Sophi and I headed out early on April 11^th, after more hard goodbyes, toward New Mexico. Kari, who has been my friend for almost 30 years (wow—I feel old to be able to say that!!) lives in Gallup with her husband Steve and son Ray. We not only got to spend the evening, but the whole next day hanging out… chatting, hiking, hangin' in the yard. It was so good to see them!!

On Thursday morning Sophi did NOT want to get in the car. She had decided she’d had enough. I headed out with her and turned to put my backpack in the car… and she was gone. Before completely panicking, I walked back up to toward the house and sure enough—she had walked up the steps and was leaning on the gate to the yard, pushing on it with her nose. Poor girl. It was a lot of car time, even with the nice breaks we had and she was SO good.