Officially we are now in central Brazil and it shows. Look at the reception we got at a gas station in Goiás State:
They weren’t in the least intimidated by our foreignness nor our inability to speak Portuguese and they joked about coming on our trip -“adopt me!”- and at last we felt like we were no longer in the far north where the locals act distant and fearful around strangers. 
The countryside is changing a bit too, and the change was subtle but we started to see rolling hills and a few peaks too.
The fields are cultivated and agriculture has replaced forestry and ranching.
It’s hotter here with an afternoon high of 91 possibly thanks to less rain and a spring like burst of sunshine.
We are 15 degrees south latitude because when we crossed the Amazon we also crossed the equator and spring is in the air.
Greens are very green and trees are sprouting new leaves and the grasses are thick at the side of the road.
We took a Rusty stop and he decided a nap in the grass was perfect. 
Traffic is heavy on BR 153 but it moves along. We have met some slow moving trucks but they are easy to pass on the long straightaways but we aren’t nearly as aggressive as the locals.
Getting this close to the Federal District means the road surface is improving too and driving is more relaxing. For some reason there are hundreds of trucks driving north in long lines.
We stopped to do laundry at one of Brazil’s famous automatic laundries. Actually we’d never heard of them but they are brilliant. Naturally the first one we tried on this road didn’t accept our credit cards so we pressed on but once we left Tocantins State and entered Goiás, the magical land of people kind to strangers we found a laundry at a gas station that worked perfectly and even allowed dogs. 
You show up with dirty clothes and “register” your name and phone number as a foreigner on the key pad. Brazilians enter the tax id number. Why? I have no idea but we got the foreigner button and put a made up passport number in. Stupid bureaucracy. Then tap your credit card and the washer adds its own soap automatically. Tap your card again for a drier and you’re done. Amazingly simple and rapid and one of several features that make Brazil easy to travel through. 
We stopped for a late lunch at a place that was getting ready to close for the afternoon and instead of a buffet they made us up a plate of meats, rice, beans, tomatoes and plantains and we sat outside with Rusty and it wasn’t too hot at all. 
Evening started to close in but noticeably later than further north as the sun is traveling lower in the sky here. The road passed through very few towns or settlements and we were wondering where we might find dog friendly accommodation but then Pirenopolis came over the horizon. It took a few Whatsapp messages but we found a place that looked good in a quiet neighborhood, not cheap at $70 a night but…
All to ourselves and GANNET2 fits easily in the courtyard off the street. And Rusty approved. 
The two young ladies who helped us settle in made us a jug of açaí juice, gave us some mangoes off their tree and ordered pizza for us to be delivered saving us the agony of ordering in Portuguese. 
Rusty inspected the neighborhood outside the walls and approved of what he found.
We are thinking of staying an extra night to clean and organize our battered living quarters, wash the van, enjoy the pool and visit what is supposed to be a tourist town set at 2500 feet among these hills. Time to be tourists for a minute before getting too mechanical in the capital. It’s nice to be tourists for a while and no longer explorers.
