Adventures of Clay and Pam

After considerable thought, and near constant internet shopping by Pam (and resulting endless discussion) we decided to purchase a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy. After one mistep at an obvious puppy farm, we arranged to purchase the puppy from a reputable kennel near Houston. We saw the picture of this puppy on the website, checked lots of references. We thought he was very cute and they said he was house broken. We met the breeder in Brenham and in person he was so cute and cuddly. He weighed only 6-7 pounds although he was 3 months old.

We decided to name him Bogey at the time not realizing that there were already 2 bogeys living in the negiborhood. Being in a golf course community, what were we thinking? We thought we were so original.Bogey was the runt of the litter, a skinny little guy, but has proven to be a wonderful pet. He is an excellent lap dog, great company, has very few bad habits, loves to play, and now goes on all our vacations with us. For a little guy, he is a great trail hiker and explorer. He loves hotels and thinks everybody loves him. He struts through the lobby of hotels like he owns the place. Because he is a spaniel, we thought he would enjoy the pool in the summer, but that is just not true. He hates it. Just trust us on that. He really, really hates it.

Shelley and Beaux were at the house when Bogey was a puppy and just loved playing with him. Bogey was so little that playing was more of a priority than going outside. Beaux says - "uh oh, he just pooped on the floor!" I scolded Bogey, bad dog and all that, whapped him. Shelley immediately said my voice was not harsh enough to train him and Beaux said it was more of a celebratory tap (kind of a high five) than a corrective whap. Well, so much for my big bad dog training. Luckily, he has not done it since (except that one mysterious pile of poop left upstairs for who knows how long). I don't know who left it, but it wasn't my baby Bogey bear.

Labels: cavalier king charles, family, love, pam strange

Big Bend in October, 2006. We journeyed with Charles and Carolyn Walker to the Trans- Pecos Big Bend area for a long weekend of hiking and exploring. Charlie and I rehiked one of our favorite trails, Mule Ears, about a nine mile round trip with some terrific views both of Mule Ears Peak and the basin through rugged remote country. We were on the trail for about 4 hours and never saw a sole. The highlight of the trip was the extreme worry that I had lost my billfold at the turnaround on the hike and we would have to rehike the trip the next day. Fortunately, although the billfold had fallen out of my pocket, it had done so in the truck. Pam and Carolyn that day chose to explore by car going to Marfa, Fort Davis and Marathon. The next day we went to the basin at Big Bend where Carolyn painted, Charlie, Pam and I hiked. Our intended trail to The Window was closed due to bear activiity so we deviated to go part of the way up toward Emory Peak. The highlight of that hike was nearly stepping on a bull snake that had chosen trail side grass to hang out. The hike was fun and pam did great - minimal whining. The park was at it's best from an asethetic standpoint because virtually no one was there. Its remoteness is my favorite part except for the extraordinary geology. (from Pam - I was better on the hike once I decided to be the leader and therefore my pace was the hike pace.)

One of our favorite things to do is just take off in the car to see the sights here in central Texas. Pedernales Falls State Park was a wonderful day trip we took in the spring. It was a beautiful almost warm day that we spent driving through the countryside, then playing like children on the rocks at the Falls. It was great to study the geology and imagine the difference when the river is running. We can return home and watch the weather reports when the rain is falling upstream. Fascinating study of nature! And Clay is so good at knowing all about this stuff. It just comes so naturally to him to learn and remember those facts. We didn't take nearly enough pictures. I guess we just were having too much fun playing.