Wed, Thurs., Fri., 9/9/09 - 9/11/09

These 3 days were mainly driving days, taking Interstate 80 West through Iowa and Nebraska. It rained a lot of the time. I stayed at campgrounds all three nights (except that the first night the electric didn't work where I was and I didn't want to move so I just stayed in the site without electricity).

Wednesday morning when I got ready to leave the campground I had spent the night at, I saw that right next door was a dog grooming and kennel place. This was serendipity since I was really beginning to regret having let the girls go wading in the Wisconsin River on Monday, after their damp little bodies collected all the dirt and sand they could find on the walk back to the Roadtrek. The groomers said they would be able to give them baths and a little face trim while I ran some errands. It worked out very well. I went to a store called Menards in downtown Davenport, Iowa, which someone told me would probably have the circular fluorescent light bulb I still needed (I called and confirmed that they had it before I went; I try not to make the same mistake twice.) Menards (which I'd never heard of) is a chain of home improvement stores in this area, like Home Depot and Lowes in San Diego, only bigger ---two stories tall. I had fun looking around and got a few other things I could use. I also went grocery shopping and got gas before returning to the groomers to pick the girls up.

I had clean, white, nice-smelling dogs again! We were all very happy. Doesn't Juliet look gorgeous and happy to be clean?

"Me too! Me too!" says Maggie. "I'm clean and pretty. Take my picture, too!"

Aren't they cute?

This is what I usually have waiting for me when I briefly leave them in the Roadtrek when I have to go out without them. When I open the door, they yell at me for leaving them behind!

Not a good sight to see while driving along in the rain on Friday. (Juliet took the picture. I, of course, had both hands on the wheel and eyes trained on the road ahead.)

These are the Chappell Grain Elevators in Chappell, Nebraska. They are currently full of wheat which was just harvested but soon will be filled with corn kernels. The campground I stayed in tonight was very nearby. In fact, the picture I took from the campground looks almost identical to this one.