This one goes best with yesterday's installment as well.

It was surprisingly easy to find pet friendly hotel rooms, and Mr. Darcy was delighted that most of those rooms had two beds, so he got one of his own.

Mr. Darcy pays no attention at all to squirrels, but he was utterly fascinated by the prairie dogs, who were almost equally curious about us. They came out and stood on their back legs and eyed us thoroughly. Adorable.

We had a pretty hard push to get across the country. The afternoon we stopped and spent in the Badlands was everyone's favorite part of the trip.

Truthfully a little xanax from the vet helped him sleep in the car, I think. He had a tough early life (he came from Memphis Animal Shelter and had clearly been beaten before that) and is a bit of a nervous dog in new situations. I talked to our vet before leaving because I didn't want him to freak out somewhere in Kansas and be unable to help. But he did really well overall. I was very proud of him.

The 18 wheelers definitely made Mr. Darcy nervous at stops on the trip. He didn't even pee the whole first day, but he eventually and gradually made his peace with them.