Dakota, Corsicana's K-9 star (August 30, 2019)

Shades of Clint Eastwood's latest film, The Mule.  Did you know retirees in rental cars are profiled as drug runners for the cartels?  We found out in Corsicana, Texas, when Tom was pulled over after going through a yellow light that might or might not have turned red.   Circumstantial evidence: 

• We are retirees
• We were in a rental car
• We took "back roads" from Austin to Shreveport instead of I-35 and I-20 (The officer claimed to be unaware that it was Labor Day weekend and traffic could be heavy on the interstates)
• We are from Austin, where "drug laws are lax," according to the officer. He asked if we "like to toke a little weed" (No, and what decade are you from?)
• We had been to Big Bend and Terlingua--right on the US border with Mexico!--the previous day
• The day of the stop, we had traded in our rented 4-wheel drive Nissan Pathfinder (good for flooded roads, as it turned out) for a smaller Kia Sportage (better mileage; no need for 4-wheel drive between Austin and Shreveport).  The officer explained that cartels use rental cars retrofitted with special compartments for the goods. Retiree drug runners switch out an empty car for a loaded one, then make another run.  I learn something new every day.  Seriously.
• We agreed the officer could search the car, which meant opening our suitcases. We had taken the Pathfinder and our luggage to the rental place to switch vehicles, transferring our luggage to the Sportage. When we hike in remote places like Big Bend, Tom carries a machete in case we encounter a bear or mountain lion. The machete was still in his suitcase and was partly  unsheathed.  The officer nearly sliced his hand on it!
• We agreed that Dakota the drug dog could check the Sportage.  Then I wondered to myself if the previous renters had been retirees who might have left some evidence behind.  Luckily not.  Dakota was an adorable black Labrador who pranced through her paces.
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At the end of the 45-minute process, Dakota declared us clean and the officer forgot all about writing a traffic ticket.  I explained about the blog and asked if I could take a photo of Dakota.  She put on her best "scary drug dog" face for me.  Good dog!