Milo came into our lives in Kingston, Tennessee, at 3:30 PM on 13 December, 2015. He only stayed a moment, but what a moment it was!

At first he was just another dog transport - pick him up from Jessica at the Mickey D's in Kingston and deliver him safely to the Perkins Restaurant and Bakery in Dandridge. We follow the progress of our transports using a thread on Facebook so every volunteer driver knows exactly where our little friend is at any given moment and whether we are running ahead of or behind the schedule printed on the Run Sheet. As we read this thread, Milo's ride became more and more special.

On November first, Milo got a bath at his Parrotsville, Tennessee home. Then, without his collar and visible "credentials", he decided to do some exploring. His family searched the neighborhood but he was nowhere to be found. His disappearance was devastating, especially for his best friend Sierra who has Cerebral Palsy.

What happened next? Only Milo knows for sure and he offered only this little smirk during our recent interview with him. We know from eyewitness accounts that he was found wandering around a truckstop in Colorado five days later and was taken in by Harriet and Bill who really wanted to adopt him but, when they discovered his microchip, they called his family in Tennessee. A pet transport organization was contacted for the trip back home but they didn't seem too interested in helping so Milo spent the next thirty days endearing himself to his new friends in Oklahoma City.

Enter Rusty Miller and Liberty Ride Transport. Rusty got the call on a Tuesday and by Thursday, Milo's ride was in the works. On the twelfth of December, he was off to East Tennessee gathering up Christmas gifts from volunteer drivers all along the way and spreading Milo love everywhere in his path. This well-mannered little boy was a treat for every heart that touched him.

Two of those hearts belonged to Penny and Zachary in Arkansas, who picked him up in Russelville and passed him along to Denice in Little Rock.

Zachary is autistic and he doesn't speak. Milo touched him and Zachary spoke for the first time since a tornado had destroyed the family's home several months before. Penny was thrilled and she posted this photo collage on our Facebook run thread.

Our friend Nora in Argentina calls dogs our "four-legged angels" and surely this is so.

My friend and room mate Chancey and I got the privilege of driving the last leg of Milo's long journey. That way we got to meet Linda and give her all the Christmas goodies he had collected along the way.

Special thanks to Liberty Ride Transport Transportation Coordinators Rusty Miller and Terri Allen for planning and monitoring this trip. Milo was delivered to his mom ten minutes before the arrival time set out in their schedule.

Thanks to all the volunteer drivers:

• Roiann Musgrove, who picked him up from his wonderful foster Susan Bossert and drove him from Oklahoma City to Henryetta, OK
• Lucia Turner - Henryetta, OK to Fort Smith, AR
• Tonia M Stinson - Fort Smith to Russelville
• Penny & Zachary Densmore - Russelville to Little Rock
• Denise Dorton - Little Rock to Forrest City
• Lynn Crocker - Forrest City, AR to Memphis, TN
• Ginger Leonard put him up for the night and took him to Jackson, TN Sunday morning
• Jennifer Noble Morehead - Jackson to Hurricane Mills
• Jaime Hinger - Hurricane Mills to Nashville
• J. Lee Bonnet - Nashville to Cookeville
• Jessica Hamby - Cookeville to Kingston
• Kenny Redmond / Chancey Robison - Kingston to Dandridge