Go west, young man!

Or slightly over middle-aged man and woman, such as the case may be.

During August of 2014, Kenn and I made the decision to travel out west for an extended time August 2015.  So, we started saving our pennies and making reservations in Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park.  I carefully studied my options and finally came up with the best choices for us.  And most of them were already sold out, a year before time to travel!   But, I did get my second choices, so that was good.

We took off August 10th and returned late September 8th night.  We drove 6102 miles, traveled through fifteen states, and visited more than 25 national parks, forests, and monuments.  We scrapped Glacier National Park because Kenn wants to take a train trip there at some point in our future.  We saw over 20 different species of animals including black bear, big horned sheep, moose, bison, elk, pronghorn, and some of those elusive Yellowstone wolves.  We explored parts of our country that are breathtakingly beautiful!  And I………wait for it……….hiked.  Many times.  And I almost enjoyed it.  I don’t mind walking but I’ve never liked hiking.  And yes, there’s a difference.

All in all, we both had a fantastic time!

Some sad news on our return.  The pups spent a month in their hotel (Kenn calls it their jail).  Casey was being groomed the last day.  I received a call from the groomer that he had a lot of matted hair and they would need to take him ‘a little shorter’.  I now have a white Chihuahua with a fluffy tail. If they had brought Casey and a black fluffy dog out at the same time, I would have asked why they dyed Casey black.  He had to prove to me his identity when we got home by retrieving his favorite toys when I said their names.

On a much sadder note, a few days later, I made the horrendously hard decision to have Krystal put to sleep.  She had been suffering from dementia for quite a while and it was getting noticeably worse.  She died peacefully in my arms with Kenn and Casey by our side.  Krystal turned 16 in August.  Casey whimpers every time I mention her name.

I guess adventures come in all sorts of ways, good or otherwise.  I press on to see what else God has in store for me.  Even though I’ve gone through some very difficult times in my life, I can honestly and confidently say, He has been extremely good to me!