Prattmandu Bengals - Rubahs Scrapbook

My name is Rubah. I am a Champion. Before I was a Champion, I was an Ambassador. That's what Mom and Dad tell me, anyway. About a week after Dad brought me home from Arizona, Mom slapped a harness on me, and off we went in the car. (I like riding in the car. All those other cats have to stay at home, and I get all of Mom and Dad's attention.) Well, we wound up at a very noisy place that Dad called an Air Show. I got to walk around on my leash and meet all kinds of people. Some of them ran right out and got their own Bengals.
I was a natural on the leash. I help by ducking my head for the harness and holding still for them to snap the leash on. Then they take me all kinds of cool places, like cat shows, Home Depot, Lowe's, Petco and Petsmart. My favorite thing to do is camping. I make sure that Mom and Dad know it's my favorite thing by purring the whole time we're out there. Mom said I could have this page for my scrapbook. I hope they will take me camping again soon!

So much water!

I am the King!

This was before I had my own tent. I got to kick back in my show cage. Now my show cage has cedar berry stains on the bottom. They look like poop, which embarrasses Mom. I just chuckle.

Mom was fishing. I thought it was cold and boring, so I crawled into Dad's cozy fleece for a nap.

That's me on the way home. I always find my own nest in Mom's Jeep. You can see what a happy camper I am! I don't know why Mom didn't take pictures of me in the tent. I was so cute all cuddled between them in the sleeping bag. I purred as loud as I could so they would know I liked it.

This is my second trip. I'm crossing the creek here. This was a very cool place. I like mountains, even if they're little ones.

There are lots of cool things in water. I like to play with them. Mom doesn't like it when I try to drink the water, though.

This is me hanging out by camp. I was hoping someone would take me for another hike. I like hiking.

Well, I got a little bored, so I started playing with these big strings.

This is my new tent. It's just for camping.

Yay! Another hike. I like to go see new things. Mom is impressed that I know what trails are for. I don't see why. After all, I'm not impressed that she knows what trails are for!

Here is our beautiful campsite in the Guadalupe Mountains. It was a very long drive to get there. We got to stay in a motel on the way. I like motels because they have lots of cool smells. But I like camping better.

We went to Sitting Bull Falls. This is me looking wild for Mom. She likes to take pictures of me. On this trip, they took 81 pictures. Two were of a blue fox we saw. The rest were all me.

Here I am in the grotto. It was very hot outside the grotto, so I liked hanging out in it.

Dad took this picture. Mom is holding my leash. She says it keeps me safe. I don't mind it at all. In fact, I like it. I come running when I see the leash. It means I get to go outside. When I was a baby, I purred every time I saw it.

I got a little tired at Sitting Bull Falls, so I decided to take a nap. I don't know why Mom and Dad got so upset when I found this little cave and curled up inside. I would have come out in a few hours.

This is me and my tent again. I get to go in and out as long as I have my leash.

Dad's watching me climb a tree. They sure do like to watch me climb trees. If I ever want their attention, all I have to do is start up a trunk.

When it rains, there's not much to do, so I curled up for a nap. Dad covered me with his shirt because I was shivering. Things get pretty cozy when it's just me, Mom and Dad.

This was not my favorite trip. In the first place, Mom & Dad decided that the newest little Princess, Akashi, had to go along. Worse, though, was being stuck in the tent while it rained and rained and rained. We only got to go for a short little walk. No real hiking at all. And everything I did, that little copy-cat princess did, too, so Mom & Dad were all gushy about how cute she was.

Hanging out.

Here's the little princess. When the tent went up, she dashed right in screaming, "I'm not a camping cat! I'm a house cat! I'm a show cat! Don't you know I'm too beautiful for this?"

I hope Mom & Dad were paying attention.

At least we were cozy.

Finally. There's a Garner State Park disaster between the Ouachita trips and this, but no photos. Dad works too much. Mom worked too much. We never got to go camping! But just last week, they took me to the place where they had their first date. (And he didn't even kiss her on that first date!)

Mom loves it. When you wake up in the morning, you can watch the breeze blowing through golden tipped grasses. One part of the ridge above reminds her of the eastern Sierras, and the rest is all gorgeous desert. Dad loves it, too. After they first met in person in the Anza Borrego desert (Mom's favorite place on the planet; she promised I can go next year), Dad knew Mom would like Dog Canyon.

I have no idea why it took them so long to bring ME there. I mean, they took me to the Honeymoon Spot in the Guadalupe Mountains. Sheesh.

Hanging.

At the campsite, ready to go for a hike. Does anyone want to go for a hike?

You can see my new white tail tip in this photo. I used to have a black tail tip like all other Bengals, but I lost it in an accident. Now I'm even more unique!

Woohoo! We're hiking. Look at all these gorgeous verbenas. Don't they look better with me in the middle? Mom thought so.

This is a view of part of the canyon and stables. This should be a popular place for horse camping. Maybe those weird animals I saw scared the horses away. I've met horses, nose to nose. I've met cattle, dogs, strange cats, and tried to meet some raccoons one night in the Guadalupe Mountains, just above Dog Canyon. Heck, I've even watched the Penny Princess meet a scorpion, and it didn't phase me. Mules reminded me of street sweepers on Bourbon Street. I did not like them. I don't know why.

Usually, Mom has the leash. We like to play a little game. She hikes past me, and I stop. Just before the leash reaches it's end, I run ahead of her to the other end and stop. We played the game here, too, but Dad held the leash.

Here I am with Dad hiking on a trail that said "No Dogs." The picture was very clear: A dog on a leash with a circle and slash through it. I am not a dog, so I was good to go, but I don't get it. If mules, horses and people can hike there, why not dogs? I know my people always clean my poops up on the trail. Surely dogs' people do, too? Horse and mule people don't. They leave them there for me to sniff. Mom says it has to do with people who want to get rid of pets.

We didn't go very far, so I was disappointed, but at least we got to hike for a little bit. Mom and Dad say we'll go back.