Getting Ready for Family Fun

Hi all -- Dianne here. You may have noticed a new look for our blog. You may have also noticed that we are still calling it "Travel with Whippets," even though that title is no longer correct in the literal sense. Jasper has been gone for three months now, and I felt it was time for the blog to allow for that change and add Bandido into the mix.

As for Bandido, he is one smart little doggie! He does the agility course with ease now, even without treats. He has learned how to use the lever door handle of the coach house to open the door to come out whenever he wants (not a good thing!).

The most amazing thing so far: The other day Roger asked him if he needed to take a walk. He walked over to where the leashes were hanging, picked out his leash (not Chaplin's), and brought it to Roger in his mouth! I've only seen dogs do that in TV commercials. We did not train him to do that; he figured it out on his own (just like the door handle!) Jasper left a big hole in our lives, but Bandido has worked his way into it and into our hearts.

The spring migration is in full force here in the Rio Grand Valley. I finally got a photo of one of the many scissor-tailed flycatchers here.

Today I took this photo of a golden-fronted woodpecker eating one of my oranges. The color dot behind his head is almost neon orange!

Our neighbor took this photo from his back yard yesterday of a funnel (or "kettle") of migrating hawks flying right above our coach houses. Can you imagine over a hundred hawks in one view?

For the most part when we're not cleaning and/or organizing, we've just been enjoying the sights here at Retama. I finally got a close-up photo of a Texas bug that I've been unable to identify. Any idea what he is? He's about the size of a sweat bee, but he doesn't bite. I couldn't find him in my Texas Bug Book.

We have organized all the storage inside and out of the motor home, and are in the final preparations for hitting the road for a short trip next week. We have reservations back in the Texas Hill Country for a few days. We will fly both daughters and our grandaughter in for some family fun. After a few days together in the hill country, Robyn has commitments which force her to fly back to L.A. from San Antonio. Amanda and Kaia will ride south with us in the motor home and visit our new digs for a few days before they, too, fly home (from McAllen).

Since we have already covered the dogs, birds, and bugs, I'll borrow the neighboring cattle for our "pet" photo of the day. Today they were running full tilt back and forth across the field, evidently just for the fun of it, but they stopped long enough for a good photo next to the dog park.