Passing Through El Paso

As I was going through my pictures, I realized I forgot to share about our trip home from Phoenix in February. Typically we have a direct flight from Phoenix to Austin but this time we had a connection in El Paso. I had never been out to West Texas before and enjoyed having the chance to see it (even if my view was mostly from the airplane).

Morey is glad he doesn't have to be "crated for shipment" when he travels!

The problem with layovers is that it typically adds a few hours to the trip. We left Phoenix around 3 and weren't scheduled to land in Austin until 10pm. I know Morey could make it that long without going out, but he also had dinner during that time and I felt bad not at least giving him the opportunity to go out.

Since pretty much all of the relief areas at airports are outside the secured area, it means you have to go back through security on the way back in. When I am traveling with someone else I can leave all my carry on items in the airport with my traveling companion so I don't have to bother getting it rechecked again. Since I was traveling with the rest of the rugby team I left my backpack with them while I took Morey out.

On my way out of the airport I asked an airport staff person where the animal relief area was. He gave me directions that were rather difficult to understand so I headed off and hoped there would be signs pointing me in the right direction. No such luck. I exited the airport and all I saw were roads and parking lots. It was dark and I didn't have a ton of time so I didn't want to spend too much time wandering around. I saw a raised bed filled with rocks and cacti and decided if Morey really had to go he would have to make do with that spot. I told Morey to "jump" ,which confused him at first, and then "hurry". Although he usually doesn't like to "hurry" on rocks, that night he didn't have a problem with it. He also ended up pooping on the rocks and because of the height and arrangement of the bed I couldn't clean it up. Guess that area might not be as decorative any more!

On my way back into the airport I saw a table with a Comment and Suggestion box. I took a moment to fill out a card suggesting they have better signage pointing people to the service animal relief area. If we fly through there again I'll have to see if they took action on my suggestion!