Dog, owner journey to meet dog friends

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By KEVIN ABOUREZK / Lincoln Journal Star

The only hitch, so far, on the Lincoln stop of a 6,000-mile motorcycle journey has been the inability of Jim Willis’ dog, Dexter, to warm up to Star, a labrador mix.

That wouldn’t be a big deal, except Willis drove here from Texas just so Dexter could meet Star.

“I certainly wouldn’t want to have to admit that she may just be too much female for me,” Dexter wrote of Star in his blog on Dogster.com, detailing their journey.

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Biker Jim Willis and companion Dexter, a four-year-old Gordon setter, stopped in Lincoln, 2,400 miles into their 6,000 mile trip. Willis is visiting friends he made on Dogster, a MySpace for dog lovers. Willis and Dexter left Spreckels, Calif., June 15 and will finish the end of July. (William Lauer)

Biker Jim Willis and companion Dexter, a four-year-old Gordon setter, stopped in Lincoln, 2,400 miles into their 6,000 mile trip. Willis is visiting friends he made on Dogster, a MySpace for dog lovers. Willis and Dexter left Spreckels, Calif., June 15 and will finish the end of July. (William Lauer)

OK, so Willis really writes it.

But the story of the duo’s trip in a 2007 Ural motorcycle — Dexter’s big floppy ears whipped by the wind kissing the sidecar — is very much driven by the 4-year-old Gordon setter.

Willis of Spreckels, Calif., said he chose to visit places like Albuquerque, N.M., and Paullina, Iowa, so Dexter could meet the dog friends he’s made on Dogster.com, a social networking site for dogs and their owners.

The 57-year-old owner of a publishing company said he got the idea after his son went on a cross-country motorcycle trip last year. Thirty years ago, he went on his own cross-country journey on a bicycle.

“I thought I had one more in me,” Willis said.

He and Dexter started out on June 15 and expect to return home to California by late July.

By Thursday, they had traveled about 2,400 miles to reach Lincoln, where they met Star and her owner, Lisa Tompkin.

“We were one of the lucky ones,” Tompkin said. “I’ve really enjoyed it.”

She doesn’t know why the stars haven’t aligned for the dogs, but she said Star certainly is bummed.

“She has no idea what’s wrong, why he won’t play with her,” she said.

Reach Kevin Abourezk at 473-7225 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.