Sparky the Fruit Sniffing Beagle

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One last little tale before I consider this trip officially over.

I was surrounded by those orange shirted students from the plane while waiting for my bag to appear, they having cleared customs.

Off to my left, a small drama was unfolding. A Border Patrol officer with the cutest Beagle I'd ever seen was checking out one of the students. He told him to take off his backpack and the kid (of course) didn't understand. So the officer politely helped him remove it. He told the kid to set it on the floor, whereupon Sparky went to work sniffing and wagging.

Sure enough, the kid was holding - a dozen Chinese apples. Sparky looked on proudly as the officer told the kid "next time, no fruit." Sparky stood there beaming at his owner, clearly proud to be able to do his part to keep our borders safe.

And so it goes, back home once again.

Here's a summary of my walking around pictures.........


























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