Eric and I drove the van to Chicagoland for Christmas and spent two weeks there with family. This was a nice retreat for Eric, who hadn't seen his dad in 18 months. He opened up more, laughed, and was a pleasure to have around. Eric spent time with stepgrandma Carol as well as his friend Derek.
Eric was great at helping me drive the van when I was getting tired. He is a good driver. We drove to Chicagoland in 40 hours, with no adverse weather anywhere. There was no snow, no ice. The return trip was a nightmare, though, with record-setting lows and a "polar vortex" that brought a windchill of -40F two days after we left to return to Arizona. This was the coldest C'mas I have had in Indiana since 1983. We took our time driving back and took hotel rooms in Texarkana and Abilene.
The drive to Chicagoland brought back memories of the drive I took with Sara in 2005 to South Carolina. (My daughter lived there at the time with a boyfriend. I was on medical leave and wanted to see her.) Sara was my company and guardian as we drove the long stretch on I-10 and then I-20. That stretch across the Permian Basin in west Texas is painfully boring, ugly and stinky from the oil refineries. When we passed Abilene I remembered the rest stop where Sara and I took a break late at night. I missed her, and I missed her again when I walked along Lake Michigan on the one day it got above freezing. Sammy is now the only dog who remembers frolicking on the beach of Lake Michigan.
My cousin Cheryl never did make it home to Chicagoland for the holiday so we weren't able to get together to plan our summer trip to Europe. I'm not sure what is going on there.
Eric and I returned late Sunday night. The dogs were ecstatic to see me again, but I noticed a visible limp in Sammy's front right leg. Earlier today he was holding it up and not wanting to put pressure on it, when I took all four dogs to Hunter Canyon for a fast 1.5-mile run before it got too dark. Kevin doesn't know how Sammy got that limp and I will be watching it.
Both Sammy and Sadie are now getting Dasuquin tablets twice a day for arthritis relief. Dasuquin, I read, supposedly is also good for dogs with hip dysplasia. Both dogs like the supplement and take it willingly. (Sammy never had trouble taking any kind of food!)
Weather here has been lovely, with temperatures in the mid 60s during the day and upper 30s at night, but a cool front is coming for later this week. This still beats the current temperature in Chicagoland, so I am not complaining!
I need to plan some hikes before it warms up again. I will leave Sammy home with Sweetie and take the three younger dogs. Sammy needs to give his front right leg a rest. I will come up with somewhere to go this weekend that's different but also not too far away. I need to burn off the holiday blubber I feel in my belly!
No comments:
Post a Comment