Dear Isaac and Maia,

By now you know that I had to put Maizzy down last week. Such a hard decision that was – but the right decision. She went quickly and peacefully with a belly full of pulled pork. I cried . . . I am still crying sometimes. She was one special dog. She was my first roadtrip companion and that is part of what made her so special.

I adopted a new dog (Moki) from a shelter called Annie’s Orphans in Durango. I left right after I put Maizzy down last Friday so I wouldn’t get weighed down in the loss and met Moki the next day. I think Maizzy would prefer me to have a new friend.

Now, it is one week later and I am on a road trip to Utah, Arizona and New Mexico with Moki, Kachina and Sazi. Moki hadn’t been out of his kennel in a year when I inquired about his. They were hesitant to adopt him out because he hadn’t been socialized. We have made big progress in a week – now he is sleeping in motel rooms (with a belly band for insurance). So, a lot of this trip is going to be about socializing my new dog . . . and grieving my old Maizzy.

Anyway, I decided to take some of the route of the first trip Maizzy and I took together – but backwards. We took the road to the West End of Montrose County – over near Utah. I haven’t been up here since the trip Maizzy and I took 6 years ago, but I use to work up here are drove it twice a week.

Eventually, we got to Naturita, CO, and then we took Highway 90 through Bedrock, CO. It is not just rural up in that area – it is isolated. It isn’t a bad road or anything. It runs through the Paradox Valley – where the river runs across the canyon and not through it.

The road took us into Utah, then over the La Sal Mountains. The road comes out just south of Moab. We stopped at Wilson Arch and the dogs enjoyed getting a little bit of an adventure.

From there, we headed south to Monticello. We took a side trip to Newspaper Rock. I have the sweetest photo of Maizzy in front of this rock. Today, trying to get 3 dogs to pose (especially Moki, who has likely never been asked to pose before) was a chore. We did actually get a couple of fun shots. The rock is cool – I like that petroglyph.

I decided to go out to dinner. I ended up eating steak because it was gluten free. The dogs enjoyed their dinner with a little bite of steak in it. Moki isn’t living the kennel life this week!

Tomorrow, we head south through Monument Valley, UT/AZ, then west to Page, AZ. We will be close to the Moki Dugway – that is what Moki is named for. I may have to stop and just get a photo at the bottom. We will see. There is a lot to see on the route – we were through here summer before last on our camping road trip.

I best get some shut-eye. I have been really tired this week and want to sleep.

Love, GMH