Where's Hiker?

After breakfast this morning I took Hiker out for a 1.5 mile walk. We came home and I was out in the backyard with Hiker picking up her poop and watering my flowers. I heard the trash truck out front, so I went to get the empty trash bin and put it back into the garage. I had to open the big door on the garage to get the bin. Hiker is usually pretty good about not going out to the front yard unless I'm out there. I knew she had followed me into the garage because I had seen her standing next to the 4Runner. I went and brought the bin into the garage and I saw Hiker still next to the 4Runner. I turned to unlock the door that goes from the garage into the house. Since we had just gotten back from our walk, the house was still locked. I opened the door and I turned to call Hiker and she was not there. I closed the house door and went to see if she was in the backyard, but she wasn't. I started calling her and she did not come. I ran out to the front yard and looked up and down the street for her and did not see her. I kept calling her name at the top of my lungs and I was so scared. I know the trash trucks scare her and I thought she had gotten frightened by the trash truck down the street and had maybe took off running. She does this thing I call “Turbo Dog” in the house and in the backyard. She runs like the wind until she tires herself out and I was afraid that she had turned on the “Turbo Dog” and run down the street. I kept calling and calling and could not understand why she did not come to me. Then something told me to “check in the house”. I ran back into the house and there she was, sitting in the entry looking at me like “Mom, I'm right here. Why are you running up and down the street yelling out my name”? I felt so relieved. I grabbed her and hugged her so tight. I guess she had sneaked into the house as soon as I had opened the door and I didn't see her slide by me. I was so scared that my heart was pounding. Thank God she had not run away. Hiker and I sat out on my patio for about an hour and a half this afternoon. Weather was really nice. 80° or so. Linda came over this afternoon and we weeded the slope on the north side of my house. Had some really big dandelions growing there. Waiting to see if my handy man comes to work on the roof after he gets off work.