~9 miles @ ~11 min/mi

Two black dogs dash out to bark at me as I pass their home in the pre-dawn gloom. Son Robin and I are visiting my Father at his farmhouse near LaGrange and at 4:50am I set off to find the family church along the untraveled back roads. Unlike my last attempt (2009-08-09 - Dorothy Zimmermann) this time from Peeler Rd I turn right, not left, on Knape. It leads me to Onheiser-Kaase Rd (my father's mother's family was Onheiser and had land near here) which takes me to Niese Rd to the Swiss Alp United Evangelical Lutheran Church at roughly 4.5 miles. Lightning flickers silently in the distance.

The dogs sniff my hand, then follow me for the half mile to the church where I circle around the flags and head back. They're clearly enjoying themselves, sniffing at trash and taking excursions on the shoulders of the roads to chase imagined critters. At their home I try to tell them good-bye, but they're having none of that: they continue to follow me, trotting comfortably along behind. "Go home!" I command. "You idiots! You'll get lost!" They ignore me. Back at FM 609 I lead them up Zimmermann Lane to avoid a passing car, then down my Father's driveway and offer them water. They seem to feel fine and frisky. Dad and I wrestle them into the back seat of his car where they enjoy a ride back to where they belong. One of them has a collar tag that says his name is "Buddy". We let them out of the car and speed away before they can follow us and get lost again.

^z - 2010-08-01