I hear they have taught dogs to drive...

You will have to wait until the end for the explanation of the title. Sorry.

DH wasn't excited at the idea of getting caught in the rain and refused a trip to the wilds. But TDW walks rain or shine and was up for a long walk. I geared up (with just a little extra clothing in case we hit one of the squalls expected this afternoon).

We arrived after our friends and they were nowhere to be seen as we entered the area. We headed toward the creek and watched and waited. Suddenly we saw movement on our left (strange as they rarely start in that direction).

It was Hugo coming to greet us.

HUGO!

Isn't he handsome?

Ruby arrived. Then all the dogs ran wild. This is why we come to this area. It is one of the few places we know the dogs can run and not disturb anyone.

Hugo took off!

Scruffy and Ruby run towards TDW while Paddy came running to me.

We headed down to the creek. The water is high and we chose not to risk a slip into the water. We let the dogs get a drink before we headed back along the woods.

Hugo at the creek.

Hugo, Scruff, Ruby

I do enjoy these walks with TDW. The conversation is always good. His dogs are good and entertaining - and they get along so well with my guys. I really value our friendship. How fortunate am I to have such friends?!

We wandered over to the property line and my dogs decided to investigate beyond this public area. I had to lure them back with a promise of cookies (thank goodness I remembered to bring a pocketful). TDW held them while I snapped a couple of photos.

We've come across one of these signs before. I think we were lost (and on the wrong side of the fence).

C of E? Church of England? Cat of Excellence?* Oh, Corps of Engineers.

This fence post has seen better times. What caused this damage? Shotgun blast? Woodpecker?

Today Hugo decided to be stubborn. He either ran out in front or lagged behind. As we headed towards the entrance we couldn't find him. We called "HUGO" in all directions and finally saw him coming from the woods.**

We came upon a few more abandoned homes. I am always excited to see a different one. This nest is smaller than those I have found before.

Bird nest and dog.

This is another nest that we found fairly low. It was about 4 feet off the ground.

Another view.

Finally. This is the kind of bagworm I grew up finding in the trees at school.

Closer view. These guys can be excellent and neat builders.

This is another empty bagworm.

What a mess! But what excellent camouflage...you would think this was just dry leaves left on a twig.

Then we headed back to the entrance - snapping photos of the wild plum*** and a few other flowers.

Wild plums - I am pretty sure about this.

Look at these blossoms!

It makes me want to wear flowers in my hair!

These were the first flowers blooming in the meadow and now the few are the many.

I do think they would be lovely with bluebonnets!

We talked about a number of things TDW saw on his walk yesterday at the other side of this wilderness. He shared these photos:

TDW took a photo of the first bluebonnet in the wildlife area.

He also saw a good sized snake. He did not identify it, but thought it was harmless. It looks like a rat snake to me. Guess this means the snakes are waking up.

Oh, I almost forgot the driving dog. Don't judge! On the way home we found ourselves in a long line of vehicles when two lanes changed to one. The brake lights on the car in front of me came on; I slammed on the brakes; Paddy (who had climbed into the front passenger seat) lost her balance falling onto the floor - but not before she hit the shift and forced it into neutral; and the car stalled in the middle of the road. We survived it, but we have to do better. It is the first time something like this has happened to us, but once is enough.

I am now investigating dog seat belts. I had considered them before - for the animals' safety. Now it may be necessary to keep Paddy in place. She has a tendency to crawl from the back seat into the front driver's seat if the driver doesn't get in fast enough. She also is the leader of the pack in getting out of the car and will not wait for one to grab the leash.**** That may be fine in some situations, but not when we are off-loading on a busy street or with other dogs.


NOTES:

*We are cat people too.

**Even at the end Hugo was being "hard-headed." He came over to my car as if he was coming home with us (he has loaded up with us in the past). I waited until TDW loaded his crowd up and then we got in the car.

***Heaven help us! There are something like 6 or 7 varieties of wild plum. I have no clue which these are.

****OK. Judge me. These dogs are not well trained. They are in control. I have gotten the first seat belt for the dogs. She is probably not going to like it.