WE ARE HOME...a day late but safe and exhausted. But not too tired to reconvene for a dinner out together with our husbands. It was fitting end to a fantastic trip. You would think after spending the last 12 days together we would be glad for a break but that was not the case. We could hardly wait to get together and tell our stories one more time. Yesterday when we got up we were sad to learn we were still stranded on the wrong end of a closed highway. I started checking the road reports at about 7 AM and then every few minutes. Finally about 9 we started to see some of the roads further north opening but a 50 mile stretch near us was still closed. Then a blessed event I saw a snow plow at work on one of the live road cams. We decided we would go get a early lunch and hopefully it would be open by the time we got back. Finally at noon it was open and we were loaded and heading out the drive way by 12:20. We weren't a stone's throw down the road when Judy started to feel so bad for Socks who was back there with all those dogs. "Little bitty Socks is so scared." Carol and I already figured out that Socks was fine but Judy wanted to cuddle with her. Rolling our eyes we stopped the truck. While Judy waited with Reagan in her lap Carol and I tackled the job of getting one dog out of a truck of 7 dogs without losing any. Mission accomplished. With in the next 5 miles our two boys Mel and Mesa started having a personal space problem. It was crowded but Mesa was demanding the lion's share of the space. So again we stopped. While Judy waited with Reagan AND Socks, Carol and I shifted dogs. We had crated Chevron, being a senior we wanted to give him some extra protection and room. But now we pulled him out of his bed and plunked Mesa into the crate. This worked pretty well for a few miles until Mesa decided he owned the crate and all surrounding area. Mesa was having a fit because Mel had lain near the prince's crate and it was just NOT allowed. So again we stop and Carol shinnied over the tailgate and into the truck bed while I played hall monitor and kept the dogs back. We took up a blanket intended to pad the floor and covered his highness's crate. Again we hoped this was the magic answer for peace in the truck. Other than Reagan stretching her long legs and impaling Judy now and then with a bony foot or knifing her sharp elbow into Judy's leg, all was fairly peaceful.
We felt awful about missing the get together in Billings for everyone to meet the new hounds. Doubly disappointed that the news crew decided not to carry the story since the new dogs weren't able to make it. Carol suggested we invite who ever wanted to come to meet the new hounds meet at Brickyard Kennel where the hounds would overnight. Much to our surprise when we pulled in people started piling out of cars. First one to poke her head in was Becky Conner who I have waited years to meet and her daughter Zoe. They adopted my little Lulu, a dog I really thought I would keep but my Iris vetoed it. Whatever the reason Zoe and Lulu are peas in a pod and meant for each other. People were pitching in and unloading dogs and giving them some lovin' after their long journey. Off to the side quietly waiting was a white greyhound with black speckles and big eyes. It was Jill Walker!! One of the dogs I fostered who came to Billings to join the family of the Hendersons. Judy Henderson softly said, "Joni, we wanted to bring Jill so you could see her....I know you were worried about her." When Jill came in she was a very timid girl. She had been with her sister every day of her life until the day she stepped on the bus for Montana. It was hard on this little follower to suddenly lose her big sister...her leader. After a few days she settled down and did alright here but she needed to get into a home that would not pressure her and let her come around on her own. The Henderson's opened their home to her as a foster dog. Judy H. is the first to tell you she can be very lucky playing slot machines. In this case Jill was the lucky one as she was soon adopted and became Dick's little girl. I was very touched they took the time to bring Jill to see me. After that reunion I joined the others who were now swarming a turn out pen with the new greyhounds. Before long kennel owner Kaylyn was getting dogs into their kennels for the night. Watching the crowd move from one kennel door to the next, leaning over each other to peer into the kennels, I was reminded of relatives at the baby windows of a hospital. Everyone craning for a look and trying to see if any of these dogs make them think of their own. Finally we said good night and Kaylyn took over feeding them and making them comfortable. It was a crazy sort of family reunion there at the kennel. Meeting people we have talked to for years and seeing old friends. We followed Trish home and crashed for the night.