The Pagosa Trip

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning with 82 degrees. We are back home in Surprise, Arizona.

The map shows our original destination. We left about eight o’clock in the morning on the twelfth of September. We arrived at the campground on the thirteenth, and after staying only three nights, we left and came home.

The original plan was to leave on the twelfths and find someplace to stay for free that night. We did. We stayed in the Home Depot parking lot in Gallup, New Mexico.

 It was about five in the afternoon. We parked by the HD perimeter fence. It is where I discovered that Bernie is an escape artist. He was able to squeeze between the bottom of the fence and the ground.

When I called him, he came to the fence, but he was inside, and for some reason, it didn’t compute he needed to go back to where he entered to come to me.

Chris was by my side. I wish I could teach him to go and lead Bernie back to me. So, I did the next best thing. I calmly talked to Bernie while I walked the fence line. Bernie obediently followed me.

Within a few minutes, I saw a potential place where Bernie could squeeze out. I forced the bottom of the chain link fence high enough. It worked.

Here is a photo of Bernie and Chris with the ‘escape hole’ in the background.

It had been a long day. We had some interesting adventures while on I-40 that I will share in the next blog.

As the darkness fell, I captured the moment.

So far, the journey had provided some interesting facts and scenery. I had no idea what I would experience the next three days. Except for missing the parrot incident (next blog), I’ve got photos of how I found myself trapped and some other scenic side trips I didn’t intend to travel.

We got home on Saturday, the sixteenth about noon. The total distance was more than two thousand miles. The experience was well worth the journey.

I found traveling with Bernie and Chris much easier than traveling with children. I never heard “Are we there yet?” or any of the dozen disruptions of human passengers. I did frequently stop to let the dogs out to explore for ten minutes. They jumped back into the back seat and settled down within a minute.

Towing the Casita was a dream. It was like towing a shadow. I had no problem in traffic and very little problem backing up. Backing up was a very new and exciting experience. That was one of the scenic side trips I wish I hadn’t had. I will share how it happened in another blog.