Clara's Blog

Daddy, Scout and I did another hike. Mommy stayed home with New Dog. Reika is on strict rest: maybe she doesn't have a torn ligament after all, so rest might fix her up. It's sad. I think Mommy and Reika would have liked this hike. Oh, by the way, Reika is over her kennel cough, but I sill have it.

I hiked by myself for a little bit, but it was steep and slippy and just got worse! Mostly, I rode in the backpack, and Daddy said that I got a silver star! I wasn't fussy at all, not even after a long, bumpy car ride, and a long hike in the sun.

There were like a million butterflies and two million wildflowers and four snow-capped volcanoes. What species of flies are butterflies? I really wanted a butterfly to land on my hand, and I clutched a wildflower for forever to entice them, but no luck.

Daddy and I went up Ed's Trail. It's very scenic, but we had to scramble up some loose, steep stuff above big drop-offs, and that was scary. Especially with Scout doing his best Rockhopper Penguin. I didn't freak out, and I held on tight to the backpack handles, but later I told Daddy that I was scared.

We met lots of people on the trail. Another Daddy shared cherries with me, and a nice lady shared her trail mix. Later, she found my hat on the trail! Thanks, nice lady!

When we got home, I even pooped in the potty instead of my pants and fell asleep before 9:00 pm, so it was an all-round miraculous day.

Do you sometimes say, "No!" just because you feel like it? Do you then say, "No!" to any alternatives? Yes! Me, too. Know what? If you do it all the time, Mommy and Daddy get really agitated. Ha ha.

I had plenty of practice on our Fourth of July vacation. I might call it our Car Driving Vacation because we were in the car forever. (We went to East Lake Resort on the Newberry Caldera.) We fled the fireworks. Scout and I bark at fireworks.

So, I was pretty good in the car on the way there. We stayed in a cabin right on the lake, and I wanted to swim all the time. Lakes are also good for rock throwing.

I tried fishing, but you have to sit and wait for at least two or three minutes, and I don't have the patience for that.

I also did not want to sleep, ever. And I wasn't going to hang out alone in my bedroom, that's for sure.

Oh, do you know how to learn the rules? The secret: be naughty. When you're naughty: a) you learn the rules; b) you get attention. Scout is a good teacher.

I am doing more and more hiking on my own. Until I get tired. I am a good hiker.

The New Dog is funny. In every picture Mommy takes, Reika looks crazy.

So, actually, she has some problems. She got kennel cough from the shelter, and it got worse on vacation. (Pop caught it, too.) She coughed so hard that she vomited, and it was so bad that no one could sleep. Mommy drove her to Bend for medicine. Eighty mile round-trip. and the Bend vet thinks that Reika has a torn cranial cruciate ligament.

I think that the excitement, attention focused on Reika, and lack of sleep caught up with me at the end. I was, maybe, a bit evil. I cried when we left: I live here! Don't take me away from my home!

It was a long car ride home.

Though we did stop in Sisters, and Daddy shared his scone with me.