On the road...

Just getting on the Highway

On the road in Wyoming...roads are clear...

We left our snow-kissed Custer South Dakota property on the 28th of November in our RV. It was iffy whether we would be making it up the driveway in the snow, but all went well…no problem! We drove to USC Colorado Veterinary Teaching Hospital straight away, which took us about 4 1/2 hours and spent the night in the parking lot. Next morning, Harley had her appointment where she was put under sedation and was x-rayed.  A few hours later, the veterinarian told us everything looked great and Harley’s surgery site was healing nicely. They were very happy with her recovery so far. But…Harley still has to remain calm and on leash supervision for four more months. She can only have 2 - thirty minute walks per day on a leash. Still no jumping, running or playing with other dogs. Swimming, the vet said, would be awesome for her just as long as she is careful getting in and out of the water. HA! She has not seen Harley in action at the beach before! She goes nuts as soon as her two front paws touch the sand! She makes a mad dash and leaps into the water..continually running in and out of the water, swimming feverishly in circles glancing back at us, in anticipation of retrieving a stick or rock. So…this should be interesting trying to keep Harley calm! We’ll do our best!

So after we left Colorado, we headed to Kansas to see Tanner and his family. We made it all the way to Colby, KS and stayed the night in a Walmart parking lot. Classy I know, but it was free! Next morning on the 30th, we arrived at Fort Riley Kansas where we met Tanner at the visitor center and got our guest passes for the next few days. It was so awesome to see Tanner waiting for us there. It had been five months since we had seen him and the family last. After we left the visitor center we followed Tanner to his house. Kim and baby Olivia were waiting out front in the driveway for us! I hopped out of the RV before the engine was turned off and nearly before the steps were all the way down and I ran to give them both hugs. Last I saw little Olivia she was just two weeks old. Anyway, soon after we arrived, Kim, Tanner, the baby and I jumped in Tanner’s car and went to Tyler’s school to surprise him as his school was just letting out. It was a great surprise and I got the biggest and best of hugs!

Baby Olivia...5 months old

Later that afternoon, we all went bowling  and then out to dinner in Manhattan. Came back to Tanners visited for a while and then we got back into the RV for an early nights sleep. Next morning we woke to a sick dog! The veterinarian mentioned that the anesthesia they gave Harley may make her sick the day of the X-ray but she said nothing about two days later! She had vomited and pooped all throughout the RV. There wasn’t a spot untouched! So out in the icy cold temperatures, we pulled the out runners, bathroom, kitchen and door mats and hosed and scrubbed them off as best we could. My fingers were bright red and numb! We were able to steam clean the inside of the RV, thanks to the help of Tanner and Kim’s recently purchased steam cleaner! 

After all that excitement, we drove back into Manhattan for lunch and to play at Widgets (an arcade with a giant indoor play structure…one of Tyler’s favorite places)! While inside, Tyler drug his Nanna (me) in and through, and up and down slides in the giant play structure, which was like a maze for little people that in some parts I had troubles squeezing through…I barely fit! But Tyler didn’t care he was just happy to have the company I guess. Later his dad took over which was a big relief…for me! It was nice to stand upright again.

That evening, when we got back to Tanner’s and to the RV, Harley still was not doing well. We called USC and they said that we needed to get her to a local vet immediately…. Something wasn’t right. Not only did we get that alarming news, but we had also been checking on the weather and there was a snow storm brewing soon and we did not want to get stuck in the snow…especially in the RV, having no chains. We wanted to get all the way through to Arizona before it caught up with us. So…sad to say we had to get packed and ready to leave. I was a wreck, crying, hugging and kissing everyone until we walked out the door and into the RV. I was hoping to get in at least another day or two with everyone.

So sad to say goodbye to these loves

We beat most of the snow on our drive through Kansas and Colorado and New Mexico until we approached the New Mexico/Arizona border. We got hit by a snow storm! It snowed through Arizona to our surprise as well. We were driving in snow and on an icy snowy road. We swerved around a bit to the point that we almost pulled over…but we didn’t. We kept going.  

After about an hour of clenching our teeth, we came around a corner and it was blue skies, puffy clouds and sunshine! Gorgeous! We were then able to exhale and know our cold stormy weather was behind us. Only warm and sunny skies ahead!

Our first stop in Arizona was to get to the vicinity of West Marine (even though they were closed on a Sunday) which was in Phoenix. We hit a nearby Walmart for grocery shopping and ended up sleeping in the parking lot.  Bright and early the next morning, we went to West Marine, got our parts that we had previously ordered and then headed over to Tucson (closer to the border) and stayed in the Lazy Days RV campground & resort. It was nice to stay in an actual RV campground so we could get hook-ups and power.  After we showered and put on some clean clothes, we went to dinner with some dear longtime friends who live in Sahuarita. They came and picked us up and drove us to a very upscale hip area in Tucson where we ate at an exceptionally good Sushi place. We had not had Sushi in a long time, so it was a great treat.

Fun dinner with Lisa and Kurt von Geldern

After dinner we walked over to another restaurant for a surprise desert for Rick’s birthday. We sat outside around a fire pit, drank coffee and tea and all ate some sort of delicious Italian pastry! We had great fun getting caught up, but the fun had to come to an end because it was a long drive back for our friends, who had to first drop us off at our RV…AND… we had to get up bright and early the next morning to cross the border and finally get to Mexico…to San Carlos…to our boat!