Beauty and Heat

 We left Green River this morning just before 7:00 am heading to Henderson NV, about 425 miles. It was a beautiful morning in the 60’s after a nice rain last night. When I walked DanaRiley in a little park near the hotel, there was moisture in the air and on the ground. I got eaten alive by mosquitoes in a short period of time. Oh well, that was the least of my worries.

 Before we left for the walk, I woke Alene and said good morning!  She responded, “Hi! I smell coffee!”  I’d made her a cup to help wake her. I turned on the shower for her and left for a walk. 

When I returned 20-25 minutes later, I opened the door to our room and heard the water still running with the bathroom door closed. I thought, “oh shit”. I knocked and asked if everything was okay and she said “NO!” She couldn’t get the water turned off. She did get a shower though. I turned off the water and she did feel better! We both had slept long and well. 

The drive from Green River to Cedar City was stunning with the rock mountains illuminated by the sun showing glorious colors and formations. Alene was so much in awe and truly loved the drive. So did I. It was the stretch of I 70 where there aren’t any services for 100 miles. So gorgeous!

We stopped a few times, as usual, for gas, to get a bite to eat and the usual routines for DanaRiley. When we hit the Arizona and Nevada deserts, it was 109-115 degrees outside. Brutal.

We arrived in Vegas to horrible bumper to bumper traffic (35 mph posted speed limit on I 15!) and headed south to Henderson. We decided to pick up a Wendy’s salad for dinner on the way to the hotel so we (I) didn’t have to go out again to pick up dinner. Good plan as it was still 109 outside. Dry heat or not, it’s frickin hot!

As it was yesterday, Alene was a joy to have as a travel partner. Inquisitive, appreciative and full of amazement, she would love to read more about the area and find out how the castle-like formations were created, how old these rock mountains are, etc. Most times we stopped to walk DanaRiley, Alene would get out of the car and walk to stretch her legs. 

The last 100-130 miles were miserable, but DanaRiley was a dream dog. It’s like she knew there was no where to stop, it was too hot to stop and no grass to walk her. You could actually see the heat in the air as it rose from the ground and the occasional buildings.

I called Jeanne this afternoon to check in and she and Alene will get along just fine…I think.  Jeanne and Alene were already sharing barbs about me which made me smile. 😊 

We’ve both eaten, showered and are in our respective beds, DanaRiley on mine sound asleep. It’s 9:00 pm pacific time and we’re about ready to turn off the lights.

Yes, there were repeated questions, comments and conversations today, but very little confusion. I think it’s due to a few things: a good night’s sleep, the beauty of the day and a decent hotel room. I’ll also take some credit by refusing to show frustration when my GPS went wacky and wanted to turn us around and go back for miles and miles, not letting Alene deal with checking into the hotel or dealing with DanaRiley, not disputing much of what she said, not allowing her to carrying any luggage, sharing in her joy of the day despite it being very long and tiring and being patient and kind regardless of any endless questions.

She’s 46 today!

I love my friend and desperately want her/us to enjoy our time together.

SOCAL tomorrow.