We made our way to the room, which was just modern enough to be cool without trying too hard. (They also had the best hotel pen of our trip!)
In the morning we had a lovely breakfast at the hotel restaurant which, again, has a fantastic staff! Everyone was so great and the food was delicious! After this we checked out and before we left, the people at the front counter asked if we wanted snacks for the road! Since we just ate we politely declined, but that was silly of us, road snacks are gold!!!
From here we started making our way to Albuquerque, where we wanted to get tattoos to commemorate this amazing adventure. We stopped off at Montezuma's Well which was pretty beautiful. The landscape is just unreal out there.
After this delightful detour we were back on the road and discussing the logistics of relocating...kidding, not kidding.
This is when things get a little CrAzY! We were at a rest stop, admiring the nice knife shop and CDL driver physical station, minding our own business,when all of a sudden we were ATTACKED! Well maybe not "attacked" but we certainly encountered some dinosaurs. They turned out to be very decent and we felt bad for stereotyping.
Remember when I said that was when it got crazy? Yeah, scratch that.
We were driving down I-40, looking up the tattoo place we were heading to, laughing, and having a blast when all of a sudden we spotted a dog. She was on a road that ran parallel with the highway and was enclosed by barbed wire. She was just all by herself and guess what we did...
We pulled over, the dog ran into the prickly bushes, Debbie climbed through the barbed wire fence, and Pat grabbed snacks from the car to give her. We finally found her and she is BEYOND emaciated, clearly not having eaten anything of substance in a very long time. She was without a doubt not going to survive much longer. Even though she ran into the bushes, she was just laying there when we got to her. A highway police officer pulled up and asked Pat if our car was broken down, he explained what was happening and the officer said that this is not an uncommon occurance, but usually the dogs stay around the rest stop area and truckers feed them. This girl was far from a rest stop and we were told that in cases like this, the dog is in too bad of shape and they typically would put her down but we can do what we want with her.
When we tell you this dog is the SWEETEST dog ever, it is not an exaggeration. She was scared at first but when I reached down to pick her up to lift her over the barbed wire fence, she laid her head on my shoulder and we could tell she felt safe.
We called the nearest veterinary hospital which was booked for the day and we explained the situation. They told us to bring her in (this was only the first of their overwhelming kindnesses).
We had one of Debbie's scarves as a loose leash and she fell asleep immediately.
Upon arriving to Cedar Animal Medical Center in Gallup, NM, we were greeted by a friendly staff who knew the situation. It was clear that they genuinely cared. An older woman who had her dog there at the same time came up to us while we were waiting and asked if we just found her and we told her we are on our Honeymoon and traveling through when we found her. She asked "who could do this to her?" with a helpless look in her eyes, desperately searching for an answer. I know that look. I know I have had that look all too often. We just told her "we have no idea, but we weren't leaving her". The vet costs were so reasonable, especially for what I would consider an "emergency" appointment. The visit was only $40 and the puppy shots (depending upon how it goes) would be $35. Done.
After she was weighed and we waited for the doctor, that same woman came up to us and said she paid the cost of her initial shots. We were so taken back by this kindness for our little friend (who we decided to call "Lucky"). We told her she didn't have to do that but she told us it was already done and she wasn't having another word about it. We didn't catch her name but she was absolutely one of Lucky's heroes that day.
Once it was our turn, Dr. Cody Balok took us back to an exam room and asked us about the situation. He told us that she is a Rottweiler mix who is about 10 months old. He more or less told us we had very few options. First, we could turn her over and he would release her to Animal Control. This option gave the impression of a grim outcome. Our second option was to admit her as an inpatient where she would need an IV for her severe dehydration and revisit Friday. (We will not be anywhere nearby though so this was not an option.) Or we could take her.
We decided to have an X-Ray done at Dr. Balok's request. This was emotionally taxing because the LAST thing we wanted was to put her back in harms way, so we had some tough decisions ahead. The doctor came back and told us that we needed to see the X-Ray, apparently Lucky's stomach was full of small bones that she had eaten, and there was also a BULLET inside of her where she had been SHOT!
(bullet in the top left corner)
Surprisingly, this was all good news. The doctor said besides being extremely exhausted, dehydrated, and emaciated, she is surprisingly healthy. Her name makes even more sense than we ever had imagined. We were told it would be about a month until she is back to 100%.
They cleaned her ears, did a full exam, gave us puppy food, cleaned her up a little and carted her out. We picked out a collar and leash and she was coming with us. Pat walked out with Dr. Balok to the car where they made more room for Lucky and he insisted that he didn't want us to pay for ANY of the services they provided, including the leash, collar, food, medication, X-Ray, everything. He, of course, said we couldn't accept that and we would send them a check if he made us! The doctor just told us to pass it forward and send them a Christmas card. Inside, the rest of the staff was so sweet and told me that the doctor ordered we not pay, although we knew full well what we were getting into and were 100% willing and able to pay. They seemed just happy that we saved her and knew we wanted her to be safe.
The overwhelming kindness that we experienced at Cedar Animal Medical Center was a lot to take in. To know that there are other people out there who feel the way we do and who do nice things just for the sake of doing them, on a regular basis, fills our hearts with so much happiness and love. Obviously it was nice to not have to pay for a vet bill, because who enjoys that? But it was the genuine kindness that resonated with us.
We went and bought Lucky some things, blankets, food bowls, poo bags, puppy shampoo l, etc, and found a pet-friendly hotel to stay. We came up with an alternate plan which still includes doing the things we wanted on our Honeymoon and keeping Lucky with us the rest of the trip.
First thing we did at the hotel was give her a bath. She needed it, let's just say that. After drying her she went to lay on her blanket. She LOVES snuggles. She will get as close as she can and lick your face and wag her tail. She is so happy to be inside, and being loved!
We aren't entirely sure what will happen when we get home. Clearly, after all of this we want to keep her, she is great. But we have already reached out to our contact at the Animal Adoption Center and she said (depending upon a few variables which won't be an issue) they can help find her a permanent home.
We just have to decide what is best now. Either way, Lucky has made a huge impression on us and so have the people of Gallup, New Mexico.
Today, as we are writing this (usually one of us types, and one drives, but we both write it). Pat told me that when we were at the dinosaur park (right before we found Lucky) he saw a heads-up penny on the ground right outside the car door but he figured he would just get it on the way back and he never did. Could it have been the universe telling us we were about to find her?? I think so.
Pass kindness forward. Trust the universe.
So much love,
The Casales and Lucky
I love him.
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