getting half the shake for myself.

And no bowl to hold or clean, and I get to slurp the last dregs out with a straw.

All much easier.

While wife went up to fetch eldest son from his dorm room, I took the little maskless heeler for a walk on campus.

If any of you happened to be logged onto the college's livecam on the Quad on Saturday, the guy walking the little red heeler was me.

Hi.

Wife and I each have a standard restaurant breakfast. We vary it occassionally, but usually it is the same. And ours are the same, except she has bacon and I have sausage.

Had those same breakfasts almost every Sunday morning, in the same local restaurant, from before marriage until eldest son was born.

Waitresses knew our order, and we could just walk in, take a booth and start reading the Sunday comics. Coffee would arrive and, shortly after, the meals.

Never had to order.

When we were expecting first son, waitresses took bets on whether the child would prefer bacon or sausage.

Anyway, the point to this? The Denny's in SoDak had a breakfast special that gave us our standard meals, but with bacon, sausage and ham, for only 10 cents more than the standard meal. So we both ordered it. And swapped bacon and sausage. And the maskless heeler was treated to a whole ham steak for just herself, plus the usual share of bacon and sausage. And eldest son bought his heeler her own side order of bacon.

And we had dinner at Corini's again (wonderful, should be a separate entry), and I brought the little heeler several ounces of prime rib fat.

And while walking her in an empty field by the motel (and across the street from a McDs), she found an uneaten bacon cheeseburger on the trail! (No, I did not let her eat it.)

She has been much more relaxed, more content since we got home.

Not only does she know where her boy is now, but she also knows he lives in the land of pigmeat and prime rib. Where cheeseburgers just grow out of the ground.

Heeler heaven.

I'm sure she would go live there if she could.