The road keeps teaching us things. This stretch taught us to bring an umbrella. It also gave us a developer with a Hallmark moment, a rat owner in Milwaukee, and the particular feeling of going home.
Baltimore: A Good Omen, a Downpour, and Bark in the Park
We are, both of us, unapologetic foodies. Before we venture out to meet pet people in any new city, we tend to scour the locale for good eats. It sets the tone. It grounds us. And in Baltimore, it delivered.
Emilio found Trinacria — an iconic Italian deli just north of Camden Yards. The subs were exactly right. We did a little extra grocery shopping, wandered the aisles, and left feeling like the city was already on our side.
It was a good omen. We should have checked the weather forecast.
The storm that rolled in was not subtle. We walked through it anyway — fully drenched, making our way to a nearby hotel — when a woman near her car stopped us. She offered her umbrella.
It was a genuine, immediate act of kindness from a complete stranger. We thanked her warmly and kept walking. There was nothing that umbrella could do for us at that point. We were already the rain.
Note to selves: plan better.
The sun came back. It always does. We walked over to Camden Yards for the Orioles’ Bark in the Park, and the evening more than made up for the afternoon.
Scores of pet parents. Stories that were endearing and emotional — the kind that remind you, again and again, that the bond people have with their animals isn’t a side story. It is the story. We left Baltimore full in every sense.
Chicago: Finding Our People in the Hustle
Chicago was buzzing. The Obama Presidential Center was opening on the South Side, drawing dignitaries and crowds from everywhere. We stayed north.
Lincoln Park on a beautiful sunny day along the lake is its own kind of Chicago — sailors out on the water, runners and walkers on the paths, and a steady stream of dogs pulling their people toward whatever needed investigating. The city was moving at full speed in every direction.
And we still found our people.
There was the developer — wry, funny, a little dry — who made us laugh, and then, almost without warning, gave us the Hallmark moment. His dogs have been central to his life in a way that went beyond companionship. You could hear it in the way he talked about them: not as pets he happened to have, but as relationships that shaped him. The humor was the shell. Underneath it was something quiet and real.
Those are the conversations we came for.
Milwaukee: The Pack Leader Comes Home
There is something about going home.
Milwaukee is where Lisa is from — the pack leader’s home base — and the city received us accordingly. We hit the Wisconsin Humane Society walk at Veterans Park along the lakefront, made our way to Brookfield, and ended at the Shorewood farmers’ market. Three stops, three very different crowds, and the same warm current running through all of them.
Dog people. Cat people. And, memorably, a rat person — who was as proud and devoted as any of them, and whose story fit right alongside the rest. myFurever is for all of it.
What struck us most in Milwaukee was the ease of the conversations. People were willing — genuinely willing — to stop, share, and engage. When we described what myFurever does and what it’s for, something landed. Not just the utility of it, but the why behind it: that joy and connection and meaning are worth capturing. That the moments that matter most deserve somewhere to live.
It resonated. You can feel the difference when it does.
There’s no place like home. And home reminded us that the people we’re building for are everywhere — at farmers’ markets and baseball stadiums and lakefront parks — and that they are ready for this.
More road ahead. 🐾
Follow our journey at myFurever.app