Little maskless heeler and I stayed in the motel room, reading that city's disappointing Sunday newspaper as wife and eldest son went to Mass, just a block away. Then breakfast at Denny's.

Happened to get the booth by the front door. An almost rowdy group of four teenagers (three female, one male... lucky guy) came in and had to wait. As another family group was paying to leave. Our conversation was interrupted by a loud and scolding "Hey there!" (reminded me of you).

Looked up to see the young mother, hovering protectively over her young daughter's ears, giving a firm stare at the male teenager. Who was trying to look cool while obviously embarrassed. Don't know what obscenity he said, but he already regretted it.

"I know your brother," was the final retort from the mother, before the chagrined teenagers hustled to their table (by me).

Small town living. Even if there's 60,000 people in town.

Took forever to get our meals. (Actually, it wasn't forever, but it was a full three cups of coffee wait.) After the food arrived, the waitress and her trainee came by our table no less than five times (I counted) to collect plates as we emptied them.

We finally figured out they only had enough plates for half the restaurant, and there were some people in there who could not get their meals until our plates had been retrieved.

No wonder we had to wait.

Wife and I had the triple special again, so we could swap sausages and bacon, and save the ham steaks for the heeler. Eldest son saved bacon for her also, as well as half his ham steak.

Heelers love pig meat. Our first heeler was the wisest and most obedient friend you could hope for, but we could not keep her from raiding the trash if it had porkchop bones in it. Just too irrestible to a heeler. We have often wondered how much pig meat it would take to satisfy a heeler.

Two and a half ham steaks, three strips of bacon and a large sausage link does not do it.

The gas pump had this sign on it:

"Unlawful to leave handle unattended. You are responsible for all spills."

Never seen that before. Anyone else have that in their state?

Hot Springs appears to be an interesting place. While passing through on the return trip, wife looked at a large home along the highway and snidely commented "That's an interesting colour combination."

I looked at the Union Jack flying immediately below the Stars & Stripes and agreed.

And then found out she was talking about the pink siding and green roof.

Oh. I hadn't noticed...

The little maskless heeler has ascertained that the packaged pound cake you buy in convenience stores is not food.

This is the dog that eats anything. Raspberries, grapes, cauliflower and broccoli.

But not that pound cake.

The coal trains were not running between Orin Junction and George Lathrop's grave.

Literally.

They were all parked on the tracks, all empty. Scattered for about ten to fifteen miles of track. No where near a mine or a station. Or any building, even. Not sure where the crews were, or if they normally take Sundays off. Wherever they might happen to be at the moment.

But if you're interested, the four trains I could see in their entirety were 134, 133, 119 and 121 cars long. Not including the two engines on each end.

Not a lot to look at on this stretch of highway...

There is a small square cemetery south of Manville. The only trees and shrubs in that piece of prairie. Towering above all the old monuments, in the cemetery itself, is a windmill. Wife and I both stared at it as we went past.

"Guess you have to use well water," is all she said. But she smiled a knowing smile as I bent down to retrieve my planner and make a little note to remind me of this observation for this diary.

You see, she knows these things as soon as I do, now. Sometimes telling me where a pen is, or handing me a scrap of paper to write on as I witness a moment.

For those of you who do not share your journal with your SO, I am sorry.