There is something about waking up on the last day of a camping road trip . . . or any trip, I suppose. With camping, though, there is some relief at the thought of a long bath and not having to pitch a tent before bed. But, still, the trip is over.

We packed up in the morning – and I am amazed at how much easier this was than day 1. I watched the family in the next space work together as a team to take down their site. I wished my dogs could help . . . I always fee sort of like the odd-woman-out surrounded by families on these trips. But, as I said yesterday, the next site was way too close and I could over hear every word of an argument between the dad and oldest daughter. I felt bad for both of them, honestly. Awkward.

After that, we headed up to do the main loop of ruins before heading home. We will be back for Labor Day, so I didn’t even stop at all the stops. I was glad for the overcast, cool monsoon weather since the dogs can’t be out of the car much.

The ruins here are some of my favorites. However, Hovenweep is more dog friendly and I do feel sorry for the dogs in most National Parks. Still, it was good to be out and see the ruins, again. Of course, I am once again surrounded by families. It is interesting to people watch families on vacation.

After we finished the loop, I headed towards Dolores for our trip home. I figured we could stop for lunch so the dogs could have more of an adventure than hiking the camping loop. Weirdly, I couldn’t remember the name “Dolores” – I could see the town and the restaurant we eat at there. I wanted it to start with an M like Mancos for some reason. I spent the whole drive down to Cortez trying to think of the name.

We got to the restaurant in Dolores and the clouds were dark with thunder. We found a space in the lot and I got the dogs out. That sounds easy, but they sit in car seats. Moki can’t get out without help, nor can Sazi. I hooked up leashes and walked through the indoor bar per the instructions. The dogs enjoyed (you guessed it) tacos by the river.

When we got back to the car, OMG – I forgot to shut Moki’s car door. I didn’t notice until I got back from lunch. So, the car was wide open for at least 30 minutes. Fortunately, nothing was taken but my piece of mind. I think I procrastinated writing this blog because I still don’t like thinking about it. Storms, dogs, exhaustion and just feeling overwhelmed about being home, I guess.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful except for another torrential downpour monsoon on the top of Dallas Divide. It was interesting to be with so many other cars this time vs the road to the campground. I am not sure I felt much safe, though. I know I was glad I had a couple more weeks before school started – but I felt behind on getting my business going. It was a little overwhelming to realize it was now late July.

Love, GMH