So This is How Cats with Real Homes Live?

Well folks, I'm back from Hollywood and no, I didn't get discovered by Steven Spielberg for his next big movie about handsome, sexy cats! In fact, I didn't even get near Hollywood or Disneyland, where I had hoped to run into Mickey and Minnie.

As we left home, I yowled for about the first 15 minutes after my carrier was put into the car, but by the time we reached the freeway, I had curled up into a ball and was sound asleep. It wasn't at all bad to make the almost 400-mile trip in the car.

Then what I did mostly after arriving in California was hide in the bedroom. But then I did finally take a tour of my human "auntie" and "uncle's" fine home. You see, I don't remember ever being in a real house before, much less a HUGE house, so it was kind of scary to be confronted with all that space. Who knew what might be hiding behind one of the columns in the entry, or around the next corner. There were lots of corners. But what really confused me was finding other black kitties hiding all over the house.

The first one I saw was in our bedroon. I walked towards the mirrored closet doors and suddenly spotted a huge black kitty that looked an awful lot like me. What a shock! Who knew my twin lived in California? I jumped straight up in the air when I saw it, then after a while I crept up to it and found out it wasn't threatening at all. In fact, it just looked back stupidly at me!

Then when I ventured out of the room, I found a shadowy black cat in a curio cabinet in the living room. In fact, in almost every room, there were black cats jumping out at me as I walked by. There was one in the huge TV screen, and in every bedroom that had mirrored closet doors. I even saw one in the mirror over the vanity in the bathroom. Whoa!

I was just getting used to the plethora of cats and all that freedom when it was time to return to Arizona again. I gotta tell you, I could grow to love having a big home to romp in. I might could lose some weight running from the entry to the family room. But all those black cats had better watch out because next time I'll be prepared for them. I'll hiss at them and raise my back to scare them away.

Oh, I did misbehave the first morning there, when I decided to wake up my people the old-fashioned way at about 4:00 A.M. -- by jumping in the middle of them. I wanted to make sure they stayed awake for awhile and protected me from all the other cats. And the last night, I discovered the dangling drawer pulls on the dresser, and that I could make noise by sticking my paw under them and letting them flop back against the drawer. What fun! But on the trip home, I was good as gold (okay, brass) and slept most of the way.

I was one worn out pussy cat following a weekend of traveling and exploring a real house. When I got home I collapsed in front of the open door, flat on my back, with my front legs stretched out straight above my head. My she-person said I looked like a bear skin rug, and almost as big. Naw, I'm just a tired little old kitty cat.

Going to visit aunties and uncles in California was almost as much fun as Disneyland! I can't wait to go back if they'll have me.

Yippee! I'm Goin' to -- Disneyland?

Well here we are back in our old site in the RV park, and I immediately recognized the bushes and wanted out. So my she-person tied a long line to my leash, which was fastened to my harness--which we all know can't hold me for long. But I was content to sniff and chew on tasty blades of grass under the bushes next to the patio. After all, I've explored this area totally before when I was running loose and homeless, so there was no need to get particularly excited about it all.

Anyway, all of a sudden I guess I pulled a certain way, and there was my harness lying on the ground! I just sat there staring at it, dumbfounded. I didn't know if I was going to get in trouble or not. But suddenly my she-person spotted it lying on the ground and asked me if I wanted to go in. You bet I did! Well, not exactly go in, but at least get back to the safety of my doorsteps. I left skid marks as I made a beeline for the door. It's one thing to want to run free, and it's another to suddenly and unexpectedly find yourself free. Scary!

Tomorrow we're leaving for a few days and driving to California. Maybe the folks will take me to see Disneyland and I can meet Mickey and Minnie. I'll bet they would make fine dinner - er- companions. Yippee! Then I get to have my body stroked by all my human "aunties" and "uncles." Double yippee! I can hardly wait.

My cat carrier is already sitting on the floor inside and I've been checking it out, including going inside it and sniffing around. We'll just have to see how I react to being put in it and the door fastened, then riding in the backseat of the car for 350 or so miles. I'll bet I can make my people sorry they didn't leave me at home. . . g-r-r-r-r-r!

I'll write more about my California adventures when I return home. . .

The Great Outdoors

It's been a few days since I posted, but believe me, I haven't been idle! I can always find ways to get into heaps of trouble.

This morning, my she-person took me out on the leash and figured if I showed any inclination to walk, we'd walk. I didn't, so she fastened me to the arm of her chair while I moseyed around tasting the clumps of grass near the patio. But then, all of a sudden I realized that I know how to get out of my harness, and I did. I jumped backwards, got loose, and high-tailed it under the motorhome. When my people couldn't get me to come out, they banged on the side of the RV to scare me, then they squirted me with the water hose. Yikes!

That just about scared the shine off my fur!

There's not a harness made that will keep me from getting loose. And it's not like I want to get away from them. Not me. Do I have stupid written on my black brow? I think not! I know where my food comes from, and I don't intend to get too far from the pantry or the hands that feed me. But I would like to not be attached by the neck to a leash so that I can explore a little. Can't a cute, cuddly little boy like me have some freedom? Meow -w-w-w.

New Toys and Walks on the Leash

Oh boy! My he-person came home from the store bringing new toys for me. Of course, since I wasn't born yesterday, I know that it is important to look this particular gift horse in the mouth because when he comes bearing gifts, there's usually a catch. This time he brought a new feather toy and a long tube with holes at each end and one in the middle. I guess I'm supposed to tunnel through the tube, but there has to be a catch somewhere.

In the first place, the tunnel is made of fabric that cracks and crinkles when it's touched, so the noise kind of scared me at first. But I finally got brave and worked up the nerve to crawl through it, and what happens? Something attacks my behind and I can't turn around to fight it off! Grrr-r-r-r.

So now I know why he bought the feather toy -- so he could entice me into the tunnel, then attack me from behind with the feather. Humph! There's one thing he didn't count on, though. I'm so long when I'm stretched out that I can almost reach the far end while I've still got my back end out the other side. Now that I've smartened up, that makes it hard for my he-person to get me all the way inside the tunnel. Nah nah nah nah nah nah. I'm sure I will enjoy playing in the tunnel all by myself, but I do appreciate an audience that will laugh at me. Maybe I'll make up my own games with the tunnel.

My people have also started taking me out for walks again. We missed a few weeks while traveling, then when we got settled in here there were too many ants, and so spray was used all around the outside. Now it is good and dry, so my time has come to get trussed up in the harness and hauled out the door. We did this a couple of days ago, but I didn't get very far.

Last night it finally hit me how much fun this actually was, so I took a long hike. Of course, I was encouraged by my he-person pulling straight up on the leash so I couldn't lie down on the ground. My method of operation up to now has to been take two steps, lie down, chew on the grass, get up and take two more steps, and so on. So my walks were always short since it took me about 20 minutes to take half-a-dozen steps. But last night I walked in the grass and found out I really did enjoy being outdoors and walking. I even went across the road to another grassy area. Heck, I might want to do this every day! Purr-r-r-r.

Shady Sites, Wonderful Weather and Travel Plans

Well, we moved once again! One month in our site in Verde Valley, and my people weren't happy that there was no shade on the RV. They wanted a site up in the pine trees, which are way bigger than the deciduous trees and provide lots of shade.

It does get hot in V.V. every day before the clouds come in and cool it down. Sometimes that happens by 2:00 PM, but sometimes it gets up almost to 100 before the rain comes in about 4:00 or 5:00 PM. The air conditioner keeps it nice and cool inside, but I like my windows open so I can enjoy cool breezes, plus it's easier to see everything going on. I keep an eye on the neighbors who have a cute little dog. I met it a couple of days ago, but I was a little shy and only got within a couple of feet of it.

Now we're in a nice, shady spot and the windows and door can stay open until almost noon. We haven't had rain in a couple of days, so it has gotten up in the high nineties in mid-afternoon, but it's nice in this site and we always have really cool nights.

The rain should be back tomorrow. Yippee! I love the smell of the grass and trees after the rain. And now my people are thinking we might move again to the site where they were parked when I moved in with them. If only Dixie, the yellow lab can come back and park next door. I just love her and her people! They're the ones who rescued me one cold, dark night.

My people are threatening to haul my furry behind to California in a couple of weeks to meet all my human "aunts" and "uncles" who live there. We will be traveling by car instead of in the motorhome, so I'm not at all sure I will like that. I might raise a ruckus the whole way there to annoy my people.

Should I purr or growl?

Birthdays - When Is Mine?

Well I've certainly learned about a new reason to celebrate this week. My he-person had his birthday, and it appears that the focus of it is about eating good food. He came in reeking of something yummy two times this week, and I want to know, when will we celebrate my birthday?

I'm afraid mine will be skipped because my people don't know what day it was. That's because I was abandoned, and my old people didn't leave any information about me. I want a birthday, too!

What am I, pond scum?

I guess I'll have to figure out some way to let them know that they can pick a date. Maybe celebrate the day they took me in? After all, that's when my new life started. I can accept that as long as I get special treats and presents! I would be happy with some fish and those catnip-filled mice that they've got hidden from me and that I accidentally found one day.

Let's celebrate!!! Purr-r-r-r.

This Spot is All Mine!

Well, I've finally won at least one argument in our household. I've claimed one soft, comfy spot as all mine!

First of all, I tried to get comfortable in my peoples' chairs, but they would always run me out by almost sitting on top of me. I mean, sometimes I had to jump for my life if I didn't want to be squashed flat as a pancake. I don't want the sofa. I mean, if my people don't want to sit there, why should I? And the back of the sofa is only appealing when the window behind it is open. That is one place I like to stretch out on my back and let the cool breezes ruffle my fur. But make no mistake, I really prefer inconveniencing my people, and I've never seen them climb up on the back of the sofa to take a nap.

But I did happen to notice that sometimes my she-person puts her feet up on her footstool and sometimes she doesn't, so that's where I decided to claim MY space. Now, anytime I see her feet up on it, I put my front feet on it and squall at the top of my lungs until she has to notice me. And if for some unfathomable reason she doesn't understand or hear me, I climb up on the arm of her chair and squall in her ear. And yeah, I give a really piercing, loud meow when I want to get her attention. She jerks her feet off that stool so fast it makes my head swim, then I jump on it really fast and give her another snarky meow and dirty look to show her who is boss.

There's only one problem with my footstool. It is a glider stool that matches her glider rocker. Sometimes I wiggle around too much and accidentally get it swaying back and forth, then I roll off. I even managed to scratch my she-person one time because I was rolling around on it and went flying off the side next to her bare legs. As I stuck out my claws to try and get some traction before I hit the floor, I clawed her. Oops!

She didn't get mad at me, but she does steer clear when I'm relaxing on it now. Better not no one mess with me and my footstool.