Cookie!

Here she is in Utah at 1 year old:

Okay, dogs have been asking:  "Where is your blog?".  I decided to add my blog for my latest trip to paradise below.  I will try to keep you up to date.  Have you seen my Momma in the pictures above?  Isn't she great?  I sure do love her! oxoxo

 

Welcome to Chapter 2!  If you want to find out how we got here, go visit Chapter 1.  It's been fun, so if you haven't read about it, you should check it out.

12/19/07 - Continued from Chapter 1

Well, as you might expect since Momma's here, this was one fine day!  We didn't quite do what we had planned, but that doesn't matter.  We are on vacation!

We are camped at Oliver Lee Memorial State Park about 10 miles south of Alamogordo, NM.  We did go for our run...up Dog Canyon.  What a name!  This was going to be fun for sure!  We ran about half the time and hiked the other half.  Daddy had trouble keeping up with us girls on the steep parts, but he was game enough when it was more level.  He blames the altitude, I think he needs to work with a personal trainer (hello!) more.  Well, whatever.  He is my Daddy!  Here we are at one of the overlooks running up the canyon:

I'm still on the leash here, but Daddy cut me loose right after this.  You can see the campground in the background.  You can also see White Sands National Monument on the right horizon and White Sands Missile Range along the whole valley horizon.  We actually saw and heard a bomb blow up when we were here.  Can you say mushroom cloud???  It's always good to have new ways to kill people...and dogs, I guess.

We ran/hiked up to an old rock cabin at the base of the upper mesa.  It was cold in the canyon/shade and warm in the sun.  Here's me and my wonderful mother:

Oh yeah, notice my nice trim belly?  Daddy and I worked on this all week to try to impress Momma when we found her.

From here it was all down hill.  I had a blast going back... if only my parents could run a little faster.  I had to keep stopping to make sure they weren't injured.  I'm not complaining though, I loved this run!

We got back to camp and we all realized that this would be a great day to take a break.  It was warm, the campground was quiet, Daddy met a new friend (W0WHE) and we were on VACATION!  So, we decided to do White Sands tomorrow and enjoy the sunset here.  This is a picture of the mesa we climbed on our run...

Note the big cactus.  I had another run-in with a cactus today.  It hurts, let me tell you.  I didn't want anyone to touch me, but Momma and Daddy trapped me.  Then, Daddy ripped, not one, not two, but THREE huge needles out of my paw.  OOUCH!  I have to admit it felt better after he pulled them, but it did hurt.  He held each one up for me to look at, and I pricked my nose on all three of them.  OUCH again... sometimes I am so stupid!

Well, that's it.  Tomorrow we will go to White Sands National Monument.  I'm looking forward to catching up on some nap time since our national parks don't appreciate or allow dog/people like me to see all the sites.

Good night my friends.  This has been one of the best days of my life!

12/22/07

It's been a busy last few days again.  I didn't have time to work with Daddy on my blog, so now I need to get caught up. 

On the 20th we packed up camp and headed for White Sands National Monument.  Since Daddy wanted to catch the evening light we took our time getting there.  We stopped and bought groceries and gas on the way.

It turns out that pets are allowed at WSNM, on a leash.  That's a welcome change from most National Parks!  We drove into the dunes, fixed some lunch (mmm Black Forest Ham is good!) and took off.  Daddy figured that we should hike towards the smaller dunes because fewer people would visit them.  We also found out that the flora was more interesting in the smaller dunes.  Here's a picture with more to come later.

While I was on my leash for the majority of the time, I was allowed to run around off my leash during the photo shoot part of our hike.  Daddy says if you believe that, he would like to talk to you about some prime property he has in Bolinas (sorry no water meter, but still prime).  Just drop him an email.

Anyway, it turns out that I set several land speed records for super cute rat terrier dogs running up AND down gypsum sand dunes.  That's right!  I used my vertical technology to light those sand dunes up!  I made those graceful antelope we saw a few days ago look like lumbering elephants!  Well, I digress... Momma and Daddy got some good pictures too as you can see.

This is me demonstrating how to go vertical to Momma!

It's smoking!

After our fantastic hike we were practically ushered out by the NP rangers trying to get the park closed an hour after sunset.  They were nice and very professional, but definitely wanted to go home too.  Anyway, we made it out with 10 minutes to spare.

Daddy had expected to stay at Leesburg Dam State Park, NM that night but it was apparently closed.  We ended up going to the Cibolla State Park, NM and spending the night for $10.  We were the only ones in the 'basic' campsites so I had the run of the place.  The gophers were scared, but I was so tired from racing up and down white sand dunes that I only dug half-heartedly for them. 

Daddy grilled chicken, asparagus, bread, and salad (not grilled) for dinner.  Momma prepped everything so it was pretty easy for Daddy.  Yum yum, it was great!  I was so tired from White Sands that I can't tell you much more about that night.  It was lights out for me.

I slept great after the White Sand Dunes.  The 21st turned out to be one of those days again... driving, driving, driving... so I just tried to keep the sleep rolling.  While we did stop a few times during this journey, I only sacred up a single rabbit -- in the Datil Mountains.  Other than that, the only interesting thing that happened was that we almost ran out of gas.  The wind was so strong that Daddy overestimated the Mothership's range.  With the long distances between towns, he made a small miscalculation.  He figured out that he was getting about 8.5 mpg instead of 10.  I think the only thing that saved me from running to the next town for gas was the Wal Mart truck that Daddy latched onto for the 50 miles into Flagstaff.  Daddy says: "Thanks, Sam!"

Momma spent all these hours of driving reading guidebooks about the area.  Based on this new learning, we had a family conference to figure out where we REALLY wanted to go.  I said, RABBITS!, Daddy said he was flexible but had really enjoyed our first few days out in Utah and Arizona.  Momma said, "Then why are we thinking about going to these other places?  Let's go back to Utah and chase rabbits!" -- At least, that's the way I heard it.  And that's what we did!  I was soooooo... stiff from running in the sand dunes and, well, just plain sleepy!  I did dream about rabbits, which was fun.

We ended up driving forever.  We even powered through a heavy snowstorm at the Continental Divide! 

Oh yeah, this was funny.  The Continental Divide passes through Pie Town, AZ.  Pie Town is named after the pies made by one of the early residents.  About 15 miles past Pie Town is an un-named dirt road going to Mangas.  Daddy said he wasn't surprised to see that "Man-gas" was around here after all those people had stopped in Pie Town.  He said he thought the road was probably named Barking Spider Rd!  I laughed so hard I thought one of the barking spiders might have jumped on me too!

We made it to Page, AZ by about 8:15 p.m.  We were very tired indeed!  We slept like rocks at, you guessed it, Wal Mart.  Thanks again, Sam! 

Today we did some chores, stopped at the BLM visitor center in Big Water, and then headed back up Cottonwood Canyon Road.  Super cool!  Our goal:  Go as far as we could go over the next couple of days.  If we make it to Utah 12, that's great.  If not, that's okay too.  We stopped along the Cockscomb to camp and hike.  Here's some more pictures...

Checkers anyone?

I wonder where this stick came from?

12/25/07

I'm a little bit behind, so I will try to get caught up today.  First of all, Merry Christmas to everyone!  I hope you are having as good of a Christmas as we are...

So, I have to start by going back a few days.  Last Sunday we drove up most of the rest of Cottonwood Canyon Road.  It was truly fantastic!  In addition to being a geological phenomenon, there are rabbits everywhere!  I think it's about even between the cottontails and jackrabbits.  They both have their own challenges when you are chasing them, but I think I like the jackrabbits the best.  You really have to fly over the brush to keep up with them!  I don't know, I do really love them both.  And they are so friendly!  They usually stop to let me catch up when they get too far ahead!

 

View from the top of the Cockscomb.  Nice dress isn't it!

The fault-line.

Momma in the narrows of Cottonwood Canyon.

Scouting the road near the narrows.

The road was steep and tight in places as you can see, but it was pretty manageable.  There was a bit of snow on the north slopes, but the Mothership handled it without any trouble.  She sure is reassuring!  We spent the night at Grosvenors Arch. 

On Christmas Eve we packed up and drove the 9 miles or so to Kodachrome Basin State Park.  These last few miles were probably the trickiest because there were some steep, north-facing downhill grades that were covered with snow and mud.  We went very slow so we didn't slide too much.  The park entrance is at the end of the paved road, so it looks like we made it through the "probably impassable" Cottonwood Canyon Road without a hitch!

I didn't expect much from KBSP.  Even if I got to go on the trails I figured I would be stuck on a leash.  Turns out, the park was beautiful, and I was able to introduce myself to the rabbit community.  I was so excited!  I played with the rabbits at top speed for about an hour, then I decided to concentrate more on the hike (it's much easier walking along with Momma and Daddy than it is chasing rabbits and I was getting a bit tired). 

We hiked about five miles on the Panorama trail and it's spurs.  The trail was pretty muddy with some snow on it.  The mud was very slick and stuck in my paws, but it wasn't as bad as that nasty black mud at Wahweap!  I really didn't have too much trouble with the mud because I've been on a diet and have lost some weight.  Momma and Daddy on the other hand did a lot of slogging, sticking, sliding, and complaining about the mud until they got used to it.  I think a diet may be in order for them too! 

The mud!

While we were in the park we talked with the very nice ranger.  He said that there were some "host" campsites with full hookups available in the campground.  It was only $15 more than the daily entry fee and it would allow us to run our Christmas lights, take long showers, run the regular furnace, and generally live the life of luxury.  Oh yeah, and the campground was completely empty, so it was just like being in the wilderness anyway.  Just between you and me, I also thought Santa would be able to find us more easily, and that's important to a two-year-old.  So, we went for it as a family Christmas present.

This morning it is cold and windy!  We a had a few minutes of snow last night at about the time Santa came through.  I got tons of cool toys and chews!  So many I couldn't play with them all at once!  I'm going to nap up and then I'll be able to play with them all!

We ended up going for a 6 mile run in the very cold, hard wind.  I chased lots of rabbits, but I was sure I would get frostbite on my nose.  Luckily we made it back before that happened.

It's on to Hole in the Rock Road tonight!

Merry Christmas everyone! 

12/27/07

Yesterday was a bit of an off day for Momma and Daddy.  For me, I worked as hard as ever at chasing rabbits. 

On Christmas evening we spent the night in a cowboy campsite we know of off of Hole in the Rock Road.  It's flat and gives us easy access to Devils Garden, which is a really fun place to go.  In the summer there are tons of lizards here, and this time of year it is rabbit central!  I'm really getting confident these days, so there were times when I lost track of my people.  When they finally started calling me, I could barely hear them and it would take me four or five minutes of mad dashing around to find them!  But I'm good at that too, so it was all fun for me.

After Devils Garden we hiked up-wash to the Fifty-Mile Mountain range.  The cliffs are about a mile away, so it was a pretty easy hike.  We wanted to explore the sandstone in the cliffs. 

It was a cold day, but the sun was relatively warm.  Unfortunately, every time a cloud blew in, or when we were in the shadow of the cliffs, it was really cold and I started thinking about the warm Mothership!  Of course, I couldn't leave Momma out there to freeze -- Daddy can fend for himself I figure.

When we got to the cliffs I shot right up the lower portions of them.  It was really easy so I tried to convince Daddy to give it a shot.  He decided to try it and he did pretty well, for a human.  He told Momma he thought it was doable, and that we should traverse the cliffs to a more colorful spot we had chosen from Devils Garden.  Well, there were some easy spots, and there were some real hard spots -- I went vertical on one wall and got stuck at the bottom because of the sandy face.  Fortunately Daddy and I were able to figure out a way around and I met them on the other side.

We could see for miles from the cliffs.

I got really cold because we weren't moving fast enough and the rock and wind were cold.  I finally convinced everyone that it was time to go home.  That's when it really got fun!  We were above a very steep drop off and couldn't find an easy way down.  We ended up backtracking to an easier section.  From there, I lead us on the fastest path back to the Mothership.

After our hike we went into town to run some errands, and get dinner.  I ate some of Daddy's chili burger which was good.  Unfortunately for Daddy, by the order of me and Momma, he will never eat chili again -- those types of fireworks are just not allowed in a small camper. 

We spent the night in our cowboy camp again.  This morning it was about 15 degrees and we had a very light dusting of snow.  Brrrr, it was too cold to go outside!  Daddy had to go out with me to convince me I wouldn't turn into a popsicle as soon as I touched the ground!

12/29/07

It was 9 degrees this morning!  So cold I had to wear three coats, including Momma's down vest!

We've had two more BIG days!  I will try to write about it later.  We will be out of range for a couple more days, so stay tuned.

12/27 in Harris Wash -- it was either this ledge or ice. 

 

(later as dictated to the old man...)

Okay, I've got the 29th done, but I'm still working on the 27th and 28th.  I'll post them as soon as I get them done and let you know.  We had another very big day planned for today, but woke up tired and so cold that we decided to take it one rabbit chase at a time.  Our plan was to see some new hoodoos we had "discovered" and then go re-visit Zebra and Tunnel slot canyons.  Personally, I'm not a big fan of slot canyons.  It's hard for me to walk in the cracks at the bottom -- I get kind of wedged in around my rib cage and my legs don't reach the floor!  Also, many of them have large, icy-cold water pools at the bottom of them.  Momma and Daddy can stem over the pools, but I can't.  If they aren't frozen enough for me to walk on, I get wet and very cold.  That's not my idea of a good time!

See what I mean?  That's THIN ICE and COLD WATER under Momma's feet!

So we started our day out going to some new hoodoos.  We don't know the name of them, but they were pretty cool anyway.  Here's a look at them:

I know a good view when I see it!

There was a really cool raptor nest on one of the tallest hoodoos.  Check it out!

Eagle's nest!

We had a great time at these hoodoos, even though it was 11 degrees when we left the Mothership!

After we finished our five-mile hike, we drove over to the parking area near Zebra and Tunnel.  I was able to catch some shut-eye and get warmed up on Momma's lap.  Mmmm, that was nice!

Once at the parking area, Momma made us some yummy sandwiches for lunch.  While eating, we all agreed that we were cold and very tired from the last few days.  We have been to both of these slots before, so we decided we would bail out on our plan and head back to Kodachrome Basin State Park and hook up to power etc. again.  Daddy thought this would be the best way for us to warm everything up (most importantly me!) and unfreeze the holding tanks. 

Once we got settled into our campsite we went for a hike as the sun was setting.  Here are a couple of snapshots from Momma's little camera.  What a beautiful evening and place!

Daddy looking like a hoodoo.

Daddy with a hoodoo!

12/31/07

We hiked North Coyote Buttes today.  It was wonderful.  I'll give more details and pictures when I get home...

There's a rabbit around here!

Riding a breaking wave!

1/1/08

Happy New Year everyone!  We hiked South Coyote Buttes today.  Amazing!  And lots of four-wheeling to get there.  More details and pictures when we get home!

1/2/08

We decided to call it a vacation and head for home.  So, today was driving, driving, driving.  I loved my time on Momma's lap, with a few breaks on Daddy's lap driving.  We are staying in Mojave National Preserve tonight.  We will take a hike in the morning and then head for home tomorrow!  Max, beware the rabbit hunter will be looking for cats again starting tomorrow night!

1/3/08

(A note from Daddy at 8:12 p.m.)

We are home, safe and sound.  It's raining hard here -- we went from one cold winter to our wet one, but we are very glad to be home.  Our little house is so big!  Campers will do that to you...

Cookie is all caught up on her blog, but we are not caught up on the dictation.  We will get it done ASAP.  Hopefully this weekend -Dan