Alex woke up hearing Piper whimper in the middle of the night indicating she needed to go outside STAT - not a normal behavior for her. Despite the steps we have taken to help her stomach - she continues to struggle. This is day 6 of her current state (an otherwise happy and active dog). We know a bland diet will work eventually but until we have a real full kitchen, with a real full fridge - it really isn't possible. We take her out often and make sure she has fresh water. What more can we do? She has to go home. This diarrhea life is not possible from the rooms in which I'll be staying. I'll be lucky to have fridges in some of my rooms. In theory, she's the perfect road trip dog. She's crate trained, she doesn't bark, she's hypo-allergenic, she loves "adventure", she does great on car rides, she is lovable and inviting - a good conversation starter with others. But until she is more comfortable with change or at least expressing when she is anxious - these little anxiety bouts that don't seem to resolve themselves, are just too challenging for one person in a hotel room. At least at home, Alex can make (and store) the bland diet of boiled chicken and potatoes. Oh the life she could have had with me: the new experiences, the sniffs, the new people! Maybe we had overwhelmed her with all the "new". Or maybe it was this consistent heat, or the water from the hotel faucet, or… Dog ownership is hard!
Today, we treated ourselves to dinner at a place called "Rockin' Relics" - a 1950s diner complete with a jukebox, milkshakes, vinyl chairs and posters for band events on the wall (Smokey Robinson, The Beatles, Elvis...). For some reason this restaurant, and apparently most things in town, close at 5:00pm. We found this out the hard way after we ate our dinner at 4:30 (because we previously found out it closed at 5:00) and walked around town to find everything else was either about to close (5:30) or just closed (5:00) or they just aren't open on Tuesdays. Why should they be?
Don had texted me earlier in the day asking for a photo of me with the signs I made. He texted several times to set up and confirm. After dinner, I made my way to the fairgrounds, this time with Alex, to take some photos. Two other volunteers joined after this “photo shoot”. We ended up standing around chatting about our journey as well as their life in Rugby. We learned all about how North Dakota is known for growing sunflowers, how the bright light green crop is Canola (like the oil) and how hay bales are made. They were fascinated by our desire to experience this adventure and encouraged us to do it when we are young.
Don later sent me a screenshot of the post he put on Facebook (as I’m not on FB) publicly thanking me for my contribution. It was unexpected to be recognized in such a way just for wanting to help!
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