Zoe here in the land of heat:
After leaving the cool of the redwoods, we
crossed the mountains into Carson City, Nevada. Our campground was kind of interesting - nothing but stones but on the edge of the desert; no grass for Phaedra and me. Mama and Papa had to walk us on rocks or sagebrush and keep an eye out for rattlesnakes. We survived, but grass is much better!
We got to drive over a beautiful, scenic pass to
Lake Tahoe. What a beautiful lake! We really wanted to swim in it, but we heard that it is really cold. You know, Phaedra isn’t as young as she
used to be so we decided it would be better to forgo a swim. When someone gets 
older, you need to take really good care of them. I want my sister around for lots more trips. Tahoe had lots of people, too. Plus there were casinos which got Papa to thinking that he wanted to check one out.
One night, Papa and Mama went out to a casino. Phae and I expected them to come home with a new motor home from all the money they were going to win. Not exactly the case, though. We heard them talking about how different this was over how it was in Las Vegas - people dressed up at the casinos, waitresses strolled around the lobby offering free drinks to the gamblers, and there used to be an excitement in the air instead of a bunch of lonely seeming people sitting in front of a machine, smoking cigarettes, and pushing buttons over and over. I don’t think they will rush out to any casino in the future.
We got to go to the oldest, permanent settlement in Utah. Some of the
buildings were original. We saw a safe that used to hold lots of gold in it. They liked to go to a little restaurant called Genoa Station where they would have coffee and breakfast on the front porch. We liked this sleepy
little town and wish we could have gone with them. They said the bacon smelled really great. We all visited Virginia City, too. It is an old western town 
and had lots saloons and casinos. It, also, had too many people for us to enjoy walking around on the wooden boardwalks.
Bad news - Papa woke up one morning and couldn’t see out of most of his eye. Turns out, he had a detached retina! It sure was lucky for us that this happened in Carson City - there was a wonderful Retina Speciality Clinic there and he had surgery Wednesday. On Friday he was seen and his eyesight had already improved a bunch and on Monday, Papa was released from his docs and off we went on our way to Colorado Springs.
Before we left, Papa, Phaedra, and I took a couple of Valiums. You might ask, “Why would the three of you take Valium?” Well, let me tell you why. Mama had to drive the camper because Papa could not see well enough and it would tire out his eye too much. She actually did a pretty good job. She drove across the Bonneville Flats where they speed test planes
and cars. I peeked at the speedometer and we were going almost 80. I hid my head under the bed and she finally realized that she was going a bit fast. After all, she wasn't a test driver! Seventy works just fine for us. The second day we cut our dose down to one pill! The only place she really didn’t like driving was on the way in to Denver with ALL the traffic. Papa was able to take over and we arrived in Colorado Springs without too much stress. I think Mama kinda liked driving - not in cities, but where it’s not bumper to bumper traffic she doesn’t mind.
Colorado Springs was a blast. The day we arrived, President Obama stopped in at Colorado College to campaign and the people really liked him. We didn’t go, but we did get caught in all of his traffic!
We visited the Garden of the Gods, and took hikes in it. It is owned by
the City of Colorado Springs and there are funky rock formations to climb on and hike 
through.
We had a great campground where there was GRASS, got to see lots of other dogs, and since the folks were around a fair amount to let Papa heal, we weren’t alone too much. What a change from the desert! Oh, and green grass wasn’t the only kind of grass that was
available. We found it interesting that within a
couple of blocks from our 
campground, there were at least three
dispensaries for medical marijuana. (Mama and Papa called it grass,
too.) Imagine that in North Carolina! Each dispensary had bars on the
windows and the cost on a banner on the front of the buildings. It was
unusual, to say the least!
Since Papa and Mama spent their 43rd Wedding Anniversary in the
hospital in Reno/Sparks, they decided to celebrate the anniversary at the Broadmoor Hotel by having brunch. They love this place and go there every time we go to Colorado Springs.
Did you know that the home of Team USA is in Colorado Springs? If I could have tried out for Team USA, I would have entered the Olympics. I would have come in first place in the ball chase and the 
eating contests. I wonder if those are events in the games. Michael Phelps, Nick McCrory (who is from Chapel Hill and dived for Mama’s high
school), Missy Franklin and lots of other great medal winners trained at the Olympic Center. Lots of them came back to Colorado Springs while we were there. I wish I could have met Missy. She has a really nice smile. I bet she likes dogs, too.
We were left alone when the folks went to a
place called Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. This is a place where there used to be Giant Redwood Trees just like in California. One day, millions of years ago, a volcano erupted and sent mud and lava into this Redwood Forest. The trees all died and broke off, but the stumps which were covered with the mud/lava turned to stone and are now petrified. They are really big. There are lots of other fossils, too, like dragonflies, spiders, flowers, ferns, and other things that had been attracted by the forest. I bet it would have
been really interesting to see all of these things. We stayed at home. We also stayed home when they visited Cripple Creek - an old time mining town. Oh, well. I guess I can sleep as well at home as in the car so I didn’t miss too much!
Do you remember that we seem to have been followed by wild fires this trip. First, the High
Park Fire in Fort Collins, then the Estes Park Fire, then the Hood River Fire, then the Northern California Fire, then the Chaco Canyon Fire of Colorado Springs. We need to get back to the land of 
humidity and rain! Anyway, we drove up to the
neighborhoods where the Chaco Canyon Fire was and we saw some really sad areas and some places that were left alone. There were signs that we loved seeing, too.
Well, here's wishing you Happy Trails and leaving you with a few other pictures that we like.
So long for now from your furry friends,
Zoe and Phaedra
After leaving the cool of the redwoods, we
crossed the mountains into Carson City, Nevada. Our campground was kind of interesting - nothing but stones but on the edge of the desert; no grass for Phaedra and me. Mama and Papa had to walk us on rocks or sagebrush and keep an eye out for rattlesnakes. We survived, but grass is much better!
We got to drive over a beautiful, scenic pass to
Lake Tahoe. What a beautiful lake! We really wanted to swim in it, but we heard that it is really cold. You know, Phaedra isn’t as young as she
used to be so we decided it would be better to forgo a swim. When someone gets 
older, you need to take really good care of them. I want my sister around for lots more trips. Tahoe had lots of people, too. Plus there were casinos which got Papa to thinking that he wanted to check one out.
One night, Papa and Mama went out to a casino. Phae and I expected them to come home with a new motor home from all the money they were going to win. Not exactly the case, though. We heard them talking about how different this was over how it was in Las Vegas - people dressed up at the casinos, waitresses strolled around the lobby offering free drinks to the gamblers, and there used to be an excitement in the air instead of a bunch of lonely seeming people sitting in front of a machine, smoking cigarettes, and pushing buttons over and over. I don’t think they will rush out to any casino in the future.We got to go to the oldest, permanent settlement in Utah. Some of the
buildings were original. We saw a safe that used to hold lots of gold in it. They liked to go to a little restaurant called Genoa Station where they would have coffee and breakfast on the front porch. We liked this sleepy
little town and wish we could have gone with them. They said the bacon smelled really great. We all visited Virginia City, too. It is an old western town 
and had lots saloons and casinos. It, also, had too many people for us to enjoy walking around on the wooden boardwalks.Bad news - Papa woke up one morning and couldn’t see out of most of his eye. Turns out, he had a detached retina! It sure was lucky for us that this happened in Carson City - there was a wonderful Retina Speciality Clinic there and he had surgery Wednesday. On Friday he was seen and his eyesight had already improved a bunch and on Monday, Papa was released from his docs and off we went on our way to Colorado Springs.
Before we left, Papa, Phaedra, and I took a couple of Valiums. You might ask, “Why would the three of you take Valium?” Well, let me tell you why. Mama had to drive the camper because Papa could not see well enough and it would tire out his eye too much. She actually did a pretty good job. She drove across the Bonneville Flats where they speed test planes
and cars. I peeked at the speedometer and we were going almost 80. I hid my head under the bed and she finally realized that she was going a bit fast. After all, she wasn't a test driver! Seventy works just fine for us. The second day we cut our dose down to one pill! The only place she really didn’t like driving was on the way in to Denver with ALL the traffic. Papa was able to take over and we arrived in Colorado Springs without too much stress. I think Mama kinda liked driving - not in cities, but where it’s not bumper to bumper traffic she doesn’t mind.Colorado Springs was a blast. The day we arrived, President Obama stopped in at Colorado College to campaign and the people really liked him. We didn’t go, but we did get caught in all of his traffic!
We visited the Garden of the Gods, and took hikes in it. It is owned by
the City of Colorado Springs and there are funky rock formations to climb on and hike 
through.We had a great campground where there was GRASS, got to see lots of other dogs, and since the folks were around a fair amount to let Papa heal, we weren’t alone too much. What a change from the desert! Oh, and green grass wasn’t the only kind of grass that was
available. We found it interesting that within a
couple of blocks from our 
campground, there were at least three
dispensaries for medical marijuana. (Mama and Papa called it grass,
too.) Imagine that in North Carolina! Each dispensary had bars on the
windows and the cost on a banner on the front of the buildings. It was
unusual, to say the least!
Since Papa and Mama spent their 43rd Wedding Anniversary in the
hospital in Reno/Sparks, they decided to celebrate the anniversary at the Broadmoor Hotel by having brunch. They love this place and go there every time we go to Colorado Springs.
Did you know that the home of Team USA is in Colorado Springs? If I could have tried out for Team USA, I would have entered the Olympics. I would have come in first place in the ball chase and the 
eating contests. I wonder if those are events in the games. Michael Phelps, Nick McCrory (who is from Chapel Hill and dived for Mama’s high
school), Missy Franklin and lots of other great medal winners trained at the Olympic Center. Lots of them came back to Colorado Springs while we were there. I wish I could have met Missy. She has a really nice smile. I bet she likes dogs, too.
We were left alone when the folks went to a
place called Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. This is a place where there used to be Giant Redwood Trees just like in California. One day, millions of years ago, a volcano erupted and sent mud and lava into this Redwood Forest. The trees all died and broke off, but the stumps which were covered with the mud/lava turned to stone and are now petrified. They are really big. There are lots of other fossils, too, like dragonflies, spiders, flowers, ferns, and other things that had been attracted by the forest. I bet it would have
been really interesting to see all of these things. We stayed at home. We also stayed home when they visited Cripple Creek - an old time mining town. Oh, well. I guess I can sleep as well at home as in the car so I didn’t miss too much!
Do you remember that we seem to have been followed by wild fires this trip. First, the High
Park Fire in Fort Collins, then the Estes Park Fire, then the Hood River Fire, then the Northern California Fire, then the Chaco Canyon Fire of Colorado Springs. We need to get back to the land of 
humidity and rain! Anyway, we drove up to the
neighborhoods where the Chaco Canyon Fire was and we saw some really sad areas and some places that were left alone. There were signs that we loved seeing, too.Well, here's wishing you Happy Trails and leaving you with a few other pictures that we like.
So long for now from your furry friends,
Zoe and Phaedra
