Today started with another very early first breakfast. My Traveling Twosome have really been taking advantage of having the chariot back on the road lately ! Today’s weather had a lot of rain forecast, so their plans were not set in stone. I heard plans A, B, C, D and even E, discussed over breakfast while I was waiting for the three measly bits of wheat toast Mum tosses me. Of course I had already had my Chopper sized perfectly cooked fresh Welsh sausage prepared especially for me by That Bearded Guy. I just hang around for the wheat toast to humor My Mum ! All kinds of things were loaded into the chariot this morning ! Except for suitcases, one would think it was a week long safari or something. ( Rolls Handsome green Chihuahua eyes ) That Bearded Guy directed Mum onto an *A* road ( highway to us Yankee Doodle Chihuahua’s ) Before too long the sky opened up and rained like an Arizona Monsoon ! Mum is a good driver and the windshield wipers worked perfectly so it wasn’t all that bad really. Except I have to admit, that rear window wiper needs to take a serious holiday….somewhere else !! Every time I would get good and comfy on My Royal cushion it would pop up and try to chase My Royal bum !!! Made Me jump every time !!! After exercising My ever increasing Mind Control and a few good hard glares into the rear view mirror, Mum finally got the message and turned it off…Taps toes toes… Luckily, we out drove the rains before too many miles had passed. First destination was Conwy, 38 miles from My village of Gwernymynydd. It almost took My breath away when suddenly there it was ! A HUGE castle, just…right there ! ( I would drop my mouth open for dramatic effect, but Mum says I have Vulture breath today, so it’s been banned ! ) Mum has been there before, so she didn’t need any direction to find the place to park the car. I was really excited and could not wait to get out and explore. It was a bit cold and slightly windy, but I didn’t care….it just feels good there ! The first place we headed was down to the Conwy Quay ( pronounced ‘key’ ) Mum and That Bearded Guy love strolling along the quay. ( They spent 4 days in Conwy right next to the castle in a holiday rental 2 yrs ago….while I stayed in Arizona with Carmen, or Erika, and Rich…taps unamused toe toes, although I love those three with all my warm Chihuahua heart ! ) I got to mark a new Mussel sculpture on the quay. Very beautiful sculpture by Graeme Mitcheson, made from Kilkenny Limestone. Of course I marked it as Mine as soon as I saw it. Such wonderful art just had to be Mine. After strolling the quay for a bit, and posing with Mum in front of the smallest house in Britain, it was time for me to ride inside Mum’s warm bozo for awhile. ( hooded sweatshirt, so named a bozo for the pointed hood that looks like a clown hat ) Next stop in Conwy was Mums and That Bearded Guys favorite (away from Yr Wyddgrug) butcher shop, Edwards Of Conwy. That Bearded Guy went in and really stocked up on some good stuff !!! I even got to get a good sniff around when Mum slipped in to take a quick look at the sandwich side of the place to see what might look good for My…er…their lunch. That done, we took a shortcut through a very old cemetery that my Mum likes a lot, but didn’t really dawdle much…there were more places to explore down the road ! Once back to where the chariot awaited, That Bearded Guy loaded the Edwards loot into an ice chest in the car trunk ( ok, so here in the UK it’s called a boot, but this Yankee Doodle Chihuahua can’t get past the mental image of ol Cowboy Bob limping around looking for his missing cowboy boot ! ) This time he was kind enough to also put the roast beef sandwich into the cooler too !! No more sandwich torture for hours before lunchtime ! Next destination…..Llanberis. That’s going to be tomorrows blog entry though…….
Mussel Sculpture along the Conwy Quay. Yes, that’s My signature on the lower right shell
Excuse me, but you are blocking My signature Mum!
View from the Conwy Quay at low tide
YIKES, Seagull alert Mum !! Quick, get inside before it bombs us !
A look back at Conwy Castle
Yours Truly riding in Mum’s bozo saying farewell to Conwy Castle. I shall return soon !
To see all of the Conwy pictures That Bearded Guy took, click >> HERE<<
For more pictures of Conwy, Castle Conwy & Conwy Quay, taken by That Bearded Guy & My Mum in 2006…click->>HERE <<- & ->>HERE <<- & ->>HERE<<- They took well over 350 pictures that year, so these are just smaller sets.
This is Chopper The Explorer, Grand PooBah of all I survey and King of North Wales, signing off for now……
I raise my Paw and Wag my tail in a *bark out* to my wonderful friend, Debbie with a new last name as of Oct 11, 2008, in Marana/Tucson, AZ !!!!! HellOoOooo and Thank You Debbie Of All Pet Travel ! HelloOoOo and Thank You’s to Rich and Erika, miss and love You’s ! You too, Carmen, All of Vail AZ, …. Lots of kisses and Wags.…Hiya’s to Maxx and Duke !
Chopper The Brave ” Going Where No Chihuahua Has Gone Before “
This is the final entry about one of My big days out and about. After leaving the Chirk Aqueduct, That Bearded Guy directed Mum up into The Ceiriog Valley. He made only ONE wrong Navel Gator instruction, but since we were still headed in the right general direction, it was alright. Have I even mentioned that the welsh have insanely crazy skinny curvy lanes ? This was no exception ! Before too long we were back on track and winding our way up into another amazing green valley. No wonder much of North Wales is considered areas of outstanding natural beauty ! I had no idea My new Kingdom was so breathtakingly beautiful ! I learned something too. The Welsh like certain village names so much, that they re use them a lot. Only adding slightly different endings to distinguish them fro another village of the same name. For instance, the village of Llanarmon ( Clan Arm On ) Locally its just Llanarmon, but beyond a short distance they are referred to by Llanarmon DC or Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog. Close to My village of Gwernymynydd, there is another Llanarmon. That one is Llanarmon-yn-lal or Llanarmon YL . Give a town or village a long name, then shorten it so people who are not welsh speakers can actually say it i guess. Like the little town in North Wales with the outrageous name of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysyliogogogoch. Its referred to as Llanfair PG ( rolls handsome green Chihuahua eyes…can’t imagine why ) Mum just loves to pronounce these Welsh village names using American phonetics ! I digress however. We stopped in the quaint little village of Llanarmon DC( <- very cool link worth clicking ). Walked around a little bit absorbing the quaintness like typical tourists, even though the true reason was for me to claim just a little bit more of My ever growing domain. I posed with The Bearded Guy in front of a pub / hotel by the main crossroads ( the crossroads even had wooden signs like those you might see in an old Hollywood movie ) The pub was called The Hand. I am resisting mentioning how nice it wasn’t The Finger.Then The Bearded Guy indulged My Mums fascination for old old churchyard cemeteries. ( click here for a pic of the church ) The small old looking sign on the churchyard gate said ” no dogs” ( actually it said “Na Ci” then below it…No Dogs for the odd non Welsh speakers in a VERY Welsh area ) so Mum had to pick me up and become a Royal litter of sorts. Just as well because of the soft soft soft cushy feel to the ground. This one was full of ancient looking great huge Yew trees that had never had their leaf droppings raked away. Most of the headstones in the older section were dated in the early to mid 1700′s. Those yew trees looked a whole lot older than that ! Many of the grave markers had crumbled into small piles of slate rubble, so perhaps those even predated the 1700′s. Mum just now did a bit of research on the church ( thanks for being such a history geek Mum ! ) There is at least one yew tree in that churchyard that is over 1000 years old ! WOW ! No wonder so many of the headstones were half buried in tree droppings ! One of the mounds Mum walked around is said to be a Bronze Age Burial mound !!! The Bearded Guy snapped a few pictures for My Mum. I was feeling magnanimous and even posed for a few ! Back to My chariot once again and down the road we went in the direction we had come. This time The Bearded Guy didn’t lose us in Glyn Ceiriog. All the little villages we passed through had their own claim to extensive history ! One, Pontfadog, has the oldest Oak tree in Britain. King Henry II ( boo ) has the entire Ceiriog Woods cut down in 1165 ! Guess he heard all the werewolf legends too ! That Bearded Guy was going to take us up and over another steep mountain lane, that would take us back to Llangollen the back scenic way. When we had gotten to the top ridge, the road had evidently been washed out and there was a sign saying it was closed. Ok, this was NOT his fault….but I still raised a brow and began renovation ideas for the back window ledge ! Instead of going back down the ridiculously steep lane we had just climbed with the chariots fingernails, off along the ridge-top we went. The Bearded Guy decided against taking the little road that was for the diverted traffic from the closed one ( did not trust those kinds of diversions ) and since he had found the road we had taken on his map…all was good. I must admit, the views from top there were tremendous ! Mum stopped a few times to let The Bearded Guy take some pictures before the road descended towards Llangollen. We came around a corner, and there in the distance, was the Castle Mum and I were beginning to think The Bearded Guy was pulling our legs about ! Chirk Castle sure looked big !! From what The Bearded Guy said, a family actually lived in part of that castle until very very recently ! The National Trust finally convinced them to move i guess . Mum stopped the car and The bearded Guy jumped out and snapped a few pictures. Sighs heavily….evidently they do not allow Grand PooBahs inside. They will only let Me on the grounds ( which I understand is HUGE and criss crossed with lots of paths ) Not in the formal gardens though…drums handsome Chihuahua toe toes ! I suppose ONE of Edward I’s 700 year old Welsh Marcher fortresses can be claimed as Mine by proxy ! Grins a Charismatically Handsome Chihuahua grin…now which one will I let leave My marks…Mum or That Bearded Guy ?? It was a nice drive home, and a truly wonderful day. I visited and experienced so many ancient places, I was almost afraid my sniffer would give out. My marking leg sure was getting tired and stiff !! The kind of awesome day that took three blogs to tell everyone about !!! Thank you Bearded Guy for the great tour of parts of North Wales ( and England…looks at Mum and snickers…tee hee hee )
Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog AKA Llanarmon DC
Cripes Almighty !! smile will you, people might think you don’t like Chihuahua’s
Are we done yet? The pub’s still open. Make mine a Guinness !
Very Ancient Yew tree and old headstones in Saint Garmons Churchyard
Ssshhhh !! I’m hiding because the sign on the gate says “No Dogs” in two languages !
Riding on My Royal Barge ( well Mums back…was not allowed down on the ground except for a quick dash under a tree ! )
View over the Ceiriog Valley
Looking back in the direction we had just come from
Chirk Castle from a distance ( Mum was stopped in the middle of a crazy skinny curvy welsh lane ! )
One VERY tired and content Grand PooBah a mile from home after an excellent day !
For the complete set of 30 Ceiriog Valley Pictures, click ->>HERE<<-
This is Chopper The Explorer, Grand PooBah of all I survey and King of North Wales, signing off for now……
I raise my Paw and Wag my tail in a *bark out* to my wonderful friend, Debbie with a new last name as of Oct 11, 2008, in Marana/Tucson, AZ !!!!! HellOoOooo and Thank You Debbie Of All Pet Travel ! HelloOoOo and Thank You’s to Rich and Erika, miss and love You’s ! You too, Carmen, All of Vail AZ, …. Lots of kisses and Wags.…Hiya’s to Maxx and Duke ! Chopper The Brave ” Going Where No Chihuahua Has Gone Before “
Mum ordered a tv and dvd player online Wednesday morning. The Crone takes a couple of naps a day sitting on the Crone throne in the lounge ( living room to us Yankee doodle Chihuahuas ) If we make noise, we get glared at and possibly get turned to stone ! . With a tv and dvd player in our bedroom it gives us a hidey hole to go to where we do not disturb her. It arrived Thursday morning, less than 24 hours after she ordered it….pretty impressive for Amazon no frills delivery ( ok, so the real kudos go to the third party company it was sold through ) Friday morning the dvd player arrived. Barking at and sniffing the delivery mans shoes was pretty much the highlight of the entire morning. Walkies were cold and windy and that traitorous twosome had the NERVE to pick up The Coat . The Mind Control lessons I take online during the middle of the night are finally paying off. Mum put that coat down and didn’t touch it again all day. ( My Chihuahuan Levitation Skills are still terribly lacking…the sausages and bacon still remain on their plates ! ) The rest of the morning was pretty much the usual routine until right after lunch. That Bearded Guy suggested we all go for a nice little drive around the local area. Mum and I had NO idea what was so close by ! Within a 32 mile round trip drive we saw the most amazing things !!!!! Taking the crazy skinny lanes through quaint little villages with stone buildings, beautiful green countrysides, and even crazier skinnier lanes ! It took me awhile to settle in and ride around on my cushion in the back window. I am used to riding on Mums lap or shoulders, but that was always with our friend “C” driving. That Bearded Guy navy gator’d us up and over an AMAZING area called the Horseshoe Pass, then down the other side through an area called Worlds End. At first I was expecting to see Captain Jack Sparrow or at the very least, pirates hanging around. Alas, not the same Worlds End. This one was landlocked but ever so beautiful !!! Mum did some checking about Worlds End. It seems to be a hikers paradise, but not one that is easily found. All the information she found said ” Do not ask locals for directions to Worlds End…they will not tell you !!..” My chariot, Clio, really knows how to drive up steep crazy skinny lanes !. That particular route had been in use since the Tudor Period. Next time we will take pictures of it. The only pics taken this time were on the way up to Horseshoe Pass and on top of Horseshoe Pass. It was wild and windy up there on Horseshoe Pass, but I walked around anyway. I was very pleased to claim such a historical area as mine Mine MINE !! Even more pleased to get back into my warm charriot however ! Drums toe toes…those sheep up there have little respect and have the right of way with traffic ! I prefer my sheep plucked and roasted, not playing dumb and being a traffic hazard !!! After driving through Worlds End we drove up and across some moors !!! Another amazing area ! Not a lot of plants besides bracken and heather and sheep, lots and lots of sheep. So many sheeps my ‘Barker’ got tired ! If we go up there too many more times I shall have to employ a Royal Barker !!! Sunday was another nice driving outing with a very nice 5 curly tail walkies along another very crazy skinny lane overlooking The Vale Of Clwyd. Mum is really getting the hang of driving the royal charriot. I am getting the hang of steering the rudder from the back window cushion too !! She only made That Bearded Guy poopie his seat once ! ( she vroomed the charriot through a great huge giant puddle that went across the whole road and was deep enough for Moby Dick & Shamu ! I could hear the theme song from Free Willy too !!!!! ( and I am not talking about when That Bearded Guy forgets to zip his pants either !! ) All in all another wonderful 5 Curly Tail week of sight seeing and walkies !!! All right here within a 20 mile radius !!! Amazing. Arizona was extremely beautiful too, but in a totally different way. This Chihuahua feels very fortunate to be so well traveled and have had the opportunity to experience such diverse and beautiful places. Except for Las Vegas. I could have done without the 3 months I lived in Las Vegas !! I will take Saguaro Cactus, Coyotes, Cheeky sheep, Fox and Badgers anytime !!!!! Oh yes, i almost forgot ! Speaking of Badgers. More Badger diggings have been spotted up along the farm track. Mum even noted where a regular Badger trail comes through the field fence onto the track now !!! AND ( this is the really cool part ) our next door neighbor came by the other evening to tell us that a badger has been in his back garden !( backyard , but these Brits get REAL testy if I call it such ! ) This guy mows his perfectly manicured lawns twice a week ! Everything is postcard perfect. He has an aviary of noisy budgies in his back garden and also has feeding stations for the wild birds. Some Badger(s) have come into his yard a few times after the peanuts fallen on the ground from the bird feeder ! Also dug great holes in his lawn digging for worms and stuff to eat. Another neighbor has had the same experience as well. Luckily neither want to hurt the Badger(s) and have put out food for them. Especially our neighbor, who believes if he makes food readily available, the badger will not dig up his grass. Rolls handsome Chihuahua eyes….nice thought ( try ) though.
Thats it for now. It’s been difficult to blog lately. Lots of crone naps and other interuptions…not to mention a lot more little outings because My chariot is rolling once again !
View of the Llandegla Moors
My faithful chariot, Clio
Along the road to Llandegla were I went for a walkies
View from Horseshoe Pass
Cheeky sheep that poo everywhere on Horseshoe Pass
Another view from Horseshoe Pass
Mum…..umm you trod in sheep poo and your pants leg blew down…again !
Its only a view. Lets get back to the chariot before my ears freeze off and My tail blows away !
Sunday outing pictures below
Come on Mum, the Vale of Clywd is new territory !!
The Vale of Clywd
Vale of Clywd…Very peaceful and serene. Now Mine !
This is Chopper The Explorer, Grand PooBah of all I survey and King of North Wales, signing off for now……
I raise my Paw and Wag my tail in a *bark out* to my wonderful friend, Debbie Hannon, in Marana/Tucson, AZ !!!!! HellOoOooo and Thank You Debbie Of All Pet Travel ! HelloOoOo and Thank You’s to Rich and Erika, miss and love You’s ! You too, Carmen, All of Vail AZ, …. Lots of kisses and Wags.…Hiya’s to Maxx and Duke !
This Morning was NOT a good morning !!! It was really cold and raining slightly. I had walked a few blocks, checked all my local blogs and made responses to all the newest comments. Sent a few peemails and left a nice gift for my Mum to carry home. Everything was right in my world. Then it happened !!! Out of NOWHERE, a life sucking, plaid, Scottish Vampire Bat swooped down my leash string and sucked itself onto my poor unsuspecting body !!! It was terrifying ! It was horrendous ! It was the ultimate life threatening ambush from hell !!!!! That gruesome twosome didn’t even TRY to help Me !!!!! Drums toes and looks disgusted….they took vids !!!!! VIDS !!!! Can you imagine !!! THEN the traitorous two made one very feeble attempt to take it off ONLY after I had trudged an ENTIRE BLOCK with the life sapping parasitic Vampire Bat attached to my rapidly weakening body. I am telling you, folks….I could hear Bagpipes playing the funeral dirge in the background just as surely as I can hear Jaws music up the farm track when it rains !!! ( usually my stride keeps in perfect tempo with The Mission Impossible theme… ) Lots of other things happened today too, but I am just too traumatized still to say much about it all yet. Mum is now officially mobile in Wales…and drives on the right wrong side of the road now. The traitorous twosome did NOT allow me to sit on her shoulder when she drove us up and over the the mountain and then down the backside of the Moel Famau road. I had to bark at all the sheep who were just wandering around the roads Ok, I have to admit to ONE very awesome thing happening today…. we all saw a very beautiful Fox just trotting down the lane, then crossed in front of Clio, our car ( and new friend ). It wasn’t rushing or anything….just trotting along. Sure am glad my Mum drives like an old lady on steep downhill curvy grades.
The vid speaks for itself. There is another vid of Yours Truly doing my Houdini Act when we got home, but will save that for tomorrow…
Mad Coat Disease !!!!
This is Chopper The Coat Hater, signing off for now……
I raise my Paw and Wag my tail in a *bark out* to my wonderful friend, Debbie Hannon, in Marana/Tucson, AZ !!!!! HellOoOooo and Thank You Debbie Of All Pet Travel ! HelloOoOo and Thank You’s to Rich and Erika, miss and love You’s ! You too, Carmen, All of Vail AZ, …. Lots of kisses and Wags.…Hiya’s to Maxx and Duke !
