My Journey

The night of the full moon was a night of reflection.....it was a night to wander in the desert as the night appeared to be day. It was maybe 9:00 p.m. and we were all laying in the camper bed.....it was a perfect night.....so perfect that we decided to treat the night as if it was day. I left the camper door open, Tanner and I headed out into the desert.....Yukon watched us as we disappeared into the desert. We had walked for nearly a mile and a half when I turned back towards the camper and saw Yukon standing there, tail wagging.....and there was a shine in here eyes that night.....the full moon not only made night into day but it also made those old dull eyes shine once again. How she got out, how she found us.....that I will never know.....

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The past 8 days have been tough to say the least. It is what it is. We are travelers and this blog is about our travels.....

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We are back.....

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The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "labor of love" as "a labor voluntarily undertaken or performed without consideration of any benefit or reward." .....

"My Journey" is my "labor of love" and I need to hang in there.....I'm weeks behind but here's the Cliff Notes version.....


December 21, 2019.....we departed San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico and began to drive east. On this day we had new big plans.....our travels would take us to Big Bend National Park, then continuing east and south to the Gulf of Mexico, then east to Florida, and then north up the Atlantic Coast. But those were only plans and plans are nothing more than ideas and ideas are nothing more than dreams.....

After a few days in the Arizona desert we arrived in Tucson, Arizona.....

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We slept in a Safeway parking lot Christmas Eve night.....

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.....and Christmas day was spent feeding slices of carrot cake (my favorite) to the street people.....

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That day I was also the recipient of handouts as I was mistaken for being homeless.....life in a truck camper doesn't do much for your appearance.....

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I regifted my gift to a woman sleeping on a church porch.....

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Christmas night was spent sleeping in a mall parking lot.....

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From here we drove south on the interstate and spent a few days in Tubac, Arizona. The plan was to let Yukon swim in the river but her limp was bad and the banks were steep.....it was a no go.....so we walked through town and admired the vibrant colors.....

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Colorful pigs lined the streets and the walkways.....

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December 28, 2019.....we drove east on the back roads of Arizona and our drive took us back into the high mountain plains.....

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The afternoon was filled with snow flurries and the occasional snow squall.....the day was cold and the winds were strong. We certainly felt alive.....

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We ended the day in Sierra Vista, Arizona and the following morning Tanner and I attempted a climb on Carr Peak (9,237'). We unhitched the Jeep and headed up a forest service road to the trailhead but our progress was halted by the gated roadway.....

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We hiked nearly five and one half miles one way and climbed nearly 2,000 vertical feet in snow that at times was up to one foot deep.....

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Once we reached the trailhead we retreated back down.....an additional six more miles and 2,000 more feet of climbing, roundtrip, was out of our league that day.....

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Summits are wonderful.....but time spent with a best friend is more important. ....

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December 30, 2019.....we continued east making an unplanned stop in the border town of Naco, Arizona.....

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Our idea here was to travel east along the border wall to Douglas, Arizona but people here were not so friendly and I was unable to get any information on the route so we returned to the highway leaving the nearly abandoned town of Naco, Arizona behind.....

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We arrived in yet another border town.....Douglas, Arizona late that evening.....

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Yukon was not doing well at this point in our travels and I too had begun to suffer from my tooth extraction.....

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The following day I crossed the border entering Aqua Prieta, Mexico to purchase some antibiotics as I assumed that my infection had returned.....

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We spent a few days in Douglas, Arizona and during the down time we did the most hated thing in traveling.....after 2 months we finally did the laundromat thing.....

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Ace Brown

Retired Ol’ Fart
During my full time travels it was something I hated to do also. But once in a while it was interesting, like one time in Leadville, CO. I was sitting around reading boring magazines and watching the drier spin on forever. When a car comes speeding into the parking lot and screeches to a halt. The driver was a big hulking black guy. Sitting on the trunk of this small convertible was a hot looking white chick. I put down the magazine. He threw in some laundry and got a machine going. She stripped down to skimpy bra and panties and tossed her clothes in too. When done she put on her duds and off they went. I picked up the magazine again but had trouble staying focused.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
January 01, 2020.....we awoke early that morning and Yukon was not doing so well, and to be quite honest neither was I. We hit the highway before sunrise and returned to the deserts of southern California. The following day I crossed the border into Los Algodones, Mexico to get Yukon her miracle medicine. This time I shopped around and found her medicine at nearly half the $4.00 per pill price that I had previously paid.....

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Safari Veterinary Clinic was not fancy.....it reminded me more of a general store in Appalachia.....

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Then a stop to see the dentist hoping for a quick fix and then one last stop by the park to see my favorite street vendor.....the pain in my jaw was excruciating.....I found a way to consume a few tacos.....

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We stayed in the desert a few nights and then, once again, returned to Tucson, Arizona.....

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January 5, 2020.....this was the day that we visited the vet and received the news that Yukon most likely had cancer.....as may be expected I did not take the news well.....

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After a few days of trying to figure out what was next we drove north into the Tortilla and Mescal Mountains.....this is where Yukon played in the snow and we visited Mount Lemmon.....

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January 8, 2020.....then we drove east and camped near Silly Mountain.....just a small mountain to the east of Phoenix, Arizona.....

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At our last vet appointment Yukon was put on a maximum dose of pain killers which are defined as a control substance. But at night she continued to be restless and my sleep was suffering greatly. I had an idea to supplement her drug therapy with CBD dog treats. The first night I gave her one treat and she slept through the night.....and that has repeated itself every night since.....

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ITTOG

Well-known member
I am glad the CBD helped. I am praying for comfort for both of you. A very tough time you two are having to go through.


PS I know you said you are not a religious person but thanks for letting me pray for you anyway and not be offended.
 
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M & D.....thank you.....

Arjan.....I always appreciate your kind words.....

Stick9.....we are on the same page no worries.....your last trip sounds amazing.....I've researched your routes, looked at pictures and can easily imagine the great memories that you made.....keep it up !

tgil.....thanks for posting and for all your support.....it's always, always appreciated.....

ghostdancer.....you're a lucky man in that your best friend has made it to 16.....congrats and thank you.....

mekcanix.....thanks for helping me along.....I see that you always follow our travels and I do appreciate it very much.....

furbucket.....I do appreciate the invite.....it's the dogs that are "awesome" and certainly not me.....thank you.....

ITTOG......Puppachino is nothing more than whipped cream. Yukon ate her double dose in a matter of seconds and then immediately threw up. Thanks for posting and following along.....

Ace.....I hope our paths cross one day on the road.....thank you.....

PNWY....."Critters are the best thing in the world".....Amen to that.....

JD.....always appreciative of your postings.....thanks so much.....

Able Guy.....XP is my only book.....I'm very, very grateful for your comments.....

Riversdad.....thanks and just know that Yukon copies her writing style from me !

Sierra Valley.....my plan is to always post here so long as we live on the road.....thank you.....

Greg Splett.....thank you so much.....

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