The strips of tire tread, usually from big rigs, which you see lying in the roadways.
"Breaker! Breaker! Someone call a Smokey. We got a six foot road alligator in the number two of the northbound double-nickle just south of the I-5! That sucker'll kill a two wheeler!"
It's an overcast Wednesday. The kind of day that the clouds are heavy on the foothills and my copilot, who is logistically challenged is unsure which way is West. We are just starting out on our trip to pick up puppies for Colorado Puppy Rescue. The mini van is packed full with, now empty, crates. The rattling of metal crate doors as the van heads down the road is
only slightly annoying. But one door must not be quite closed because it is banging loudly every time we make a right turn. I make a mental note to fix it at the next stop. Now I wonder, when is our next stop? I look at the gas gauge and calculate that the next stop will be Pueblo, about two hours away. So I turn up the radio and try to lose myself in the joke that is being told by a comedian on the comedy station.
 Before I know it we are cruising a 75 miles per hour on cruise control. The temperature on my outside thermometer says 76 degrees. Reassuring, because the fog and slight mist made it seem much cooler. Looking over at my companion and sidekick for this trip, she is rubbing her 6 months pregnant tummy and I marvel at her adventurous spirit. Just then, only slightly out of my lane and to the right is a Road Alligator!
Just last week I had seen on a New Mexico TV station that the road
alligators were particularly bad this year. I was certainly aware of these road hazards my whole driving life but, I never knew there was a name for it. How could I have been so clueless? I consider myself to be a road warrior. Anyway, the hazard I had narrowly
avoided wasn't really what the term road alligator describes.
It was a small metal ladder, step ladder sized. I think back to the broadcast I had heard and try to think if there was a term for other debris in the roadway. Amused, I try to think of other names to call stuff. Like the time I got caught in a tumble weed storm, or when the beer truck tipped over and spilled all its beer cans on the road. That same day we passed an overturned Petridge Farm truck with boxes all over.
I think about that one shoe or sofa or
occasional large plastic plant and laugh out loud at the thought of the people saying "crap", "just keep going". I'm brought back to reality when I think how my husband narrowly escaped serious injury when he crashed into an empty refrigerator box while on his motorcycle.
I wonder if my readers have a term for things on the road. Have you narrowly avoided -or not- something while driving?
The time passes quickly the rest of the day and evening. We stop for lunch along the beautiful and fun Riverwalk of Pueblo. While gondolas pass by full of tourists, we delight at watching a mama
duck and her three babies looking for handouts. We walked off our meal strolling through specialty shops of antiques and area artists. After stopping for fuel of which we paid $2.49 per gallon, thanks to our wonderful flex fuel van, we are now four hour away from Santa Fe. Our final destination.
Santa Fe is the type of place that demands at least a long weekend to explore. Unfortunately, we are here on business and can only spend one evening at a time.
This evening we are joined by my husbands sister who lives and works in Santa Fe. She is a parole officer and very well known in the area. A great story teller, she is a wealth of information and entertains us with colorful stories of people and places around the Plaza while we have dinner. The restaurant we are at is above a shop called Ortega's. There are several Ortega stores around the country and I always find something to add to my Ortega name collection. We make an early night of it so that we can be ready for a huge rescue day in the morning.
My next blog will speak more about what an intake is like for me, but for this trip it involved 49 puppies. It couldn't have happened without a whole lot of coordination and a whole lot of dedicated professionals. All of us are following our dream and passion for animals. Finally, I would like to thank KForce for her support and friendship during this run.
next Blog...On the Run to Trinidad
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