We’ve been on the road for two days now and are officially leaving the crazy hot part of the trip behind us. We spent last night in St. George, UT, a very nice place right on the border of Utah and Arizona. It was 108 when we arrived around 6pm and by 9pm had cooled off to about 105. We were going to take Maggie to a dog park but she looked at us like were crazy and we had to agree. We went to dinner at a great place that is a regional chain – the Rib and Chop House. Their patio was pretty hot but in the shade and we were the only lunatics diners out there so Maggie could be off leash and had the run of the place (and her own big bowl of ice water). This morning we took her to JC Snow Dog Park, an okay dog park – it had two sections, one muddy and one not. So of course the aggressive dogs were in the non muddy part which left us with, you guessed it, the mud. Still Maggie got to run around a bit before we started the drive to our next stop: Logan, UT.
It’s a spot that is, depending on how zoomed in you are in Google Maps, on the way to Glacier National Park. When Chuck was booking the first few nights of the road trip, he had the big view of the western United States up in Google Maps and Logan appeared to be right off of 15. It’s more like 20 some miles off the highway. It’s a nice smallish town but is definitely not a tourist-driven destination like St. George, UT – as far as we can tell there are no dog-friendly restaurants (patios for dining), but it redeemed itself with an awesome dog park. The Valley View Dog Park is located behind the county humane society and had one big grassy section with little hills, lovely grass and even a tunnel for the dogs to explore. Next to that was another huge area with walking trails. Maggie found a friend there to run and chase and after 45 minutes was completely tuckered out. We never did find anyplace to eat so settle on Wendy’s which was near the hotel.
This first part of the trip will be all motels/hotels as it’s just too big a hassle to set up and tear down the tent every night which is how we are traveling until we get to Canada. And we are staying at one of our favorite dog-friendly chains: La Quinta Inn & Suites. There’s no additional fee for up to two pets of any size. And they have a great breakfast that’s included and their wifi is free and decent. Oh, and the beds are comfortable and they have fresh cookies in the afternoon. Nice!
We’ve been averaging about 5 1/2 hours of driving a day. We take breaks (for me and Maggie) every two hours or so, but it’s still a long slog. Tomorrow we head to Butte, MT and after that plan on slowing the pace down as we head into Glacier National Park and then cross the border into Canada.
