AND IT'S A TKO IN THE 6TH ROUND!!!

Well that was fun!!  I've never been a fighter.  Even in high school when that girl I didn't even know shouldered me on purpose just to start a fight, I kept right on walking.  Of course the next time she tried it I shouldered her to the ground, but that's another story.

I took off under cloudy skies feeling on top of the world.  Baby's got new tires and I'm driving her all the way to Arizona.  I do love my pickup truck, even if she does have 111,000 miles under her belt.  What I DON'T love is not enough room for all of us.

It wasn't a bad drive, although a little rough around Madera.   The entire highway is divided up making it a driving nightmare.  The truck was vibrating so much the poor puppies were getting sick.  It doesn't help that they don't get along.  Never have in fact, and with Jessie's advancing age, it's a battle.

This was an interesting move just off of Highway 15.  It looks like it might have come up Cajon Pass.  I've never seen a move this big and still don't know what it was.  Believe it or not, on the back are two of the biggest trucks I've ever seen, loaded down with weights as big as the truck beds and ATTACHED to the red white and blue hauling frame.  They must have been to help push it up hill and keep it from being a runaway DOWN hill.  I was fascinated because we were in the heavy haul business as well as construction.  I would have loved to stop and chit chat, but by then I was into ROUND 2.

As I said, Jessie and Cooper do NOT get along.  Jessie gets too close, Cooper growls and Jessie jumps in with teeth bared, biting everything in sight.  I'm included in that foray and have the holes in my hand to prove it, while trying to keep them apart before any damage occurs.  It was constant the entire trip.

I stopped in at the Elks Lodge in Indio, thinking I might be able to stay in the parking lot, but they said no.  Off I went in search of the Best Western Hotel.  Although not the nicest neighborhood, there were lots of cars parked there, so I pulled in.  Before I even got out of the truck it was Round 3!!  Growling, biting, snarling and screaming.

Though I thought I got a really good deal on this hotel ... $99 for the room ... it ended up being $139 by the time they added on puppies and hotel taxes.  I took the bare minimum inside and it STILL took me three trips.  Cooper really isn't throwing up, he's sitting because he just got yelled at for growling at Jessie ..... AGAIN!

Round 4 and 5 happened at about midnight with me trying desperately to keep the dog fight to a low roar.  I again slept on TOP of the four sets of sheets in order to keep the puppies separated.  It didn't work because when I moved, Cooper growled and the fight was on!!!

Round 6 came at 2:30 am.  PLEASE JUST LET ME GET SOME SLEEP!!!  I gave Jessie a big shove since she was the aggressor and it was a TKO!!  She slid right off the bed onto the floor!  I felt SO BAD!!!!  An hour later I gave up, took them both out to the truck and loaded up.  Three hours later, the sun began to come over the mountains.

It was a gorgeous pink in the rear view mirror as I continued to push, shove and yell at the dogs to QUIT FIGHTING!!!  LAY DOWN!!!!

That's mostly because I couldn't even SEE out the front window.  I don't know what that stuff is on the inside of the glass, but it's the pits when you are driving into the sun.  

I stopped for fuel in Quartzsite, pretty much a ghost town.  Diesel prices are up about 70 cents a gallon already.  The good news is I had a 50 gallon tank put on this truck right after I got it.  I think I could have made the entire trip without getting fuel at all.

Here's the problem.  There's just no room for anyone to stretch out, causing argument after argument.  There's no way I'm driving back and forth without a trailer big enough to keep these two apart.  At long last they were so tired after hour five, they finally went to sleep.  Part of the problem is Miss Jessie's age and her ailments.  I'm beginning to know just how she feels!!

Here's what I have in mind.  Come to find out the fifth wheel I had previously was a Keystone Laredo, very similar to this one, although a tad bit smaller.  The hunt is on!!  

This morning once I've had at least three cups of coffee, I'll head out to the fairgrounds to unload the truck.  Then it's COUCH POTATO for me as I try to recoup a little of the lost energy.  Woman cannot survive on cookies and crackers alone!!!  I need MEAT!!!