Hot and windy all night. I opened the door this morning to find branches on the ground next to and in our site. Then oatmeal and coffee before the office opened. Just before 9 am a car drives in and then the neon “open” sign lights up. Nancy and Moe walk over to purchase tickets for the Cavern tour. We will leave for the 10 a.m. tour.
We ride in the van with two other women to the entrance. It is already hot, so the first step into the cavern is refreshing.
The tour is over. We walk over to the camper where Moe has his face pressed against the window. His mouth is flapping, and as we get closer, we hear his bark-bark-barking through the glass window. We open the door, and he comes outside to us with the same frantic speed of someone freed from a stuck elevator.
We leash him, and he joins us on a hike. The trail led us to the canyon ridge. Moe races and stretches his leash to the edge. Nancy is reeling him back like she just hooks a thirteen-pound fish.
The trail drops us to a stream at the bottom before we climb the rocks and slippery slope back to the top.
We make it back without Moe going over any ledges. Without either of us slipping or breaking bones. It is again hot enough to just sit in the shade and wait for the day to cool. It is cooling at about the speed of watching grass grow.
