6/15/12 Kitty, Sagebrush, One Day Down

6/15/12  Kitty, Sagebrush, One Day Down

Kitty meds are Niamh's friend

Niamh (pronounced “Neeve”) did a great job of adjusting to the hotel room in Fresno last night, which was really good because we sneaked her in.  Shhhhh – it wasn’t a pet friendly hotel!  

This morning, in the car, she started out fine, got a little more agitated as the morning went, and so at lunch time we took her out at the rest stop (with a harness and a leash) to get a little air.  We then opted to dose her with the kitty tranq that the vet prescribed.  Perfect, sleepy calm all afternoon.

Strangers in a Strange Land

Waiting for a UFO Landing

As it turned out, the afternoon was one long stretch of high desert landscape on the eastern slope of the Sierra that didn’t quite seem like it belonged on a planet that is more than 70% water.  Flat stretches white with alkaline soil, treeless mountains with an occasional short line of cottonwoods in the distance, a deer crossing sign that seemed like a joke – what deer could live there?- and several signs warning motorists not to pick up hitchhikers because of a prison complex nearby.  I mean, this scenery went on for a very long time!  We entertained ourselves with the sound track from ”P.S. I Love You” and reading recipes from old Bon Apetit magazines, letting the emotional undercurrent of leaving California swirl and eddy beneath the surface.  No flowing water in sight.

We arrived safely in Winnemucca late in the afternoon, 460 miles away from home, 460 miles closer to home 2.0.