Gus in the Car, Day Three

 We decided to push it to Albuquerque on day two in order to have a shorter final day. Only seven hours of driving and at least two seemed to be spent sitting in traffic from road work just outside of Albuquerque. Gus was very excited to get into the car in the morning. Maybe he’s a car dog now? Before we got started though, he had his first encounter with a cactus-a prickly pear. I spotted it in time and steered him well clear, much to his annoyance.

It’s nearly hidden off to the right of the picture.

We pulled into Gallup to switch drivers and got to drive a few miles on Historic Route 66 in order to find some grub and give Gus the chance to stretch his legs.

More snow in Northern Arizona and New Mexico than in Illinois!

Lots of windy roads over mountains rounded out the end of the day before we rolled into the Phoenix valley. I’m sure the view was outstanding but I have a thing with heights from a car, which is odd because I’m totally fine with heights in every in other circumstance.

Gus took a little while to settle in at my in-laws but not too long. 

Gus in the Car, Day Two

Gus is recovering from an injury and Gus LOVES to lick his injuries until they become infected and take twice as long to heal. Cones of Shame don't work on greyhounds because their heads are smaller than their necks. In order to allow his injury to heal (an infected toe) we have to put a modified muzzle on him (which is just a basket muzzle with duct tape around the bottom so he can't lick through it). It's not super comfortable. He has to wear it all the time while in the back of the car because we can't monitor him. Day Two was the longest so we decided to put him in the backseat and move all the luggage to the very back. He was vastly happier to be 1) without the muzzle and 2) close to his people.

Gus's head is well placed for scritches.

Twelve hours of driving. Twelve whole-assed hours. We tried to combine all of our stops—fuel and dog walks and grab a couple of snacks. On a whim we popped off to grab lunch at a gas station Subway (eating in the car because COVID) and it turned out we were on Historic Route 66 (origin point is downtown Chicago). So now Gus can say he’s done that.

You can see the Route 66 sign if you squint. No? Okay here:

We rolled into Albuquerque around 7:30 pm, which was enough time to unload and order a grilled cheese with Hatch green chile (me) and a bacon cheese Hatch green chile burger (hubs) from a local diner to eat in our hotel room (again, COVID) before collapsing. 

A word on traveling during a pandemic. We’re in the middle of surge in Delta cases and Omicron is spreading rapidly across country. The further we got from Chicago, the fewer people we saw with masks. Until we got to Albuquerque. Everyone is masked up here, similar to Chicago. They have digital signs on freeways approaching Albuquerque that say: “Omicron is here. Get a booster. Mask up. Thank you for caring about others.” And that last line is really what it’s about. I don’t wear a mask for my own protection (though it does provide me with some), I wear it because I don’t want to spread it in case I do have it. I wear it for other people. When I see someone NOT wearing a mask it tells me they care more about themselves than others.

Anyways, New Mexico is lovely. Highly recommend.

Gus in the Car, Day One

We had a lot to do the morning of our first driving day (home renovation related) so we cut the distance by about 100 miles.

Gus gets the whole back to himself

The St. Louis Arch at night was kind of nifty.

Gus has never enjoyed hotel rooms and becomes a very picky eater when he travels. Here he's looking thoroughly unimpressed with everything.

Gus and His Incredible Westward Adventure

This is Gus. He is a Greyhound. He is handsome and klutzy and...not exactly the brightest bulb in the box. He has never been further west than Kansas City and he is about to embark on a huge adventure.

This is what the majority of our house looks like right now. (No, we're not Dexter.) We are doing a major home renovation that requires us to move out...for six months. It's a long story, but the result is that we're going to be out for 3 months longer than we thought. We will be spending that time in Arizona and California so we can be close to family members that we haven't seen much in the past two years (get vaxxed, wear a mask, maintain social distancing or we're never getting through this, folx). Also, its warmer there.

Gus has never seen the desert. He doesn't know what a cactus is. Jackrabbits are significantly bigger than the bunnies he chases around here. We think its going to be grand adventure.