We woke up early thanks to Galixy and his night long blanket dilemma. I made coffee and a little later a fire. Atreyu collected the majority of sticks, but after the sun hit the bus, he seemed more impatient and wanted to go hike to hot springs.
Despite Galixy’s whiney demeanor, we started walking. It didn’t look terribly far from the road side according to Google maps. Looking back at my timeline, it says we hiked 1.4 miles taking us an hour and a half. The boys were so excited to play in the water. Galixy was reenergized after having been so whiney and tired I had started to carry him.
I sat in the warm tub for maybe 15 minutes before relinquishing the pool to kid splashes and laying out in the sun, enjoying the warmth on my skin and the sounds of insects and free kids. We were only disturbed by one group of people with two dogs. They seemed nice, but the dogs came ahead of the humans and ended up quarreling Rhea who was obviously just trying to defend her territory and family and must’ve growled at one dog, for all a sudden there was a mini dog fight and I was all alone trying to fend 2 big dogs off my chihuahua while trying to keep them away from the kids, too. The owners jogged up, but by this time they were all separated, and Rhea had ripped her claw on her hindfoot and was bleeding.
I know hiking with your dog is THE thing to do. Give them some freedom off leash and what not. I just wish these dogs had been trained to walk closer to their humans and hadn’t run up on me minutes before their humans. I didn’t know their commands and couldn’t even get them to step off my stuff.
They kept hiking trying to find burro creek. Atreyu decided readily to get out after a few hours but Galixy kept bobbing his head, grinning over the rock wall at me, then splashing like crazy. It took a while but I finally coaxed Galixy out.
I packed all our stuff, put galixy on my shoulders and Rhea in my arms. Her foot was a bright crimson, so I wanted to rest her leg some. Atreyu is a master Walker, running in the wash trying to find “his own way”.
Looking back at the map, we lost our way pretty early, but it seemingly took me forever to figure it out. The wash we followed seemed to have just as many foot prints as the trail? I dont even know, but eventually I realized there were no ATV tire tracks and more wildlife prints. I looked around and spotted what looked like a path, so we headed for it. It even looked to have our foot prints on it, but the path seemed super unfamiliar. I was getting tired, taking breaks every so often wasnt enough. I was really worried. But we did find the most beautiful fire agate pieces. Finally we saw the bridge we’d parked by but it was still so far. When we finally got close we were on the opposite side of a ravine. I was yelling for Help but nobody heard me, except my poor children. Galixy had taken a 15 minute nap slung on my back and Rhea walked at least a half mile. The stats: our trip expanded to 2.6 miles with a hike of almost three hours.
I told atreyu that when somebody asks him how smart his mom is, he can reply that I’m so stupid I got us lost in the desert. He said “I’m not gonna say that cause you’re a good mommy”
I cried getting back to the bus. Atreyu asked me what I had been scared of. “Walking more and not getting any help…”. Atreyu walked like a champ. He fell multiple times, but got up right quick saying he’s ok. Once, he hurt his knee and hand in a trip and cried a little bit, but after we took a break he was alright again. When I stumbled, he asked me if I was ok, too.
Of all days I needed a little musical soul healing, my speaker crapped out, and so the 60 mile drive made me feel forlorn wondering what I’m doing, Wishing I had another human along, someone who would’ve been lost with me and shared the burden. I shared it with my kids instead. If nothing else came of it, I’m beyond proud of Atreyu.
We pulled into wicksburg and ate at Denny’s. I let the kids watch the Grinch. Galixy fell asleep halfway through. I managed to stay up long enough to stuff the stockings but I’m sure Atreyu heard me rummage. With his brains and my inability to be inconspicuous, he’ll be “calling me out” on Santa by next year.
Here I am, 6:37 am. Woke up at 5, figured if I couldn’t sleep…. 48° outside, no sun yet. Kids snoozing still, Rhea at my feet.
Not sure how this will change things for me. Maybe just a little less content with being alone with kids. Not like I have room in the bus for another human.
Today there’ll be presents for the kids.
Merry Christmas
Loving you.
Matilda the Bugus 