Coon Dog Cemetery ... Vacation day one

On our first day of vacation, we headed out before the sun came out. I can't tell you what time we left, but I know we were in Devall's Bluff (home of Craig's BBQ) long before the restaurant opened. We traveled just outside of Memphis and down south. Our first stop was a cemetery just outside of Tuscumbia, AL.
The Coon Dog Cemetery. The only one of its kind in the world. I don't know what I was expecting, but certainly not what I saw. The graves were immaculate. Decorated with flags, flowers, and coins. Yes, coins like the military. A penny on the grave if you knew the deceased. A nickel or dime if you fought along side of him and a quarter if you there when he died. There was even a leash or two on top of the marker.  The granite markers proudly displayed the name of the dog, the birth date, time of death and even championships won or words about the dog.
It was some time during this visit, I really missed my dogs. I know they aren't champions or coon dogs but they're very important to me-like all these dogs  were special to someone too. There's Troop, Ranger, Sally Ann, Roscoe-I wish I could remember all 85 names but the one that really hit me was the grave that read "Dixie". That's when the water works started. A kind man might have put his arms around his wife, but Dwight just kept taking pictures and got as far away as possible-the shower didn't last long. My dog sitter sent a picture of my babies playing and every thing was good with the world again.
Then we hit the road to lay our heads down in Scottsboro, AL. A total of a little over 560 miles behind us that day.