Mama and Baby Bear Fountain

I don't think I mentioned yet that for a few days, Buppa and I had to walk a different way than we normally do. Last Thursday when we left the house for our usual walk, we were near the end of our street when an older vehicle with two men in it pulled up next to us and sat there. I never made eye contact, but I felt my skin crawling and felt like they were up to no good. I tried to hurry Bup around the corner, taking one last glance over my shoulder as we rounded the corner to see them peel away from the curb. When I finally rounded the corner and straightened my head, what do I see but a man asleep under a tree right in front of us. At first, I thought it was a homeless man, but this man only had a hat with him which he had laying on the ground by him. He was on his side, facing the tree, and his pants didn't meet his shirt so I caught a tiny glimpse of crack before I hurried Bup closer to the street, away from the sleeping man.

We managed to go on the rest of our walk without incident, but upon returning to our street and heading for home, a dog comes running out of nowhere and pounces on Brownie. Brownie and I were both so startled that we jumped back. I immediately scooped Brownie up, while sternly telling the dog, "No, go away!" and it backed away from us and left us alone. I carried Bup the rest of the way and was a bit shaken when we got inside.

Now, we have encountered loose dogs before, but never the same day as creepy men and a man sleeping under a tree. All those combined had me driving to the trail and parking in the parking lot while we walked, then made the return drive. The parking lot is close to the above fountain, which is really beautiful. They have benches all around and you can sit and relax (if you didn't have anyone with you who was hankering to continue the walk like I do). Walking this other way has been a nice change of pace to see new things and different views of the river. I've kept my eyes out for the creepy men and the sleeping man, but haven't seen hide nor hair of any of them since. We haven't seen that loose dog either. And this is all for the best.