The Great Divide

These houses with all the bedrooms are pretty weird. There are all these other families sleeping here. Some have other dogs. Some have cats. The male human woke and took me for a long walk down a trail. There were amazing new smells and plants underneath the trees' canopy. I didn't see the cow that I saw last night, but I had a great time. We had eggs and sausage out on the patio as the humans looked at the big red mesa. I got their leftovers. We had to wait a long time in the car, moving very slowly to get into Arches National Park. The car behind us was hit from behind while in line. But the wait was worth it. We climbed and climbed up the face of a buff mesa to see even more really cool things. There were huge rocks going straight up out of seemingly nowhere. The sky was bright blue behind the brick red rocks. The people running the park were very mean and I wasn't allowed on the trails. The humans took lots of pictures. I sniffed and marked. My favorite part was the Devil's Garden.

We had to go, so we left the park and headed toward another road heading East. It rained in us again in the car. It wasn't really fun for me in the back seat. We drove and drove through the high desert with more mesas in the distance. We drove along and we could see rain squalls all around us. Traffic got heavier as we drove into one. The road must not have been designed well as we hit a part with bad drainage. All of a sudden we couldn't see out the windows. There was another driver driving too fast. I was afraid he was going to run into us but the humans kept us all safe. 

We started climbing higher and higher. My head started aching a bit and I got real thirsty. We saw old mining communities. They named towns some pretty funny names, Rifle, Silt, Gypsum, etc... It started getting a lot greener with trees and mountains. The highway department was doing road work every few miles and we would have to merge into a single lane. Maybe they could have done that better with a little planning. My ears started popping as we continued to climb. After Vail, we started down the mountain. It was really pretty with all the trees but my ears kept popping. The female human was driving and we were going fast with a lot of other cars through curves and steep grades. She drove really well but it was stressful. The humans switched spots after a bit and while everyone was stretching, I found a gopher hole in a large empty field. I dug and dug but didn't find the gopher. It was really boss though.

We got to a big town called Denver where we found another big house with a lot of bedrooms. After a nice dinner we tried to sleep. This bedroom had two smaller beds. There wasn't really room for all three of us in one bed but we tried. In the morning, the male human took me for a long walk again. There was a bike trail running by a greenbelt. The field had bunnies and a funny ground squirrel community. I hear they are called "Prairie Dogs." They are nothing like dogs, I know. I checked. I got to stalk and watch them. I found some long grass to practice my hunting skills. After a while, I had to flop and roll on my back for the pure joy of being alive. It was one of the best mornings ever.