There's no place like home.

For the first time in over two years, I actually took an entire week off of work. Both my professional and personal life have been so crazy that I felt it was time. One crazy experience includes mom's relocation to the state of Kansas, so I decided the Heartland of America was a great destination. She isn't quite settled yet, but I-and Alfredo- did get to see her new house.

If it looks like he was dreaming of the grass, don't worry, he got to enjoy that also.

Exploring Kansas, specifically Wichita, was a great time. I'm all about traveling to new places. The people were great, which is exactly what I expected. I saw fields of wheat for the first time of my life, and I loved that there are bales of hay everywhere.

If this doesn't signify the Great Plains, I sure don't know what does.

Anyway, getting to Kansas wasn't necessarily easy. Turns out, driving approximately 15 hours in a day gets to be quite exhausting. I also left on only two hours of sleep, which probably wasn't the wisest decision. For the majority of the trip, I was literally in the middle of nowhere in the great wide open. Not having any eye stimulation to the brain probably didn't help.

I will tell you what did help, though, and that was being pulled over in Oklahoma.

Now, I think it's important to admit, especially since police officers are getting such bad publicity in the media lately, that this experience was actually a pleasant one. The officer who pulled me over could've been one of the nicest officers I have ever met. I was pleased and shocked that he let me go with a warning. When I asked him how fast I was going, he simply said, "more than 65". I literally had no idea what the speedometer said, which gives me reason to believe that by this point, I was feeling pretty delusional along in my drive. When this experience happened, I was 11 hours in. And because I basically go above and beyond in almost everything I do, I actually found the officer later on in the week on social media and thanked him for pulling me over but not giving me a ticket. He did so much more than he realized. It allowed me to refocus which is something I desperately needed.

Now, as far as Alfredo is concerned, he spent the majority of the time relaxing and sleeping. I can't decide if this made the drive easier or more difficult. I guess if nothing else, it was nice having the opportunity to look over at him and pet him from time to time. Although he was in relaxation mode for most of the journey, I didn't really feel alone.

And of course, there were times it seemed he was checking up on things. He even growled at the police officer during my warning experience in Oklahoma. Protecting his mama I guess.

I look exactly like I should in this picture. Tired and exhausted.

If only we could've taken turns.

The only other time he was up and at it aside from checking things out from time to time is when we stopped for meals. He looks just a tad excited about his roast beef from Arby's, don't you think?

He is quite the lucky dog in that he's been in many places all over the country. Unfortunately we didn't find Toto while on this trip, but he sure enjoyed playing fetch in the lovely, Kansas grass.

Another thing we had the opportunity to do was walk along the Arkansas River (which the residents refer to as Our Kansas River). This was monumental for me as it was the first time I really tested out my ankle which has been recovering for weeks after my fall from Humphrey's Peak. Alfie seemed to enjoy it also.

And speaking of my recovering ankle, I tried running today and succeeded. I almost began crying as I took off, because I knew being able to run meant I was officially healing, something I thought would never happen. I guess I'd say it's been a nice week so far. The goal for tomorrow is to successfully get back to AZ, because after all, there is no place like home.