Day 37, Sunday, October 28, As It Is Happening, 1:30 pm

Three years ago this coming Tuesday, I woke up on a Friday morning planning to go to New York for the weekend to see some Broadway shows and operas. Before I left for the train, I looked at my Facebook page and saw that a German shepherd dog named Thunder was eligible to be put to sleep that night in a high kill animal shelter. I ask myself, how can I go to New York and enjoy myself knowing that this dog might be dead by the end of the night? I could not. I put aside the tickets to New York, called a friend to take me to the airport, and got the next nonstop flight from Washington DC to Los Angeles, where I pulled Thunder at 2:30 and renamed him Donner, which means thunder in German. new life, snd new name, or so he thinks.

This morning, I woke up planning to tour the various view points on the Grand Canyon and let Donner recover 90 miles south in the hospital. But then I realized , like three years ago, there is no way that I could enjoy myself at the Canyon without him. So, I abandoned my plans for the. Canyon today, moved our tent to a new nearby campsite, loaded up the Defender with everything else, and headed south to Falstaff, where I am now visiting with Donner at the hospital.

There's no question that he has improved from his situation yesterday, but according to the vet he still has some ways to go to completely cure his infirmity. I will keep him here for as long as the doctor recommends and visit him every day. The Canyon can wait for a few days or a few years, or even go on without me.

The drive down today was a lot more pleasant in the daylight than the drive back last night in the dark, and since i will continue to camp at the Grand Canyon, I intend to make sure that when I head back over the next several days I do not drive that terrible road in the dark again, with throngs of people returning from viewing the sunset over the Grand Canyon.

Ed and Donner

Photo...Donner during my visit with him at Canyon Pet Hospital and Falstaff