We started our day with breakfast at the hotel. They had the coolest automatic pancake maker. Yes, we do want one of those at home!
Again, the decor of the breakfast room and lobby were outstanding to carry out the theme.
We drove a short distance to Mesa Verde National Park. Robin was really looking forward to spending some time in this park because this was one of the parks she and her kiddos had studied through the book, Cliffhanger, one of the Mystery in Our National Park books.
After we went to the Visitor Center and did the normal routine, we headed up the winding road to the top of the mountain to visit the cliff dwellings. The road was over 20 miles long and had very steep dropoffs. It was a scenic drive.
As we got started, Robin noticed she had received 2 phone calls while we were in the Visitor Center, but phone service was very intermittent. The phone calls were about our cocker spaniel not doing well at all. The vet wanted to do bloodwork to see what was really going on.
We continued to the top, hoping that we would have signal at the top to call the vet. No signal. We decided we needed to get to where we had phone service since the vet was waiting on us. Needless to say, we drove right back down the mountain and out of the park without seeing any cliff dwellings. We continued to drive until we found phone service. We pulled off on the side of the road and made the phone call.
The news was not good at all. The vet had already run the labwork and Sammi's renal system was shutting down as well as her liver and pancreas. She wasn't eating, but was just sleeping.
We sat in the car and cried in silence. We knew what needed to be done, but didn't want to face, especially not being there with her. When we gained our composure, we drove to Moab, UT where we were going to spend the next 2 nights. The ride was silent but the sights were beautiful. The rain clouds followed us a lot of the way.
We went to get something to eat since we hadn't eaten since breakfast. We went through the motions, but don't think we enjoyed our food.
We had a long night, talking with our family, the vet, and the kennel owner. Sammi was actually Kimberlee's dog, but we had her a lot of her life for various reasons. She was 14 years old and was dying of conditions associated with old age.
Today was not what we had expected, but it didn't make it easier.
