Signs Of A Thaw

Bunny here at the keyboard to share a little about our weekend with you.

Since Mom is still fighting her bronchitis we decided to take it easier on her.  That doesn't mean we were willing to give up our family hiking time, though.  We decided to go to one of our favorite local places which is the Riverfront Trail in downtown Peoria.  It's a beautiful place for walking, although it's a pretty quiet place right now.  When the snow melts and things start blooming, I imagine it will be much busier.

During our walk, we spotted a lot more wildlife than we've seen in a long time.  The ducks and Canadian geese have returned and there was a beaver in the river working on his lodge.  We saw a robin, too, but Mom wasn't quick enough to catch his picture.  The beaver was a lot more cooperative.

The plan is that the trail will eventually connect to some Rails to Trails in our area, but the train tracks that are down there are still working tracks.  There is an old train turntable there, too.  When more of the snow melts, Mom said we'd go down and take more pictures of it so you can see it better. 

One of the things that the park has as a feature is the memorial rock gardens.   There is one for Alzheimer's victims and another one for Dan Fogelberg.  Dan Fogelberg is one of the famous people to have come from Peoria, so they have rocks around the park with some of the lyrics from some of his famous songs.

Hawks are pretty popular in our area.  Usually we see them when we can't get a picture of them.  However, this guy seemed to be bringing the warm Spring air in with him.

Morgan can't resist leaping and walking in the snow drifts.  I'm not sure what she's going to do when all the snow melts away.  She'd better enjoy it while she can!

There's a restaurant built in an old train station along the riverfront, too.  Of course they didn't let us dogs in, though.  Mom said that they have really good food.  I wouldn't know since they've never brought any of it home for us.

I have to say, it was a fun way to get out and stretch our legs without overtaxing Mom's lungs.  You should have heard her going on last weekend.  I'll just say that some people should not be making comments about Greyhounds being drama queens.   This was much better and we all had fun enjoying the thaw and the first hints of Spring's approach.  We got in more minutes for our Idita Walk, too.  I'm finally starting to get excited about Spring after this very long Winter.  How about all of you?

A Walk In Allerton Park

Bunny here, hoping to bring you a little cheer on Monday morning with my post from the keyboard.

This weekend, we decided to choose an easier place to get out and stretch our legs than we took last weekend.  So, we decided to go and visit Allerton Park in Monticello, Illinois.  It is not a state park, but it is listed as one of the Seven Wonders of Illinois, and for good reason.  Because this wasn't so much a hike as a walk through the park, Blueberry came along and only the people wore backpacks.

For people curious about the park, it was property once owned by an art collector named Robert Henry Allerton.  His mansion is there along with some of the artwork he collected.  He must have had a lot of money, because he sure owned a lot of land and there were a lot of sculptures there.  He spent decades shaping farmland into the into beautiful landscapes that featured some of the artwork he acquired.  After forty years, while visiting in Hawaii, he decided to start all over and do the same thing there.  So, he donated his Illinois property to the University of Illinois to create “an educational and research center, as a forest and wild-life and plant-life reserve, as an example of landscape architecture, and as a public park.”  I can tell you all, I am sure glad that he gave this most wonderful gift because we all loved seeing it.

While we were there, not one, but two weddings were being prepared for, so we didn't stop and pose for all the pictures we'd have liked to in a few areas.  We are sure hoping the people got married before it started raining later in the afternoon.  Mom said if she had to plan a wedding again (which she about breaks out in hives just thinking about) that she'd want to have one there.

There were lots of different kinds of gardens.  Some were really formal and some were kind of wild.  They all had been worked on a lot.  My favorite was the Fu Dog Garden!  It was built to showcase Mr. Allerton's collection of thirty two blue Chinese dog statues.  One of the weddings was held in that garden, so I know those people are going to have a perfect life ahead of them after getting married in such a wonderful garden.  Every one of those dogs was different, too.  We weren't the only dogs admiring the garden, either.  There were some dogs who I think might even have been attending the weddings.

There were some wedding guests there who did a lot of admiring of us and petting us, too.  That always makes the trip more fun.   One woman was especially keen on getting a Greyhound of her own and she kept fawning over us.  I wanted her to know what we make the best pets ever so she'd give another one a home, so I let her pet me for a long time.  She even offered to take a picture of us all together in front of the mansion.

Dad says we're definitely going back and I can't wait.  Hopefully this makes Monday a little brighter for everybody.  I know it sure made me happy to be there!

Walking Down The Bunny Trail

I may have mentioned a few times here that Morgan is very keen on rabbits at the moment.  Bunny and Blueberry both can be, but often, they can just ignore them, as well.  Most nights that we walk are uneventful and it gets easy to forget that the little fur-suited devils are always lurking out there.

The other night, we had a nice walk and were on our way home.  Already, you are expecting a rabbit to leap out at us, I know.  That wasn't exactly what happened, however.  As we approached the last corner away from our house, I saw him.  A big, fat rabbit sat at the corner of the yard, nose twitching and ears flipping backwards.  He froze as he saw me approaching with Bunny and Blueberry, no doubt wetting his little rabbit knickers as her realized he'd been snuck up on.  I slowed down, hoping to distract the girls and keep them from noticing, since I was sure he'd take flight and head away from us.  My husband laughed and joked "Rabbit!" 

I told him there was a rabbit, just up ahead.  However, he didn't see the rabbit lurking there, which was most unfortunate, because by this point, the Greyhounds definitely knew their next snack was waiting just a few yards out of reach.  Morgan looked at Bunny and saw that her ears were pointing "He's thataway!" and turned her head to look.  If only Mr. Taleteller had seen it first.  If only he'd believed me when I warned him that danger lurked just around the shrubbery.  If only the rabbit had run when he first saw Bunny and Blueberry coming up the Cotton Trail. 

Instead, the rabbit took one look at Morgan and her big teeth and made one of those cartoon faces where his eyes telescoped out of his head for a moment before he finally turned his fluffy little tail and ran.  Morgan had her eyes on the prize.  Actually, all three of the dogs did.  Bunny was dancing at the end of her leash while Blueberry actually licked her chops and stared.  Morgan was the one to break and make a lunge, though, and Mr. Taleteller was caught completely unaware.  I'm amazed that he and Morgan didn't both go rolling down the little hill at the corner as they wrestled and battled wits about what was going to happen next.  Morgan's logic was that the rabbit was begging to be the bedtime snack while Mr. Taleteller felt that eating rabbit so late at night would lead to bad dreams and worse gas. 

In the end, the rabbit disappeared into some tall shadowy shrubs at the back of the property and we finally convinced the girls to head home for some treats from the dog bakery.  However, the dogs never forget a rabbit sighting.  Every night since then when we've passed that house, they're on high alert.  I don't think the rabbit is going to be so lucky next time.  It's possible that Mr. Taleteller or Morgan won't be either!

Rabbits Aren't For Herding

Sunday night found us out on our usual evening walk.  The new routine consists of Bunny walking with me and Morgan and Blueberry walking with Mr. Taleteller.  He insists on walking both girls most of the time because he feels that Blue is his girl and will feel sleighted if he doesn't walk her along with Morgan.  Blueberry is such a mellow walker that this arrangement has turned out pretty well.

So, there we were Sunday night, strolling along as usual.  Bunny and Blueberry have been more subdued walkers lately, I suspect because of the heat.  Morgan is a schizophrenic walker.  When she walks with Mr. Taleteller in the morning, she doesn't pull, but she gives a short warning growl until he tells her to knock it off and behave.  In the evening when we walk together, she pulls like she could be a sled dog, but ignores everyone that we pass along the way.  She's not unmagageable, by any means, but she is an eighteen month old puppy who hasn't been taught certain manners.  Fortunately, she's a very quick study.  I don't think it will be long at all before she's walking very nicely beside both of us.

Anyhow, Sunday evening found us working our way towards home.  It wasn't terribly hot, but it was pretty humid, so we were walking at a pretty leisurely pace.  Morgan took the lead, with Blueberry lagging behind Mr. Taleteller in her usual homeward-bound fashion.  Bunny and I were behind them.  That's when it happened.

I heard Mr. Taleteller shout out something brief that sounded like "Oh shit" and Blueberry did a back step towards Bunny and me.  Morgan leaped up in the air like a wild stallion, did a spin in the air in a move that would have impressed any Matrix fan and landed right in the middle of the neighbors' very nicely trimmed shrubbery.  Bunny's ears flickered and she did a little snort that I believe translates from Greyhoundese as "amateur" while Blueberry gave me a look that said "please don't let anyone know I'm attached to this pony show".  I snickered and offered to take Blueberry with me while Mr. Taleteller worked at lifting his dog out of the shrubbery.  Blueberry walked along with me gratefully and pretended that she did not see Morgan the rest of the way home.

It was too late at night for anyone to see us, fortunately.  Most of our neighbors go to bed rather early.  It was nice to be a spectator at this version of the German Shepherd rodeo.  I'm actually not sure which part was funnier, Mr. Taleteller's face or Morgan's.  I think I'm glad that the Greyhounds are over the foolish rabbits this year and have moved on to squirrels as their latest obsession.  I do think that if we are ever out somewhere and the dogs are off leash together that there will be some rabbits in serious trouble.  Morgan has the skills to flush them out and Bunny has the speed and drive to catch them when they take off.  I'm glad they haven't become a team of mighty huntresses yet, but I suspect it could be coming.

Rabbits, beware!

Down By The River

Bunny here, writing about our Friday night adventure.

Last week it got pretty hot at our house again.  We took some nighttime walks, but they were not very pleasant for dogs or people.  Imagine my excitement when Mom and Dad started getting our things together and putting them in the van.  By the time Mom put my harness on, I was ready to tap dance on the kitchen floor.  When we went outside and it was nice and comfortable, I was even happier.

I wasn't sure where we were headed at first.  We pulled into the Petsmart parking lot and I thought "Woooo! Shopping!"  But it wasn't shopping.  Mom stayed in the van with us and Dad went in and bought a bag of dog food.  I started to get peeved.  We got loaded up in the van and we weren't even going in anyplace!  How are people going to pet me if I don't get out of the van?

Well, after that we went over to Culver's and Mom and Dad got dinner.  Morgan and Blueberry were sleeping on the back seat, so I got up to snoopervise since we were still headed somewhere.  Mom shared a few cheese curds with me and I thought things were starting to improve.  The next thing I knew, we drove over the bridge and we were stopping in the parking lot down by the river.

Blueberry and I got out with Mom and Morgan went with Dad.  Let me tell you, the Riverfront Park is a busy place on Friday night.  There were lots of people down there for all different kinds of things.  One reason is that there are currently some replica boats of the Nina and Pinta docked there that people can go on and look at.  We didn't go on because we didn't think dogs were allowed and because we didn't want to pay for it, but we did want to see them.  They have been called the most historically accurate recreations ever built.

There was a lot of other stuff going on, too.  There are a lot of restaurants and people were waiting to eat.  There are bands that play music down there, so people were waiting to get into the show.  People can take carriage rides, but I don't think they take dogs.  You can also rent Segways or two seated conveyances to ride around in for a certain amount of time.  People also like to play in the fountains, which are built just for that reason.

Another thing that people like is the trail that's built for walking along the river.  It is very scenic and relaxing.  We even saw an otter swimming down there, but I didn't have my PFD so I couldn't go after him.  Mom says we can't swim in the river now anyway, since the Asian Carp infestation.  Those fish are crazy.  We did all pose down there, though.

I have to bark, it was a wonderful Friday night walk!  I hope we get to go back.  You just never know what you'll see down there.  The best part was that there were all kinds of people just waiting to pet us!

Making New Friends

Bunny here with a little tale about a fun walk I took this week.

Some of you may be groaning a bit to yourselves and thinking "not another story about a walk."  This walk was a little special for me.  First off, Mom and I got in the car first and drove for a while to get to a  park.  We got out and waited in the shade for a little bit and then this lady showed up and got out with two other greyhounds!

For those of you who don't know, I have been looking all over for some greyhound friends to get together with.  We know that other greyhounds live in this area, but we can't seem to find any of them to meet up with.  The other day, Mom posted on a greyhound forum that we visit sometimes and found out that there was a lady with a pair of greyhounds who was willing to meet with us.  They even live in the city near us!  I immediately began doing the happy dance when I heard the news.

Because her greyhounds haven't been out and met other greyhounds since she adopted them, she wanted to go for a walk first instead of meeting at the dog park.  She was afraid her girls wouldn't be nice.  However, I thought that Tickertape and McCarthy were very nice.  Although I had a few reservations about all the kisses McCarthy was giving my mom.  Still, it was so nice to go for a stroll with some other greyhounds.  I heard that Tickertape really likes to run.  I let her know that I do, too!

We walked around the shady park and got to know each other.  Then we sat and rested for a while.  Some people that the lady knew came by and talked to us for a while.  They all seemed to really like me.  I do love it when people want to fuss over me and pet me.

It was a lovely day in the park.  Sadly, it was over all too soon for me.  The good news is that we might get to meet again at the dog park.  I think that will be even more fun.  All the excitement from the walk really wore me out, though!  McCarthy and Tickertape's mom hopes to meet Blueberry next time, so I think it will be a very exciting day.