Yesterday we hiked to the arch and Pac-Man was generous enough to carry our water bottles and some empty containers in case we found raspberries to pick.

Our friend Jordan also came with us. She brought her Nigerian Dwarf, Hollister, along as a hiking companion. 

Phil and Pac-Man share a bonding moment. 

I didn’t get any photos of the arch, and we didn’t find too many raspberries, but I had a very good view for most of the hike. 

Pac-Man is at the size and age where I think it’s time he learned to do a little work, so I hitched him to the cart yesterday for our walk. He did not like it at first, and I can’t say he was very cooperative since he kept running over my my feet and bashing my legs with the shafts, but he’s a natural at driving. For the sake of self-preservation, I gave up trying to lead him and let him stay out in front instead, which is what he seemed to prefer.

Pac-Man led the charge for most of the walk, which is a rare and wonderful thing if your’e teaching a goat to drive. Most goats prefer to follow and it is therefore difficult to train them to walk out ahead when pulling a cart. I think in Pac-Man’s case I may have the rare privilege of teaching a goat to drive before I teach him to lead with a cart. 

Homeward bound. 

At least, that’s what it looks like when he’s out wrangling goats. Especially this goat:  

Phil makes sure he’s prepared. He carries a goat training utility belt these days. It has a a loaded water pistol for fending off the mobbing hoards, and it has a pouch full of cookies for rewarding good behavior.  

You just can’t take any chances with this crowd!  

It looks like Finn is going to be an awesome hiking companion. This was his first day out on the trail and he had the time of his life! I’ve never seen such a happy goat.    

He cried during the ride in the truck (Pac-Man didn’t help–he cried just as much, the big sissy), but once we got on the trail, Finn turned into a bouncing ball of glee. He’s got every bit of his mother’s spunk and athleticism (we call Lilly our ninja goat). There are loads of cliffs, boulders, and giant logs on this trail, so Finn spent the entire time bouncing circles around us as he leaped from one launching pad to another, sometimes far above our heads. I worried that he’d pull a Nibbles and get stuck, but he’s quite the brave little leaper and he never let the heights get to him.

It’s hard to tell from just two photos, but this was a complicated and rather risky maneuver…

…performed at a great height.

Pac-Man is learning to be somewhat more athletic. He had to cross logs, he had to climb over boulders, and he even had to jump a few ledges. He would have gone around if he could, but sometimes there was water to avoid, and leaping is almost always superior to getting one’s toes wet. There were a few places where the creek overflowed the trail and only the nimblest climber could scale the cliffs to get around, and for the first few of those I had to physically drag Pac-Man into the water (with much crying and protesting). But by about the third or fourth one, he came with only a small tug on the rope, and on the way home I was able to unleash him. He waited until we were out of sight before he could work up the courage, but he still did it by himself. I was very proud of him.     

Finn is still working on water crossings.

Although he prefers not to get his feet wet, Finn does not share Pac-Man’s extreme hydrophobia.

It’s cookie time!

We’ve had a lot of fun playing with our goats on the Cuzcotopia Tower! 

Nubbin shares a patriotic moment with Phil at the flagpole. 

We’re not sure if Petunia is laughing or is just bored. 

Two little cuties.

To supplement her income, this ingenuous mother of two uses her unusual, soaring ears to install a toll bridge. 

Pac-Man is afraid of heights–the only goat I’ve ever heard of that is afraid of heights! This is as far as I could tempt him to go. 

Lilly takes a moment to salute the flag. 

…a lot.

I love the irony of seeing all this water flowing over top of our barely-producing new well. I wish it would take a hint!  

After he stormed the tractor and was taken captive, Finn defected to our side.  

As a trustworthy ally, Phil showed Finn all the controls and gauges so he could operate the machine. 

Finn  learns how the steering wheel works. 

Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to have figured out which direction he should be looking. 

After his failed attempt at driving the tractor, Finn decided to downgrade to a simpler vehicle. This one doesn’t need to be steered. It just goes forward and back. Very easy. Please don’t run over Pac-Man! 

When the tractor wasn’t occupied by Phil or Nubbin, Lois took her turn in the driver’s seat. It was a good vantage point from which to snap candid shots of the goat castle going up. 

It was also a good vantage point from which to snap candid shots of this photographer. 

Lois seems slightly perturbed by the full frontal assault being waged on her machine. 

“Where do you want me to dump you, Nubbin?” 

As more goats arrive on the scene, Lois attempts to deal with the one who has  breeched the top defenses and is now making his way boldly toward her lap. 

“What do I do if he refuses to leave?”

“I guess I take him prisoner!” 

I mentioned  that Nubbin is the Tower Queen. I did not mention that she is also the Tractor Queen. As those who follow the Goat-O-Rama adventures may recall, Nubbin has a great affinity for trucks. Well, it turns out this gal just likes machines!

While all the other goats sun themselves in the grass, where is Nubbin?

Why, on her tractor of course!

“Check out these hydraulics!”

“Power steering!”

“This seat is not made for a goat. Perhaps I can modify it!”

Turns out Nubbin was modifying that seat in more ways than Phil cared to discover.

Who needs right shoulder support anyway?