Goals Without Deadlines

As you might expect it got busy as soon as we got to St. Louis. Charlie made short work of meeting a new dog and new people. He also ticked me off by making short work of marking his territory. I was sitting in the kitchen and heard what sounded like an intermittent yard sprinkler and turned to see him peeing on a Kohl’s bag. Fortunately only the bag got wet and it was easy to clean up. 😳.  And then he made himself at home!

We started our first full day in the Springs with a stop at Dunkin Donuts where we were able sit on the patio with the dogs. It was a cool morning but a beautiful Colorado morning. From there we drove to Garden of the Gods. I knew the inner loop was mostly flat and that I would be fine just taking it easy and taking breaks. It was fine because we stopped often to take pictures, to talk with an Olympic hopeful from India and to watch rock climbers.  It turns out Charlie is a real people magnet. So many people stopped to compliment. He showed only a passing interest in all the other dogs there. It was such a great feeling being out among people again and you could sense the optimistic mood of others. As always the Garden’s beauty didn’t disappoint.  After the Garden we went to A Taste of Philly on Academy and Carefree so I could get a green chili Philly that I’ve been craving. The bonus is that one of the owners, Fabian Orozco, is one of my former athletes and I enjoy visiting w...

View out the window while receiving my final treatment before heading out on a long overdue road trip tomorrow morning. Almost everything is packed so should be able to mostly rest this afternoon if all goes well. I’m hoping to blog about the trip as I go so as not to get behind. It’s easier to write when it’s fresh.  We hit the road just after seven and had a good drive all the way to Reno.  Charlie was great. We stopped about every two hours for Charlie and because my doctors told me to.  I wasn’t tired when we first got to Reno but after taking Charlie for a mile walk and walking up the stairs to the room twice it definitely hit me. 😴 I was disappointed that the sky was so hazy when we saw Mt. Shasta.  Saw what looked to be a forest fire after we got into Nevada.  Our motel was near the Livestock Event Center.  I didn’t think about the fact that Charlie had never climbed up or down a flight of stairs. 😂 He made it clear when I had to carry him up the ...