The sun, as expected, rose behind a smoky haze, accumulations from the wildfires north of Tuscon. In a few days we should also get the main body of the Saharan Dust that has now reached the Gulf of Mexico.
I witnessed Sadie collapse while walking. Her hind legs gave out again. It was just past the stockpond, on our way to the stone wall where we turn north. She landed on her face, dusting her nose from the road's soft sand. This was scary to watch, as it's now at least the third time this year this has happened to her. This also happened to Sammy in those final months, and we all know how that ended. Sadie, however, got right back up. Is she in pain when she walks? She was short-tempered with the pups when we got home at 5:45am, snapping at both of them when they jumped too close to her face. Minnie did the same.
At 7am Susan and I met at the Hereford Bridge for our walk south. We walked slowly to the old beaver dam. More of the river has dried up, and there is where the dogs took advantage of the early morning shade. The water at the old dam was grey and murky and not a place I wanted my dogs to drink from. We spotted several herons, mallards, and a few song birds on this walk. I watched Sadie, whose hind legs were still looking weak. Hopefully resting for three weeks will help her recover. The only dog that will miss her daily runs is Sweetie.
I was home by 8:40am and that is when my anxiety began. I really hate leaving the dogs behind. Packing for the road trip took a lot out of me. I didn't do the usual frantic kitchen cleaning I normally do. Any dirty dishes in the sink will still be there when I get back.
I finally drove off at 2pm.
I began driving on AZ92 east, then continued on via AZ80 to Douglas and the New Mexican border. I picked up the interstate there at Road Forks east of Lordsburg, got on I-10, then cut to Hatch north of Deming where it looked like I may hit a thunderstorm. The storm passed me by. Hatch was closed but the Rio Grande was flowing nicely.
Other places along the way looked abandoned, too. There was obviously less traffic than usual. I saw mostly trucks. I made it to Truth or Consequences just in time to see the brewery close early, so I drove on to Soccorro where I saw only closed diners, and again in Albuquerque. It was 11pm by now when most things close anyway. I normally stop here for the night at the Air Force Base, but I opted to get as much mileage in while it was cool and made it all the way to Santa Rosa before stopping for the night.
The worst part of this drive is the flat, hot section between Amarillo and Joplin, MO. I drive through that part as fast as possible. but at least in the summer months I can divert to Arkansas and take a break on any of the hiking trails in the Ozark mountains.
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Global cases: 9,387,788
Global deaths: 482,004
US cases: 2424,808 (+36,472)
US deaths: 123, 484 (+866)
AZ cases: 58,179 (+3,593) 432 in Cochise County
AZ deaths: 1384 (+42) 6 in Cochise County
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