I definitely was not feeling like going anywhere after all the pain of sadness, but Jaime convinced me we should go see the Grand Canyon and ended up in Vegas for a few days. The Grand Canyon was pretty amazing and offered me a lot of time to think about life and why life was the way it had to be. A very inspiring moment was when I was deep in thought and this HUGE condor flew right over my head and circled a few times. Almost as if it was a sign that everything was going to be OK in time.  Vegas was overload as always…but not the same kind of trip as I usually take.  Understanding why things happened the way they did is going to take a very long time for me to figure out and I honestly do not know what kind of answer I will come up with.

Meat @ Las Vegas

WoodNymph @ Grand Canyon

Condor @ Grand Canyon

I am very sad to report that Monte passed away Monday (7/28) morning while en route to the emergency vet. He became ill in the early morning hours. I have personally known Monte for over four years and he so loves arm hair. I am really at a lost as to what else to say as I don’t fully understand the meaning of all of this, but there must be some reasoning behind it. One day I may understand, I just really do not know. Jaime and I are heading back to Santa Barbara, should arrive on Thursday.

I will miss you Monte, you will always be very very special to me!

Today was an awesome drive!  All new to me as I have never been past Phoenix.  It was really cool how the climate changed so dramatically… Started from triple digits in the desert and ended up in the cool upper 60s as we arrived at 7,000 feet elevation.  Drove through a couple of awesome thunderstorms and saw some good lightning with thunder.  For me being from Southern California, this was very exciting (I know you are thinking lame if you live anywhere that has weather).   Monte was very happy the temp dropped as well and we visited many rest stops to stretch our legs.  The first rest stop in New Mexico was our first real encounter with other dogs.  They smelled each other and moved on…only if humans were so easy.

Albuquerque, NM was very nice as it was breezy and right after at t-storm blew through.  Got gasoline for the car there…actually been getting gas whenever we get below 1/2 tank as on the way to Phoenix I almost had a crisis.  No fun being in the middle of nowhere with no petrol.  It is pretty amazing how nice the roads are in other states besides California.  So far, both AZ and NM have had really smooth roads….feels like you are gliding on air.  Maybe California should stop inspecting fruit and put more money into the roads.

Santa Rosa, NM is a trip.  It is on the old Route 66, lots of themed restaurants/gift stores based off of that.  At our Hotel (Holiday Inn Express), there is a Corvette rally…the parking lot is full of awesome classics and newer models too.

Oh..and “Smoove”, this is for you… you can buy FIREWORKS pretty much ANYWHERE in New Mexico!  How freaken awesome is that?  I unforutnately did not stop to buy any though as I had a image of me buying a m-80 and then having a disaster.  Maybe next time.

Jaime also had a great idea today…he has a small portable computer that can play movies.  The car has an aux input, so connect that to the headphone jack of the computer and boom…instant movie theater!  Now Jaime and Monte have something to watch while on the road.  The sound is amazing as the car has simulated surround sound, nothing like having some explosions going on in the back seat (an no, it is not Monte passing wind…although that is a frequent present from him).

Tomorrow we go to Tulsa, OK…will be driving through the Texas Panhandle…maybe we need some big ole hats.

Highlighted pictures of the day (click on any to go to the album and view all):

T-Storm in New Mexico

Ahhh…sound asleep, totally forgot where I was. I feel something furry next to me. I don’t remember meeting anybody furry the night before. Woah! The furry item just licked me…I open one eye. Oh, that is right, I am in AZ with Monte. I fall back asleep. Another lick. OK, what is up? What time is it? 3:30 AM. I ask what do you want? He looks at me with his deep dark eyes, and looks at the door. I figure it out….potty break. He must not have believed me at 11 PM when I said to go before bed. Oh well, it is peaceful at 3:30 AM outside of the hotel…all that is out there is me, Monte, the wind, and some thunder in the distance….

Monte's Deep Eyes

The adventure has officially begun!  This morning was a bit hectic…but finally made it out the door.  Got up at 5:30 AM and went over to Monte’s house to feed him and get the car ready to go.  After that, came back to my place to get luggage and then picked up my driving buddy Jaime.  Ahhh, now we are off…well not quite!  I forgot all the water at my house…U-turn, get water..now we are really off.

Monte handled the first day quite well.  It was definitely a big shock for him and climate change.  The desert is super hot (it is Summer afterall)…top temp from the car was 113 degrees!  The least appealing part of the trip was being forced to use a rest stop in AZ with it being 106 degrees…now that is NASTY (I will not even go into the flies or some strange crawling bug on the ground)!!!!!!!!  The highlight of the day was having dinner with my good friend Tammy, who relocated to Phoenix, AZ about four years ago. The Red Rood Inn is very accomodating and let us use their breakfast dining room to have dinner in…which was super nice.

It is definitely hot and am looking forward to it getting coolor day by day. Tomorrow we leave for a long stretch of about 540 miles to Santa Rosa, NM. More to come soon…

Below are the highlighted pics of the day, feel free to click on any of them to go to the full album.

Dad and Monte

Damn, 113 Degrees!

Tammy and Monte

Yep, it is true.  I am driving across the United States with my good friend Jaime and Monte the boxer.  Will be going the Southern route from Santa Barbara, CA to Cape Cod, MA.  Will be quite a trip with stops in Phoenix, AZ - Santa Rosa, NM - Tulsa, OK - Terre Haute, IN - Cleveland, OH - Albany, NW - and finally Cape Cod, MA.  We will complete the trip in six nights, seven days.  After arriving in Cape Cod, will be spending a few days there and then fly back home to Santa Barbara.  I will be blogging daily as the adventure unfolds. 

I visited with Monte and took the car out for a spin that I will be driving last Saturday.  Monte is definitely ready as earlier in the day he totally checkout the car himself to make sure all was in good order.  As you can see in the photos below, Monte is very sophisticated and ready to go!

Monte Ready 2 Travel!

When R We Leaving???

Here is the map of travels for the Drive Across America trip: