Kansas

Wow, what an amazingly flat country.
But beautiful in its own way.
And, being in Kansas, a part of history for america with its beef and cattle industries, C had to have a steak.
Maybe it is supply and demand, we are near the stockyards and the source of this beef so it is less expensive. Maybe it is being in the corn belt where the feed is grown so trucking fees are lower and the beef costs less. For what ever the reason, C ended up with a 16 oz cut of rib eye steak cooked to preference. It cost only 16.95 at a reasonable diner in the town we have settled into tonight.
16.95 for a wonderful piece of bovine that I shudder to think what would cost up in Hamster land.
But the hotel is right next to a Sonic, so K had a wicked chili dog
The travel is getting into a rhythm and we are making good progress.

The puppies sleep alot, thank goodness.



At a rest stop in the middle of BFE, I took Puppette and Bugsy out into a side field. There is a nasty little seed pod, it can be called "goats head". They were every where. Puppette and then Bug pull up lame, limping. Bugsy had just one and he dislodged it by himself. Puppette had two in her hind foot and one in a front pad. The front and one rear came out easily. The third one came out in a gout of blood and started gushing. K is away in the other direction so I called her to get gauze so I could apply direct pressure. The bleeding stopped and Puppette was not pleased that I would not put her foot down. Lesson: be careful where you let your dog go to pee. I will be watching for signs of infection now, but Pup seems no worse for wear.
I hate it when my dogs bleed. Truly hate it.

Poppy is doing so well, he and I had a nice long discussion in the car today. If he is willing to get into a noise making match with me, he is doing very well.

Thank god for cruise control.

It is late and I will pass out soon.

Be well.
Until tomorrow...
C

ORANGEN'T YOU GLAD?

I noticed a color theme in the past couple of days...
I met Lisa at one of the rest stops. She smiled at me the way a mother smiles at someone else's
newborn. She looked at Poni, our little piebald dachshund.
"I have one like that" she said grinning. "I wish I could take them to work with me."

Lisa is the gal who keeps one of Wyomings wonderful rest stops sparkling for it's visitors.
Her uniform was Coral. It was the style that is called a tabard, a bib. It had white trim and little
ties at the hips and deep front pockets. We talked for awhile about the dogs. She went back to her work.
I walked barefoot around the reststop, it's too much trouble to locate my shoes in the rubble
of traveling debris (the front seat resembles a rummage sale table!). There were giant Terracotta circles. Like earthen mandalas, I felt a sudden urge to practice yoga. I remembered
trips I'd taken to Santa Fe and Taos.
The stone was smooth, the warm sun beneath my feet...

C bought us a pop st a gas station stop, the cap was bright orange. Our speedy driving slowed to manuver between neon- colored construction cones.

In Kansas, the wheat fields glowed with the setting sun. And later, from my pocket
I pulled a little stuffed dog toy. It's half chewed from play between two members of the "below the knee club". It's a carrot.

And this at yet another rest stop:but today we're in Kansas and we'll be on the lookout for rainbows...

Rocky Mountain High

Ahhh what an adventure filled day. We were rudely awakened at 2:22 AM by inebriated imbeciles that made poor lil Bugsy start barking. When asked to keep it the hell down I was even more disrespectfully called a bitch. Hmmm, lesson? Do not confront inebriated imbeciles at 2:22 AM in Casper WY!

We boomed across the border and met Colorado with misty distant hills K said were the rockies. They were so distant that they were a mere hint and suggestion of the grandeur I am sure they are. But, alas, our course leads us away from them. We made it an early day in the Mile High city since we are all just whupped!

Look at this picture of me, Puppette and the Bug in Wyoming at one of the neatest rest stops I have seen.
I look like I am ready for anything, especially a nap.




So my thoughts thus far are we live in a grand country of unknown beauty. Get your butts to a far away place and rent a car and just drive. We are so targeted to get to point "B" that side trips have to wait this time around. We missed the grizzly bears on display, two dinosaur museums, a museum of mining, a museum of the rockies. The Grand Tetons and the Rockies up close will wait, as will Jellystone and Yogi and Boo Boo, Pikes Peak and Buffalo Jump. Passed by were several historical forts that hold vital importance in the american Manifest destiny. (we will not debate the right or wrong of that just now)
Prairie dogs, turkey vultures, antelope, bison, deer, cows, horses, rabbits, jackelopes, red tail hawks, american kestrels, doves, pigeons, coyote, mag pies, crows, ravens, a golden eagle, a bald eagle against a grand back drop of grey brown mesas and buttes that rise up from a sun browned grassy world of heat and dry existence. The brilliant glinting waters of the rivers the Platte, the Powder. Black and rusted still oil pumps that dot three states so far, motionless in the world they helped propel forward so fast, too soon.
Oh that we could just drive at 50 miles per hour and stop to watch when the urge took us, fill memory card after memory card with memories... but onward, ever onward...

Bugsy looking onward from the back of the van:


We have traveled over 1400 miles now, with a few left to go. Thank god for air conditioning, beef jerky, french fries, brown bubbly colas, wonderful animals and the greatest traveling companion one could want.

Enough!
To bed...
C




AN EMBRACE:

This doll was made for me to travel with by my dear friends Sherri and Richard.
Sherri laughed and said it was "a family affair!". I am posting this picture today as a tribute
to friends who are my chosen family. We have learned recently that Richard is ill and being so
far away leaves us with little way to provide love and support...

We hope you see the love in this embrace Sherri and Richard...it was the only thing I could think
of to do today to express this. we have you in our hearts...

K
Puppette looks: forward to adventure, back to friends and loved ones.
Two paws way up.

You can Post comments, really

I changed the comments section so you do not have to be a google account holder to comment.
Now, anyone should be able to post comments.
Don't just lurk, our dear friends, post your thoughts to us, please.

C

Where the deer and the antelope...

End of day four finds our intrepid explorers deep in their fourth state. The scenery has been so incredible. C's first peek at the Rockies was of distant snow capped rugged peaks.
We rounded a bend and there was a distant high mesa that looked just like a scene from a spaghetti western. It is so breath taking.



Poppy is doing so much better, but the long traveling does not allow him to nap. He is used to napping 3-4 times a day. He was so exhausted tonight, that we covered him immediately and will try to give him 12 hours of sleep.

We too one side trip to see the Little Big Horn monument. It is humbling, painful, beautiful.

Markers for Cheyenne Warriors at Little Big Horn.
The marker for the fallen US soldiers over their mass grave.



These are the biggest tires I have ever seen:


Enough from C, I am tired. Be well all.


from the food critic K:

I don't know what possessed me but the sign advertising "moisturized chicken" tempted me
beyond reason. Though had I known that only5 miles further there was a cracker barrel, an applebee's, red robin and perkin's (my favorite) i would have kept on driving...
but C. and i were hungry.
I gave my order to a waitress wearing a blue checkered top. It had a white collar and her outfit blended with the aqua vinyl seating in the little diner. I think I should have asked how a chicken
is "moisturized" but i was too hungry to think about it, and maybe, i didn't want to know.
I asked if the iced tea was fresh brewed. The waitress nodded and pointed to the brewer.
"making a fresh pot right now" she said. She could have been named Dottie. Her hair was pinned
back and tightly curled. It made me think of Melanie Griffith in that movie with Harrison Ford.
I'd like to tell you it was the best chicken sandwich i ever had, but it had no taste. in fact, probably the blandest chicken sandwich i ever had. Now I'm thinking that moisturizing process
does something to the flavor...
The old fella sitting in the aqua booth wore suspenders to hold up his pants, he walked up and
i caught a flash of blue jeans and red plaid. Dottie said "it's taken care of, Frank's got this one!"
The old man chuckled "Well jeez that was nice, and thank's for the extra tea" He looked surprised in that Christmas sort of way. That made the trip to Trixie's special chicken house
worth every penny.
So if you're ever makin' your way from Bozeman to Billings drive a little further-Red Robin
makes a great blue cheese burger!

The BUGSY report:
Montana is big. I saw most of it with my eyes closed. Poni had a great idea sleeping between the
seats. My appetite's tanked. I got some of the blond's food. I'm powered up to go. (maybe I'll sleep through Wyoming too).This is Bugsy signin' off.

POEM byK.

A LETTER TO BILL

I see birds. I think of you.
One startling image. a magpie.
black darting the bird's flight like a
crazy arrow
a paperwhite fan between its wings

I fail to know its name
I want to hold the answer then
and think "Bill would know"


For the Tiara Girls:
Woo hoo, a tiara cowgirl on the plains. Keep a look out for any other 'sightings'.

"I would like to have seen Montana."

A quote from Capt. Vasili Borodin, from the Hunt for Red October.

We are seeing a lot of Montana. What a big state. I thought Washington was big, but not anymore. We were not fast enough with the camera for two great photo ops. One was passing into Montana from Idaho, the other was crossing the continental divide.

Poppy is doing oh so much better. We limited his visual stimulation and he actually made normal Poppy bird noises to us today while we were driving.

K is out like a light with all three dogs. Due to a request for a different room, we have a double bed, not a queen, like we are all used to. They had put us right next to the ice machine. If you know our two dachshunds, you know that would never have worked.

Some observations: The rocks in the bitter roots and the rockies are different from the rocks in the cascades. They look different and have different erosion patterns.
There are antelope in Montana, I saw a herd of them at dusk not 5 minutes after regaling K with the trivial fact that there were antelope in Montana.
Map quest indicates that by now we have driven in excess of 760 miles and it feels like over 1000 already.
Army convoys will clean a rest truck stop snack bar clean out of beef jerky!


Poni fell asleep between the driver and passenger seats today.


Bugsy on look out.

He learned to chase light on the floor because his well intentioned but very misguided Doggy Daddy taught him to chase a laser pointer. He now drives us all a bit mad chasing the mere reflection of his own dog tag. OOOOPS!

We are all tired. The concern for Poppy has been a strain but he is better so hopefully we can relax a bit.

The truck is safely arived and is waiting for me.



Mickey Mouse in my Whoppers box...

Puppette just lifted her head as if to ask me why I was still awake.

for all of us, thank you again to all those who pitched in and helped us sooo very much that last week. we never could have gotten to Montana with out you.

Tune in tomorrow.....

Onward.....

I never thought the words "wow, I like this minivan" would ever come out of my mouth.
But... Wow, I like this minivan. It handles very well, has a killer air conditioner, it even has a mileage indicator that tells how long until you need to stop for gas.
I am a little disappointed in our GPS navigation system, it led us astray trying to find our hotel.
The hotel room smells of cigarettes and it has no hangers?!?!?
A great visit with Chris' family members in the state were great. Mothers and nieces and nephews, oh my!
The dogs are settling into a routine, but the doxies did not take kindly to the dry grass, being used to the plush green of home.
Poppy perked up nicely last night and was right as rain this morning. We think his trouble is he is so over stimulated visually that he does not eat or drink, so we are taking frequent stops to allow him to eat and drink.
We hit a great dust storm in the middle of the state and it got colder faster than either of us thought.

Chris' truck will arrive tomorrow. It made it across the country faster than us. But then again, it is not traveling with a bird.

The truck heads east *sniff sniff*

The Jack antenna ball looks forward to new adventures too.

The Report from Bugsy:
In Wenatchee there was a wild warm wind blowing. The little white dog and I got stuck in the
brush. Sometimes it's tough having short legs...The dog we shared the field with is named Bear.
Bear's big. Bear's fluffy. He growled, I ran. Miss Gracie the fairy princess danced when the Big Dog played the fiddle. I escaped out the front door underneath Bear's fluffy self. Sometimes it's
great to be a dog with short legs...
Connor let me play with his yellow ball. I bit it and it sizzled. I fell asleep on the Big Dog's lap
my right ear flappin' in the breeze, drool slippin' past my chin. (If the word gets out I'll deny it!)
Michael made a gourmet breakfast and coached us through the big prep for the next leg of the
trip. Miss Carole made us all feel comforted with her smiles and laugh that makes like good music to dance to...There was a warm wind blowin'-we think it warmed all our hearts...
Bugsy signin' off. ps. the little parrot seems A-OK but we're keepin' a watchful eye.

On the bumpy road...

We REALLY want to thank everyone who helped us sooo much on Thursday night, especially, Karen, Jennifer, Mary,Diana and Michelle and everyone who offered saying "what can I do to help?". Special thanks to Jacob and Barbara for their determined efforts to clean up and clear out our "s&*t". Mary, Michelly, Barb there is no way we could have managed without your repeated loving efforts to keep us organized...Thank you all for stopping by-it kept us sane!
Thursday afternoon, we surrendered our modem and we were without access to the internet. I went through withdrawal, it was not pleasant, do not try it cold turkey!
Friday, we had really hoped to be on the road by noon. At 1:45 we got the news that our buyer has a lien against her by some one who... never mind the gory details, suffice it to say, the house did not close. We jumped any way and continued our concentrated efforts to escape the City of Subdued Excitement. Did you 'hamsters know that is the motto of your fair city?
The PODS container was picked up at about 1:00 and I freaked out thinking I had locked the key to the borrowed pick up truck in the PODS. It was in my pocket. Can you say STRESS?
(Thank you again Sherri and Richard for lending us your truck for many many trips to the dump) This was the highlight of our packing madness...
Here is the pod being loaded. It was cool to see it be lifted and placed on the truck, odd to see our life roll away on the back of a truck...


We finally decided to just stay the night and leave on Saturday. At about 3:00 something we got Poppy and hit the road.

We are staying with My brother the first night and then we will push on eastward. We might try to drive one hour longer each day to make up for the lost day.

A pic of us about to leave.

More soon

Chris

REPORT from Bugsy:
It was a cool and cloudy day in bellingham, the weatherman had said "nice and sunny". The weatherman was wrong. Now I don't want to say the mama dog was strung out but she left
the house wearing two different shoes-one blue, one not. The big dog said he only noticed it himself two hours later. Now i don't want to say the big dog was having an ing -bing because he thought he'd lost the keys to our friend's truck but sheesh, he looked a shade paler than usual
(that's somewhere between
This moving thing hasn't been easy on me either. Truth is, i've been chasing
the golden reflections of sunlight bouncing off my shiny new doggy tag thinkin' they was bugs.
Usually i'm up for chasin' the birdbrain we live with-the one they call Poppy, but he had a tough
first day traveling. too much bouncing, no good naps, he didn't drink until late...
This is the Bug signin' off. Think good thoughts for the bird.