Dude Ranch Part 2

Bark! Bark! Bark! That's all we could hear. I don't even know what I would have said to John even if he had been able to hear me. We continued our slow drive up the "road" trying not to hit any of 12 dogs that were out there. We finally see a spotlight up ahead and come to a stop next to a mobile home. There was an older gentleman standing out on the porch waving us in. John opened the window and asked what to do about all the dogs. The guy says just a minute, goes inside and comes out with a shot gun, cranks it once the dogs take off. There you go he says so we grab a few things, Rob and Lady and hurry in.

He introduces himself as Joe...just call me Joe...and tells us to take a seat in the kitchen. We gratefully sit down, so glad to be out of the moving truck. There's a long minute of silence because nobody knew where to start. Joe starts off by saying I didn't realize your little one was so little. I said I was sorry I hadn't thought to mention that when they said babysitting available. Clearly my mistake! Another silence. John and I kept looking at each other trying to figure out what to say. Joe breaks the silence by asking if we were hungry. Of course we were, we had just spent 9 hours driving through the desert. He says, let me fix you some dinner.

While he was puttering around the kitchen John and I are whispering, what the hell are we going to do?! Soon the smells coming from the stove were killing us. He fixed us the BEST dinner of hamburgers and home fries we have ever had. And I mean ever! Joe was so proud of himself and told us he had just killed the cow this morning. That totally left us speechless. As Joe sits down to join us, I start giving Rob his last bottle of the night. Joe scratches his head while he watches me. He finally looks at John and says, I guess we should talk about sleeping arrangements for tonight. John and I look at each other and think "now what"?!

Still more to come...