R.I.P.

I thought I would spare you the image of the bird that committed suicide in the grill of the van -- actually, I would have taken a picture but it is dark ;)

I left Stevensville, Montana at about 5 a.m. with Cadi, Zoey and Brighton. Asia was MOROSE -- at one point as I was loading the last things in the car I looked to see her watching me -- from atop the kitchen table -- sigh...

So we left and traveled through Montana, passing through Butte, Bozeman, and Billings and then heading east into northern Wyoming. I feel badly admitting this but I had no idea that I needed to go through Wyoming -- even though I really was a champion at the 50 state puzzle when I was a kid!

Well, I should have paid more attention because Alistair (my GPS) sent me through 200 or so miles of quite lovely Wyoming -- having only ever been though southern Wyoming, I had no idea that Wyoming was so pretty! I made it to South Dakota and soon found myself in a monstrous thunderstorm, but at least all the suicidal bugs were soon washed from the windshield -- always a silver lining!

Unfortunately I soon met up with a flock of suicidal pheasants or some similar birds -- one solidly connected with the front of my car :( Okay -- they have WINGS!!! Why don't they just fly over the cars?! My compassion is diminished in direct proportion to their stupidity...

When I stopped in a very odd town in South Dakota for gas, I noticed that the bird had gone through the grill and is stuck! What am I supposed to do with that?! My husband -- safely hundreds of miles away -- helpfully told me that I just had to get it out but was a little vague on the exact method of extraction and did not think my idea of driving over bumps and railroad tracks was going to work.

Luckily, I remembered that something similar happened to the Osojnickis and that Clark used a broom for pheasant removal from the grill of their RV -- how fortunate that I am heading to the Osojnickis! I am certain that Clark will want to offer my passenger a more hospitable final resting place so for now, he (the recently deceased feathered friend) is firmly attached to the idea of going to Minnesota with me.

Something else strange happened in South Dakota -- both Zoey and I got stuck by a cactus!!! Who knew they have cactus in South Dakota?!! I stopped at a rest area to feed and walk dogs. We were in the midst of a plague of grasshoppers (no doubt sent as a punishment for the bird and my lack of true compassion, although I had not killed it yet but God works in mysterious ways) when suddenly Zoey started limping. At first I wondered if South Dakota grasshoppers were biters but then I saw that my poor puppy had a cactus in her foot. I did not have any cactus removal equipment handy (I guess I left it with my dead bird extraction kit) so I just had to pull it off -- OUCH!!!!

At the end of the adventure-filled day, I had driven 1075 miles with dogs who were perfect traveling companions. We are now checked into the Red Roof Inn in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Zoey has played enough to maybe sleep some more and we look forward to more fun tomorrow -- and pictures!

Just remember -- fly higher than you think you need to...