Traveling at a Dog’s Pace

When traveling with dogs life goes a little slower.  Regular stops are mandatory.  They don’t know the itinerary and can’t plan their bodily functions around your driving needs.  They need a walk; a tired dog is a happy dog on the road.  Our walks with the dogs are a circuitous affair following smells we don’t even realize surround us.  If you are using the 50′ x 50′ dead zone relegated in the back corner of the rest stop, this obligation can be an inconvenient chore.  Why not stop interesting places?  Grab the opportunity to see things that you might have passed right by.  It’s been fun to reflect on the back roads, uninhabited exits, and pullouts covered in snow where we’ve stopped.  The sunsets, the rivers, the forests,  the historic sites; all seen due to a random stop to walk the dogs.  The highlight was a Pink Lady Slipper found near Raquette Lake, New York.  My wife had just asked if there were orchids in the Adirondacks.  Twenty minutes later we stopped at a random pullout, went for a walk in the woods, looked down and there it was.  A beautiful orchid in full bloom.

Joshua Tree at sunset

Tank and Sheba dipping in the Green River, Utah

On the edge of Desolation Canyon Wilderness, Green River Utah

170 pounds of puppy in the snow outside Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Overlooking the Columbia River near Vantage, Washington

The end of the road south of Lava Beds National Monument

When the road ends play in the snow

Haven’t you always wondered what was at the end of Zzyzx Rd?  After passing it for years, we finally stopped to walk the dogs in the Mojave National Preserve, California.

Sunset in Mojave National Preserve…along Xxyxz Rd.