Linda and Regis travel...
Enjoying the gifts of the day with two dogs
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We drove over 500 miles today. The first couple hundred were a breeze. Things took a turn when the exit to I-10 was closed with no warning. There were no signs indicating it was closed until I put on my turn signal and saw the barriers blocking the exit ramp. All the places to take a U-turn after that were blocked for a few miles. I was concerned the other ramp was also blocked, but it was fine.
The dogs got two good dog park romps in before we had a long stretch with no parks. During that stretch, we had to go around New Orleans. We encountered one disabled truck, one disabled vehicle, a work zone, and another set of disabled vehicles causing such a backup that we probably lost at least an hour waiting in traffic. I was beginning to think we would be spending the night on the New Orleans freeway in stuck traffic. There were several disabled/abandoned vehicles on the side of the road making me think Louisiana is the disabled vehicle capitol of the world.
It was 85 degrees outside. By the time we got to the next dog park, it had dropped to 78 degrees. The dogs would not play. They stood and panted. I do not blame them. I loaded them in the car for our last 60 miles. There was a Love’s 5 miles before our hotel, but it was still hot and I was sure the dogs would not play. I walked them at the hotel. When we got inside, I called Regis and the dogs had cooled of just enough between the air-conditioned car and the room to start playing and making loud noises. I have been successful this entire trip not letting that happen by wearing them out before we got to the hotel. I found another dog park immediately.
By the time we got to the park the temperature had dropped a little bit more and there were lots of trees. With other dogs to play with, the dogs had a blast and forgot the heat. There was a good group of dogs there and they all played well and ran each other ragged. The krakens’ tongues were hanging to the ground when they were finished.
At the dog park, I got to chatting with a guy who warned me about the area I was staying. I will not go into the details, but I have seen enough at the hotel and in the parking lot that I will be getting out of here ASAP in the morning. Having two dogs with loud barks is my best asset. The one thing I will mention is when we came onto our floor after visiting the dog park, there was a man running down the hall holding his crotch. Raven let out a set of barks that scared the guy back into his room quickly. My dog barking is the least of this hotel’s problems. Yet another reason I prefer to travel in an RV. In at least six years of travels, the only issue I remember is our camping neighbors burning stuff in their campfire that made us have to shut all the windows in our RV before we died of smoke inhalation.
Linda and Regis travel... 