May 30, 2012 ~ Wednesday

Today we drove from Pocatello, ID to West Yellowstone, Montana which was about a three hour drive.  It was a beautiful drive and a real change of scenery.  The snow capped mountains in the distance were breath-taking.  We are off to Yellowstone tomorrow. 

Someone was saying "have a safe trip" as we left today......

Since we take our bathroom with us, we can pull over in wide spots for "potty breaks"  I took these two photos while we were having a "break".

May 29, 3012 ~ Tuesday

We didn't make it to Yellowstone.  We checked the weather for Yellowstone as we drove down the road (Thank goodness for I-Pads) and discovered it was going to be snowing all week so we stopped in Pocatello and have spent a week here.  We are MORE than ready to head to Yellowstone in the morning.

We are staying in contact with the vet about  the stray dog we are helping out.  So far, it's been just healing and gaining weight.  She is using her back leg now so hopefully, it was just something minor and won't come back to haunt her.  Still no "forever" home for her but I know one is out there!  They named her Zhonnie.......short for "beautiful" in Navajo.......

This is in Richfield, Utah.  It is an awesome park, so lush and green.  We could stay here a week with no problem at all but we just stayed on night and moved on.  It was beautiful and such an oasis in the desert around it.

We spent one night here in Brigham City, UT on our way to Pocatello.

This was at a Rest Stop and Judy walked down the trail and took some photos while I stayed in the truck with the dogs.  She loves anything to do with the Oregon Trail.

There wasn't a lot to see in this area (that we could find anyway) but we did enjoy a visit to this park.  I was really wanting to get outside and walk and this filled that need.

I pointed out this face to Judy and her reply was "that's some nose"

*The Pinacate beetle is noted for its defensive tactic of standing on its head and squirting a noxious spray.

I don't know for sure what type of Beetle this is but Judy pointed it out to me and told me to watch out as it WAS standing on it's head.....ready to spray! UGH

We went down to the boat launch site after we left the park. 

Such a pretty Red-Wing Blackbird; wish I could have caught it in flight but no such luck!

We also saw "Signature Rock" before we left the area.  It was located in a nice park and several families were enjoying picnics there.

No, you can't go home with me!

Our site at the Cowboy RV park in Pocatello, Idaho

May 21, 2012 ~ Monday

We left Page, AZ and drove into Utah.  We were planning on going to Zion and Bryce Canyon but it was too hot so we decided to see them at a later time and go up to Yellowstone National Park instead.

We headed to Richland, UT, traveling through Navajo reservation land.  I should have taken pictures of the people selling things (mostly jewelry) in little three sides shacks along the road.  We stopped at a couple of them.  I bought Judy a neat bracelet made out of seeds but most of the jewelry were made from things you would get at a craft store.  Some were really well done but not what you might think of being "real".

We saw some signs for a Trading Post in Tuba City, AZ and I decided I wanted to see it so we drove the 10 miles in so I wouldn't think I had missed anything.  Well, I was in there about 2 minutes and knew it was a joke (on me) and walked out wondering why we were there.  As soon as I got outside, I could see why we were there.  Judy was feeding hotdogs to two stray dogs. 

The stray dog at the grocery store.

 They were both a Shar-Pei mix; looked like they could be litter mates or mother/daughter.  The mama dog had obviously just weaned a litter of pups, her teets were nearly to her knees (don't ya hate that!) and she looked like she had been in a lot of dog fights in her life.  She had infection in one eye and a bad back leg and yet she was still so friendly.  The other dog was in better shape and just as friendly.  I went back into the Trading Post and asked about the dogs.  The clerk said they had been there for "some time" and there were more at one time but now, just the two of them.  I'm sure the others were her pups and people took them home.  We got a nice ceramic bowl and filled it full of cold water for them and then had to drive into town to find a grocery store to buy a big sack of dog food.  Naturally, there was a stray dog in the parking lot of the grocery store so we gave her a bowl of water and left her a big bowl of dog food.  Everyone told us it's a "big problem" in the area but it appears it's just ignored. 

How can you walk past a starving dog on a screaming hot day and not even give it water?

Both of the dogs were glad to see us again (sadly enough) and we took the dog food inside and they "promised" they would give them food and water until they were picked up.  I had called the Navajo Nation headquarters and talked to animal control but it sounded like they had a big area to cover and not enough staff so she took the info but it didn't sound like they would get picked up anytime soon.

With tears flowing, we left them and headed on down the road. 

Saturday I called the Trading Post and just one of the dogs was there.  The other dog was gone so maybe someone took it home with them.  Naturally, the poor, skinny, sick mama dog was left behind.

I called a vet there and asked her if she would pick up the dog, check it out, see what it needed, and we would pay the bill and try to find a  home for her.  She went down and got the dog and has her now.  We are paying for her care and PRAYING hard someone will give her a second chance in life and a FOREVER home.