It’s Day 2 of the Sauerkraut Summer “Kraut and About” Road Tour 2015!  

Let me start with a question: what does a cat do when she normally is locked out of the bedroom at night, and suddenly has access to your feet, hands and head in the wee hours?  That’s right, she plays what Humom calls “The Lava Game” where Sauerkraut pretends the bed is lava and we are bridges to safety.  And she was chatty - the cat who never hardly makes a peep would put her mug right into our sleeping faces and give an inquiring, “mowp?”  Needless to say, Humom and I are dragging just a wee bit today.

But the day started off bright and early.  Up at sunrise to greet the full moon, and on the road before Wednesday knew who brought her catnip.  It was an eight hour and forty five minute drive from Roswell to Phoenix.  Here are my three observations:

1. I had absolutely no idea how mountainous New Mexico is just west of Roswell
2. I was taken off guard by the mandatory Border Patrol vehicle inspection, even though we crossed no international border
3. White Sands Missile Testing Grounds makes no secret about their location - WHITE SANDS MISSILE TESTING GROUNDS IN 30 MILES - HAZMAT TEAMS ONLY!  One mile later: WHITE SANDS MISSILE TESTING GROUNDS IN 29 MILES - NO PARKING ALONG THE ROADWAY! One mile later WHITE SANDS MISSILE TESTING GROUNDS IN 28 MILES - THESE ARE NOT THE DROIDS YOU’RE LOOKING FOR!

Our first stop in Phoenix was with the Right This Minute crew, who for the most part didn’t know we were coming.  The hosts were so gracious, kind, and welcoming.  Sauerkraut was, as usual, willing to accept praise and petting.  Except to poor Christian Vera, who Sauerkraut refused to pose for!  Be sure to watch Friday’s episode of Right This Minute for all the antics!

Then it was on to the Metro Center Mall, where we were hosted by Halo Animal Rescue.  We raised some money, raised awareness around animal care and welfare, and had some great visitors - including Sauerkraut’s very first veterinarian, who traveled over two hours from her new home here in Arizona.  Thank you for the visit, Dr. Bratcher!

If you’re ever in Phoenix and looking for a furry family member, canine or feline, be sure to check out Halo - they have a beautiful facility, with friendly and helpful staff.  It was a wonderful experience!

The Sauerkraut Summer Road Tour 2015 “Kraut and About” has begun!

Humom, Sauerkraut and I got up bright and early this morning, packed up the last of our gear, and hit the road at 7 am.  There are a few things I didn’t anticipate in this trip:

1. I got to drive through Chickasha, Anadarko, and Geronimo - all towns in Oklahoma that I knew of only through the news, as in “The tornado is passing through Anadarko now!” or “The storm chasers are near Geronimo!”
2. Texas is big - and I mean BIG.  We passed through just a small portion of it, and it seemed to go on forever.  For. EVER.
3. New Mexico is a lot greener than I anticipated. As we crossed from Oklahoma into Texas and then New Mexico, we could see that the soil had turned from red to light brown to almost a white sand. Gone were the trees of Oklahoma, replaced at first by the yucca of Texas and then the feather Dalea along the New Mexico highway.  Everything in New Mexico was green and in bloom - it was beautiful!

There is only one thing I am just a little disappointed about.  We didn’t see any UFOs, aliens, Men in Black, Scully or Mulder.

I’ll bet Roswell residents get sick of people saying things like that…