Everything was planned, the trailer was loaded and ready. We were going to go to Arizona for the trip we missed last year. We would stay for one week in the Cottonwood area south of Sedona, for one week and for the second week head down to Tucson to visit my nephew and his folks.

The tribe was ready, Nick was hanging very close to the trailer. The dogs were up in the truck waiting to go. We had to let them know that it would be the next morning before we left so they could get out till then. Mo arrived late afternoon Saturday, he was going with us also. He is a beautiful year old chocolate lab that we puppy sit for occasionally, and is one huge bundle of energy.

We used Saturday to hook up and do the final loading and were going to leave early Sunday morning and drive straight through. We figured it should only be 10 hours.

We got on the road about 6 AM, no problems and it was a nice drive to our campsite. Funny thought how everything always seems to be up hill!

We got a nice spot where we would be close to an area that seemed to be a good spot for the dogs to run and set up camp. Having done that we leashed the dogs to go for a walk and check things out.

Pow! I have Mo on the leash and he bolts with such enthusiasm that he wrenched my back! I could not believe how it hurt, he was totally clueless, and there was no getting through to him! We continued on our walk turned the dogs loose for a run and boom!

Now they are all limping with burrs and stickers in their paws! We pulled them out of their feet, sticking ourselves big time in the process. There were three different types and all of them mean. Did I mention how good it felt doing this with my back out? And poor James with his flowing feathers etc, he had clumps of the big barrel ones all balled up in his armpits, tail …everywhere!

Okay, so the next day we go to town to get Mo a ‘no pull’ collar, and we tested it in the parking lot before leaving. Worked like a charm but it didn’t take him long to figure out that if he turned and grabbed the leash he could pull with out the collar deterring him.

We went into Sedona, did some local site seeing, and checked out a restaurant that an online friend had recommended for the best ribs he had ever eaten! They were very good beef ribs and we let each of the dogs gnaw on one as a treat.

Only Sandy devoured hers and ended up with an intestinal blockage. She was not well at all and all of the remedies I used did not help, (all of which, are a bit gross to go into, here!) We ended up taking her into town to the emergency vet, and he pretty much had me do the same as I had been doing. Only to be a bit more aggressive and hope it passed by the next day, or it could be necessary to do surgery. Now, I should mention here that for three nights now she has been sleeping in bed, under the covers with me, cold and shivering. I was up with her every 10, 20 minutes, to every hour to every three hours, going out in the 20 degree temp with a flashlight hoping that this would be the one!

The week is up, we are suppose to head to Tucson now and Monday AM upon waking, Steve says, "that’s it, were going home today". Sandy was still not better, I was broken, it was butt cold and I had to call my ex-sis-in-law, to tell here we were not coming. What a bummer, we whined a bit about it all, but what could we do?

So, I go back to the trailer, potty Sandy and boom, she blasted, (excuse the pun)… and was obviously feeling better, so, Steve says, "well, I guess she can poop in Tucson as easily as at home then"… So, I call again to say we are on our way after all!

Now, this is all after the first walk of the morning and our camping neighbor calling me over to have me call 911 because he thinks he has just had a slight stroke. Steve took care of making the call and contacting the ranger, and I sat with Harry, to comfort him. He is close to 80 and alone except for his cat Jonathan. And any of you with animals can understand he was more concerned with the cat being cared for than he was for himself. The paramedics came and took him to the hospital, with an irregular heartbeat, but with a good feeling that all would be well.

So, finally we are off to Tucson. Okay…all is well right? Ha! My directions say I am to take the Marana exit, well when I see an exit for Marana it is for the town of Marana, and a sign next to it says Tucson 21 miles…so this must not be the exit, right? So we drive through Tucson and soon re realize we must have gotten something wrong, pull off and call to find out that we were suppose to get off 40 miles back at the suburb of Marana! Now we are driving in the dark, tired and hungry, and very cranky. Don’t forget, I have not really slept in three nights, and am in pain to boot! So, we go back, get off and the next set of directions, don’t jive either! I am already on the third street, so what do I do when I hit what is to be the second street? We are driving in pitch black, out in the middle of huge open fields and I told Steve to turn around and go back to the circle K and I would call and have Christine come and get us! She must have really been speeding because she was there in nothing flat and it was really a ways from the house!

What a relief to be there. Dinner was ready, the wine and beer were chilled, and we could relax! It was really nice, they have a great place out there next to the Saguaro Nat. Park. Their dogs got along with our tribe, they were having fun checking things out and oops, Honey does cute. Now, Steve’s lab Honey, is really good at doing that happy wiggle waggle, look at how cute I am. She had pushed open the door and came in, and was so ‘cute’ that she was allowed to stay. Next thing she does is to go into the laundry room and come out all cute with a box of Decon Mouse Poison in her mouth! The box had been in there so long that they forgot it was there. It had gotten wet, and was falling apart spilling as Honey carried it out to us. Panic once again, we pry her jaws open, no green streaks that she has swallowed any crystals, but her rear molars are green from having bitten down on them. Ten o’clock at night now, Christine is rushing Steve and Honey to the emergency vet to get her checked! They were gone for over two hours and things looked pretty good that Honey had not eaten any poison, but we had a list of things to watch for and the vitamin K to give her every day!

Geesh, anything else? Well, we did some site seeing around town, and Steve insisted I go to the chiropractor, helped a lot, but I had been out for a week now and was going to take time to be all better. It was a great visit, the weather was warmer, the area was much prettier than up around the camp area. (Everything there was a gray green, gray brown, or gray yellow.)

New Years eve we did go to a great party, and had a bunch of fun. I even got to dance! Wow, boots and jeans too! (And the cowboy hat, beard and mustache to boot!) I am definitely going to be doing some dancing this year, I miss it too much!

We drove home in one day, got in Saturday evening. My shower, my bed, my puter! Was good to be home. As I write this now, the dogs are bathed and laundry is going. I am glad to be home!