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Four-Legged Friends Series (9) LbNA #34002

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Aug 7, 2007
Location: River Legacy Park / Legacy Trails, 3020 N. Collins Street
City:Arlington
County:Tarrant
State:Texas
Boxes:9
Planted by:Wag Time
Found by: a sweeping wind (9)
Last found:Sep 7, 2012
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Last edited:Sep 18, 2015
**All boxes have been replaced as of 3/17/2012.**

The Four-Legged Friends Series is a tribute to the four-legged loves of my life, whether they were my childhood playmates or are my current “fur-kids”. The boxes in the series are named in the order that these precious creatures came into my life, though the box placement does not follow the same order. The boxes are listed here in the order you will find them. The trail is concrete, flat, and almost completely shaded.

This series has been completely replaced using hanging pouches instead of boxes. The last pouch contains the log for the entire series, along with a bonus stamp; the others are mini-pouches containing only the stamps for my friends.

Enter the park from north Collins Street (Hwy 157) just north of Green Oaks Blvd. A large iron archway and sign marks the entrance. Park at the back of the first parking area on the left and look for a green “historic marker” sign in the back left corner of that lot, pointing out the sidewalk path you should take into the park.

6. Beggar Boy.
Jake was the first pet that I had all of my own. We found each other at an ASPCA shelter in 1995. I had walked through the entire shelter looking for my new companion, but had not found the right one. As I reached the lobby to leave, I noticed some dogs in crates that were on their way to a PetsMart adoption day. I stopped to look, and asked for some time with this cute, yellow dog that looked like a midget yellow Labrador or an overgrown Chihuahua. We went to a play room and fell in love. Jake was eager to please and wanted to be everyone’s friend. He would carry a tennis ball around in his mouth for hours, and could hold his begging pose for as long as it took to get his reward. He actually taught my other dog, Molly, how to “assume the position”, and his record for time has outlived him.

Follow the sign and head down the concrete path into the park. If you take the first fork to the left, you’ll find a park map and a drinking fountain (with a doggie fountain, too). Go to the left past the map and fountain to read the historical markers. Then turn around, go the other direction, and cross the big iron bridge. Have a seat on the memorial bench facing the bridge. Look slightly to the right for a big fallen tree pointing away from you. Walk down the fallen tree on the side away from the bridge to some pieces of concrete hugging the log. Diagonally ahead and to the right, you will see a smaller fallen log. Step across it to a medium-sized hardwood on your right. A skinny hardwood should be in front of you. Jake is enjoying a juicy bone behind the first of those hardwoods, and his stamp is hanging in the vines above him.

7. Sweet Dreams.
Molly is a beagle mix who was born under a dilapidated stable in east Texas. She is as stubborn as all get-out, and loves to sleep almost as much as she loves to chase after squirrels and rabbits. The squirrels in my back yard come down out of the trees to tease her, timing their escape up the fence with stop-watch precision. Molly runs the fence-line after them until she can hardly catch her breath. She knows when it is time to stop though, and knows that she can continue the hunt in her dreams. I saw several squirrels as I walked the trail and knew how much fun Molly would have had if I had allowed her to come with me. The box is in a spot where she would love to take a nap and dream about the hunt.

From Jake’s bench, continue on down the walkway through a clearing to a metal handrail on the right at a scenic overview of the river. At the third red stripe before the beginning of the handrail, look to the right for a big tree with a big bent limb growing at the bank of the river. The pouch is hanging in a skinny cedar tree just in front and to the right of the bent tree, about 4 feet high and next to the trunk. Be careful not to wake my girl.

4. Tough Guy.
One day in the 80’s, two stray cats showed up in the neighborhood. One was an orange-striped tomcat, and the other was a petite long-haired female calico. The tom adopted my family, and the calico decided to live with our neighbors two doors down. Golden was as tough as they come. He would take on any animal that darkened the step of the back porch that he called home, and we often saw other strays bearing wounds that Golden inflicted. What I remember most about him is how one day he showed up on the porch with a couple of orange-striped kittens with his last name. We never saw the mother cat, so apparently Golden preferred to have sole custody of his kids.

Continue down the path, passing another metal handrail, a curve in the road, and a signed dirt trail on the left. When you find an unsigned dirt trail to the right, look directly across the sidewalk for a very large three-trunk hardwood. Just past that tree is a sidewalk heading to the left; there is a large hardwood on the left just a couple of feet off the trail. Directly across from that is a big viney bush, and Golden's pouch is on the front side closest to the 3-trunk tree, about 3-4 feet high. If you reach the 2-mile marker you went too far.

2. Little Big Man.
Amos was a black Chihuahua who thought he was the king of the world. He was a nervous little guy, but if another dog came down the sidewalk, he showed them who was boss. He was an outside dog, but I remember being allowed to bring him in during an exceptionally cold spell one winter. He got to spend the night with me cuddled up in my blankets.

Just past the 2-mile marker (don't panic, you haven't gone two miles), look for a small dirt path on the right that leads straight to the river bank. Look to the left for a tiny hardwood, then two slightly larger in a row, then a viney multi-trunk bush. Amos is guarding the path at that bush, and his pouch is hanging in it about 3 feet high.

5. Granny Cat.
Rachel was the petite calico that adopted our neighbors in the 80’s. When they later moved out of the neighborhood, they asked if we would take care of her since she was getting older and moving might be too hard on her. We readily agreed. When she was younger, though she looked too delicate and prissy to bother with hunting, she would leave presents of squirrels and birds for us at the back door. She was so sweet and cuddly, and loved to curl up on my chest and purr while I stroked her head. Rachel lived to be over 20 years old before her little body gave out in 2006.

Continue down the main path past the raccoon sign. The path will begin to curve to the right. Just before the main part of the curve, take the signed dirt trail to the left. There are two "thorn trees" on the corner, and behind them are two skinny hardwoods twisted together. Behind them is another large viney bush. Rachel is enjoying her nap in this sunny corner, and her stamp is hanging in the bush about 2-3 feet up. (Watch out for the thorns on the "thorn trees" - they could put out an eye!)

1. First Love.
Anna was my first pet. She was a black and brown dachshund that Santa Claus brought when I was 3 years old. She was tiny, and we fed her with a bottle until she was old enough to eat regular dog food. We used to chase each other around the backyard, her little legs going as fast as they could, until we were both worn out.

Go back to the concrete trail and continue walking. Take the signed little dirt path on the right into the trees, splitting off toward the right. Go to the bench on the left, and notice the big viney bush just behind it. Anna's pouch is hanging on the back side of that bush just above the ground.

8. Big Hairy Beast.
Murphy is the newest addition to the family. I found him on the City of Irving's shelter website… he was a 25-pound petite yellow dog with longish hair and one ear that was cocked forward. I went to visit him and met the sweetest, most shy little guy I'd ever seen. He came home with me, slept for two days straight, and promptly grew into a 45-pound hairy blonde mess. He looks and acts like a border collie, and loves nothing more than to herd the whole family around the house. His bark is pretty ferocious, though he still tends to be shy around people. I would love to see what he would do around sheep or goats!

Head back to the main trail again and keep walking. The path curves to the left and you will see a park sign with a spider on it. Look for a big rock and a bench on the left just before the bridge, and a little clearing on the right where Murphy likes to practice his herding skills. Murphy is very shy around people he doesn't know, so when he sees you coming, he takes off running up the dirt path to the left of the bench. There is a small fallen log on the left next to a piece of white rock/concrete next to the path on the right. Look beyond the rock into the small trees for a wavy fallen log that runs parallel to the path. Go to that log, and look for Murphy's pouch hanging on a branch about 4-5 feet high next to it.

3. Little Girl.
Cinders was a Shih Tzu that we adopted from my aunt and uncle when she was just a pup and I was a teenager. She had so much personality, and was very smart. She knew several tricks, but her favorite game was to chase a sock with a knot tied in it, jumping back and forth over me as I lay on the floor. She would not bark when we first got her, so we yipped and growled and barked at her to show her what she was supposed to sound like. Her response back at us was to sneeze. She finally did learn to bark, but she would sneeze first for the rest of her life.

Head back to the main trail again and keep walking, following the curve to the right, and cross a small bridge. Across a bridge is a triangular intersection. If you go to the left, you’ll end up at one of the back parking lots for the regular River Legacy Park. Instead, go to the right following the blue lines. About six sections of concrete before the next 4-way intersection, look for a stump on the left very near the trail only a few feet tall. Continue to the fourth section of sidewalk, and on the left is a big hardwood that forks out into several big branches; in front of that is a big viney bush. Cinders is resting beneath it and her bag is hanging in it toward the hardwood.

9. Dog Slobber (Log Box).
I adore my fur-kids. They have brought so much joy into my life and love(d) me unconditionally. It doesn't matter what kind of day I've had, which side of the bed I got up on, or what kind of mood I am in - they wag, pant, lick, cuddle, and never fail to make things better. There are lots of quotes that I love about pets, but I think my favorite one is this:
There is nothing better than to end a bad day covered in dog slobber.

Arrive at the four-way intersection and turn right. Look for a rock wall that leads to an overlook and a bench. Take the dirt path to the left of the bench, following along the river bank. Go to the first reasonably-sized hardwood on the right, and look to the left. In the tree-line you will see a small hardwood that splits and comes back together about 5 feet up… if you squint your eyes and tilt your head, the space resembles a heart. Because my four-legged friends have captured my heart, you will find this normal-sized pouch hanging about a foot off the ground in a viney bush to the left of that "heart tree", between it and a single-trunk tree about 6-10-feet away.