We got a good night's sleep, and in the morning, the most amazing thing happened. Bobbi and I woke up at 9:00am, and guess who was still sleeping? We had to wake Loki up! He didn't want to go out for his morning potty walk! Blossom woke us up at 6am two days in a row, and Loki has to be woken up in the morning. We just laughed as Bobbi said, "He is so my dog."

We finally got ready to go, cleaned up the cottage as best we could, loaded the crate and Loki's dog bed into the van, as well as all our luggage and the tons of Best Friends souvenirs we bought. And then we headed out, not for home, but for the Grand Canyon! After all, a bunch of signs we'd seen said it was only 70 miles away. Neither of us had ever seen it, and 70 miles? That's nothing, right? So off we went to visit the Grand Canyon!

It may only be 70 miles away, but all the roads are super curvy, so you can't actually drive 60mph on them. More like, say, 20mph. Or slower. So, it took quite a while to get there. The drive was beautiful, and we kept climbing higher and higher in elevation. I think we ended up at 8840 feet where we were, on the North Rim. I saw three crazy things on the drive to the Grand Canyon...

1) Snow. In Arizona. In MAY. Snow!!!
2) Signs that said, "DO NOT DRIVE ON THE MEADOWS." Tons of them. And I have to say, it never would have occurred to me to do such a thing, but after seeing so many of those signs, I started thinking it sounded like fun! Apparently, someone else thought so, too, as there were actual tire tracks in the dirt next to one of the signs!
3) Signs that said, "DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE." Again, they were everywhere. The only reason I find this crazy and kind of funny is that there are no liquor stores for 100 miles in any direction. Why would people suddenly decide to booze it up on the roads leading to the Grand Canyon? But I don't doubt it must happen. After all, someone did drive on the meadows!

What can I say? The Grand Canyon is gorgeous! Way prettier than I'd imagined. I thought it would just be brown dirt. Tons and tons of dirt, in interesting canyon form. Instead, there was more red clay and white stone, layers and layers of it, all beautifully swirled together. There were grass covered hills in the bottom of the canyon, and it all looked really spectacular. My fear of heights made the view awe inspiring and dizzying at the same time. It was all simply gorgeous. After taking a bunch of pictures, it was time to head back. There was no simple way to head West from the Grand Canyon. We had to go all the way back to a point 10 miles from Best Friends in order to begin the drive back home. Our little trip ended up being a five hour detour! But it was well worth it. We saw the Grand Canyon!

We got to Las Vegas that night and stopped in a motel that allowed dogs. They are only supposed to allow dogs under 20lbs to stay there. But the girl at the reception desk is a total dog person and said, "I mean, people need a place to stay with their pets! We have a Rottweiler here now, and a German Shepherd..." She was great! Because of her, we had someplace to stay that night. The next town with pet-friendly lodging was about 6 hours away, and we were already wiped out.

So we settled in, ordered a pizza and drank the last of our mudslides (we'd bought a few packs). Pretty quickly, we were ready to hit the hay. There was a queen bed and fold out sofa in the room. Bobbi and I opted to share the bed, even though I was hesitant. I'd already been told I snore and talk in my sleep. What more embarrassing things might I do in my sleep? Well... Loki fell asleep between us that night. I was only half awake when I felt my hand get slapped back over onto my body instead of where it had been -- on Loki, patting him as he slept. Oh crap, that must not have been Loki, I realized with dread as I drifted off to sleep. I didn't even remember it happening until morning when Bobbi said she'd sleep for 20 more minutes and I said, "Me too." And she replied, "Just as long as you promise not to hold my hand again." I must have turned fifty shades of red! Oh, well. I'm sure there are worse things than mistakenly holding your friend's hand in the middle of the night when you think it's her dog. Right? Right?? Anyway...

In the morning, we were all sick. Fucking pizza. Bobbi felt a little weird, as did Loki. I felt okay, and later, terrible. It was already 90 degrees at nine in the morning, and the temperature was expected to rise thirty degrees by noon. "Then let's get the hell out of here!" was my response to that, when Bobbi told me. She agreed. We got breakfast from McDonald's and hit the road.

We passed through the Mojave Desert in the morning this time, thank god, and somewhere in there, we got cell phone connection again. For days we'd been without phones or the internet. I thought it'd made me go crazy, but actually, it was kind of a nice break. Sometimes, there is such a thing as computer overload. It's nice to get back to nature every so often.

We drove and drove the long boring drive back. We made it to the Bay Area around 8pm but had to make a few more stops before the night was over. We stopped at Bobbi's house to unload a dog crate and a bunch of Loki's and Bobbi's stuff. We also had to pick up one of the van seats that she'd removed to make room for our trip. Then we went to the animal shelter, where we saw dog trainer friends and had a lot of fun chatting and watching the lunar eclipse (which was very cool, by the way!). One girl had the sweetest mini poodle with her, and I just held him and received doggie kisses while my teeth chattered in the cool night air. Having been in the freakin' desert that morning freaked my body out, temperature-wise, I think. So we dropped off another crate at the animal shelter, and picked up the other van seat we'd ditched there to make even more room for all our crap. We told the dog trainer ladies how well Blossom did, and they were shocked. Apparently, her sweet little personality didn't get a chance to "blossom" at the shelter. She showed her true darling colors once she was on the road with Bobbi and me! And of course, we bragged endlessly about Loki. Then I drove Bobbi's car to the airport rental car area, and she drove the van. We met up, she returned the van, and drove me all the way back home (got in at midnight and got up to teach my new preschoolers the very next morning!), and then headed home herself, with her new dog.

Seriously, the whole trip seems bizarre and surreal. I couldn't get over the fact that we'd talked about the trip for so long, and then we finally did it. We drove that impossibly tedious drive. And that last day, Bobbi was super sweet to my poor sick self. A couple hours of napping and some gulps of Pepto Bismol seemed to do the trick for me, which was good. And after all that... All the driving and seeing all those beautiful animals and the gorgeous scenery... The trip is over, and a new relationship between my friend and her dog has just begun. I couldn't be happier for them, and I'm so glad I got to be a part of their happy reunion. I definitely plan on visiting Best Friends again in the future. I highly recommend it to any and all dog lovers out there!

A lot of people we told this story to said they love to hear happy endings. But personally, I love happy beginnings. Congratulations, Bobbi and Loki! May you have many long and happy years together!!