This posting will be added to the posting already up for this date, and this one delated later.
Sure enough, my next door neighbors partied well into the night and were supplemented by the collective howling of the outside dogs in the nearby town of Lansgan. Fortunately, an Ambien helped overcome the distraction.
The stretches of highway here are long, flat, empty of human-made things and scenery and hot. In the distance from time to tine you see a cluster of trees just off the highway and hope it's a picnic area rest stop. Sometimes it is, sometimes not. We found a nice one 49 miles outside of Lansgan so i decided out to take my chances down the road and so stopped. Erde was slow to get excited about the place at first but then her instincts kicked in and she took me on a tour of the whole stop, where we were alone.
Every now and then, my mind throws out a thought of how east the trip seems to be thus year compared to previous years. I stop the thought immediately by attributing it to better organization, which is true. But if if the trip is easier, the joy is less without being able to watch two dogs enjoy themselves and the pain of losing Leben is still with me. But the joy of being here with Erde is still as great as it ever was, watching her in her old age reap all the enjoyment she can get, although her own grieving has not ended yet.
I am still keeping two dig beds in the Defender, one in the passenger seat and the other in the rear, just as before. Erde mostly uses the front seat bed, but from time to time she'll retreat to the rear. (In the past, the two dogs would change places simultaneously, passing each other in the middle. When they did, i would have to shield my face or get swatted in the face by a dog tail.) Although i keep the rear for her, one side of me says that i am keeping it so that i do not take advantage of Leben's absence.
One big issue i solved this year was about the chaotic stare of the inside of the Defender as the day's trip progresses. Stuff seems to appear everywhere. The way i finally solved jt is to welcome it. At the end of the day's drive, it only takes 10 minutes to clear it all up, whereas before it would take 30 minutes on the day's drive to keep it organized.
As this trip progresses, my memory is being ignited with things of the past that i now miss. For instance, for years, as soon as the dogs heard my sleeping bag unzip in the morning, they'd both rush over to me and lick my face ferociously, and then start poking at the tent door trying to beat each other outside. No more. Erde sleeps right through the unzipping of the sleeping bag, although she does eventually make her way to the door to bust out. She still loves to sit outside the tent alone in the morning, though. But she is on a 15 foot leash connected to my hand when she does. There are other things i noted, too, and i will record them later.
Just when i needed my newly repaired AC today, it stopped working again. It starts up cold, but then turns hot. They probably under or overcharged it. Back into the garage it goes, but not until after we are back in the states when we will next need it.
In Langham Saskatchewan, at a gas stop, i overheard a young boy telling his mother about the Defender parked outside. I invited him fir a personal tour, and he seem thrilled. I think he was more impressed with the sight of Erde sleeping in her rear bed. I welcomed Colton to this blog at the top of this day's original posting.
On these long stretches of rosd, you can go more than 100 mikes without any gas stations or rest stops. My rule now us to gas up at the start of any stretch with distant towns on the map no matter how much gas i have left. I carry an extra 60+ mikes of gas, but i hate the thought of running out.
We arrived at Vermillion ar 4:30, remarkably on time. I have to give myself credit for planning my target camps so precusely. Vermillion Provincial Park is a wonderful oasis of a park just inside Alberta. Two lakes, trees all over, big camp sites, great facilities, and no bugs despite the heat today.
Tomorrow we head for Jasper, the end of our first leg. Long drive, though.
Some photos for this day were already posted on the original posting for this day, below.
Ed and Erde, On The Road
P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting. The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.
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