Not much in the way of events today. Lots of land, and more land, and pretty rocks, and more land, and cows, and land, and then a big giant Cross. Says it’s the biggest one in this hemisphere. I’ll put up the video shot of it if I have time.
We’re almost in Oklahoma City. In a Microtel tonight. the dogs love it because they have a window seat to keep guard of all the comings and goings here. Gonna keep it short tonight. I could hardly drive today because I was too tired from staying up late playing with my BLOG last night!
Well! Today we found our way to Albuquerque!
(note to mom: no jet trails here or in Flagstaff. )
Our two highlights today were:
-Belle slipping out of the car at a rest area and taking off like a shot. -and-
-Finding our first Cracker Barrel!
Zion has fully adapted to traveling and seems to be enjoying himself fully. Belle is the old road dog, the pro, the one who knows the ropes of this “hotel to hotel” routine. We drove through the area near the Grand Canyon, not stopping to see it this time since we were just there 2 years ago. But Flagstaff is so beautiful. Up there in the trees and all the fresh air! That’s where we found our Cracker Barrel. We sat out front on the rocking chairs and ate, so we could enjoy the beautiful weather, and so the dogs could be outside instead of stuck in the car. They always get a lot of attention wherever we go, which opens so many opportunities to visit with people, and the people are my favorite thing about traveling. As you go down the road, first, there is this serenity and this feeling of freedom. It brings me back to my childhood, when my dad would drive us through Utah and up to Idaho to see our family there. Mom always loved all the beauty along the way and wanted to stop and enjoy it, and dad was all about breaking his record of how fast he could make the trip. But it’s wonderful; here is this long road stretched out in front of you, with no end and ever changing scenery. Then whenever you stop, you are introduced to yet another reason why God loves ‘man’ so much. There are so many beautiful, different, warm hearted, giving, caring and friendly people. It strikes me profoundly every time I travel. There was the wind worn lady with the story of having adopted a wolf. The little girls playing with the dogs. The elderly lady sweetly smiling but only hearing a fraction of what I said to her, but nodding like she did. All precious, each and every one.
Well, now we’re in Albuquerque. Tomorrow’s plan is to find a Ross to get PJ’s. Then we’ll try to get another 400 miles behind us. They have the most beautiful sunsets in Albuquerque!
Some people outside of the hotel asked me if Belle and Zion were show dogs…. D Did I beam with pride? Oh, you know it!
Oh, I didn’t tell you about Belles’ escape did I? I think I’d rather forget. Yea, she slipped out while I was leashing up Zion and bolted. I’ll put up the video that goes over it a little bit. She ended up finding a squirrel hole and digging in it so happily that I was able to come and leash her. I learned today, never to call “Belle, NO!” –Completely counter productive. Exactly WHAT to do when this happens, I still don’t know. Any dog trainers out there?
Doggies in the desert
Well, here we are at the Quality Inn, in Kingman, Arizona! I always wonder what would compel a person to live in these types of places in the middle of nowhere… But we found decent, pet friendly accommodations, which is always the first item on our list when we roll into town! We’re traveling on the infamous “route 66″, which fascinates Michael, and he is snapping pics of every “route 66″ reference he runs across. Mike is off, the mighty hunter, trying to find some grub for the family.
The morning started out like a shot. Jump up – run to get my nails done (hey, I have my priorities!). A million last minute details around the house to attend to before I finally started packing, and by 1:30 we were actually on the road! I made it about 20 minutes driving, when I realized that I was dead tired. I’ve been running around like a high speed silent movie getting ready for this trip. So Mike had to take over the wheel while I caught a mid day nap. As I drifted off, the things that I had forgotten began to float into the awareness room of my mind…pajamas (who forgets their pajamas!!??) Swim suit. (good grief, and it’s not easy to find a good one!) It just never fails. I always forget something. Am I the only one that finds it to be nearly impossible, to plan all the details for 2 weeks on the road with your husband and dogs? Well, maybe you haven’t actually traveled across the country in an SUV with 2 dogs before. My husband? He never breaks a sweat. He is perpetually calm. He prepares as though he were preparing to go down the street for milk.
At first, Zion looked a little bit confused and tense. Having Belle there to reassure him is such a big help though. When we stopped for a Quizno’s sandwich, I went to get the dogs out of the car. Belle hopped right out, but as I reached for Zion, he started to SCREAM!! I tried to get my hands around him so I could look at him to see what was wrong, but he bit me and kept screaming. I was just scared to death, not knowing what on earth was wrong. Eventually, as he continued to scream, I saw that he was limping. That calmed me a little bit. If it was only a limb, I knew it wasn’t life threatening anyway! And then, slowly, he started to quiet down. I took his paw in my hand and rubbed it and he was nervous but he let me. Mike and I concluded that either his foot fell asleep or he got a cramp. He caused quite a scene though. When we went into Quizno’s, everyone looked at us judgmentally out of the corners of their eyes. “Dog Abuser!” Was written all over their faces. That was fun. Well, Zion is fine, but it was the strangest thing.
At Quiznos after Zions’ trauma
When I was walking the dogs tonight at the hotel I had my first casualty; my shoe broke. Unfortunately, it broke when we were in a weed and sticker-bush filled field, so with both dogs pulling for me to walk faster, I tiptoed my way across prickery desert terrain with one bare foot. Oh well.
Well, food has arrived and I’m going to go see what the mighty hunter as brought home!
D Did I beam with pride? Oh, you know it!
