A few weeks ago, I decided to take Sandy for a hike along the Bosque (woods) of the Rio Grande River. I threw a blanket on the leather back seat in my car (so that her nails wouldn't poke holes) and put her in. I was glad to find that she was very well behaved in the car. Doesn't she look happy?
I parked Lola in the parking lot at the top of the hill and we walked down towards the river and under the bridge to the bosque trails.
There were lots of tracks to follow in the sand under the bridge
and graffiti too.
I though pyc was particularly talented.
In the beginning, it was hard to get Sandy to walk because she wanted to smell everything. I wondered if she could smell porcupines because I knew they live down here.
After a few minutes of pulling, she settled down and walked along nicely.
The fall colors of the cottonwoods made a beautiful trail. This is a view of the Rio Grande river.
We walked to a sand bar in the river but when we went through the brush Sandy got covered in fat round burrs. She was very good when I pulled them out of her coat and I was thankful for her wirey hair. The burrs came right out without getting snagged and tangled in her thick fur.
The ponds were especially pretty.
I liked how the tree trunks were so dark against the yellows and browns of the turning leaves. I think they look like ballet dancers with their arms in the air.
This young tree was particularly pretty with all it's golden leaves.
I'm not sure what kind of vine this was but it was really impressive. We don't see much red in our woods in the autumn.
It was a beautiful day as you can see by the bright blue sky. I was sad not to find any porcupines in the trees but also glad because I didn't want Sandy to go after any and seek revenge.
However, oddly enough, we saw this creature along our walk. The zoo grounds are just across the street. I did, of course, zoom in.
I think Sandy enjoyed the walk but boy was she glad to get back in the car again to go home. I was very pleased how well she walked along with me after the initial pulling and smelling she did. She walked right at my hip and never pulled even though we passed lots of other people, some with dogs, and some on bicycles.
I'll Paint you Mornings of Gold - song: As the World Falls Down, artist: David Bowie, album: Labyrinth
I came to this tunnel. 
The bike rider rode by too fast before I could ask him how to proceed and I didn't see any horses to stop for. I did slow my walking pace, as the sign requested. I also watched for ice but I think it all melted before I got there. It was 88 degrees out.
They have some pretty cool lawn art, don't they? 
I tried one of these prickly pear fruits. Yummy, mmmmm! They would make a really good jam.
These strange things are called jetty jacks. They look like jacks, don't they? They were put up all along the river to protect the town from flooding.
H.F. Kellner designed these obstructions, first called Kellner jacks, to hold up riverbanks and keep debris from flooding into town. They were installed in the fifties and sixties along the Rio Grande and Arkansas rivers and they worked pretty well, allowing water to flow through while retaining the debris. However, nowadays, they are considered an eyesore. I think they are pretty neat. Some still have wires running through them. I always imagine them as remnants from a war, although none were fought here, or that they were placed as hostile barriers to protect the natural environment and the river from people.
These pretty little purple asters always remind me that summer is almost over.
