"I'm not a cat person, but..."

I've heard this a time or twelve before.

Rufus has been getting some good walking time in today.  Joan had a hair appointment today, and we needed to get some groceries, so I took him for a walk before we left.  Well, until it started to sprinkle.  I said to him, "Didn't your Momma teach you to come in out of the rain?"

Apparently not.

He loves to be outside.  It seems that he has become pretty secure with his place in the family... he had developed a mind of his own.  I said to him, "OK, time to go home."

To which he replied, "Huh-uh."  Needing to maintain my Alpha Male status, I guided him to the front door.  The boy is all muscle, and it takes some effort to "guide him" along.

We did our running; got back shortly after his lunch time.  Yep, more walking while Joan put groceries away (keeps him from being under foot - me, too).

A lady driving by stopped and said, "That is a beautiful cat - walks on a leash; impressive."  And, it started sprinkling again, so back inside.

We heard from the mail room here that we have a couple packages to pick up, so we made a trip to the lodge and took care of our check-in with the move we'll be doing again in the morning.  Back to the site we were on when we first got here - it will be good for Rufus walking, with a large grassy area off our patio.

Back from the lodge, and time for another walk.  This time, though, the sun was out; I knew we could take our time and go further.  His longest walk, yet.  A guy walking by said, "I'm not a cat person, but he has great markings!"  Rufus wanted to rub up on this guy, but I figured with the "I'm not a cat person" stuff that it would be better to keep him on a short leash.

I have mentioned this with our other cats, but walking a cat isn't like walking a dog - there is no end goal, like getting to a place to potty.  He has his own private potty in the coach.  So, we walk a bit, sit and sniff the air a bit, roll in the grass, chase a stick in the grass, walk some more...

Notice no pulling on the leash...

Time to roll in the grass...

He also does this when I tell him it is time to "go home."  This time, when I told him it was time, he meowed at me, and hit me in the leg!  "What did you do?" I said to him.

There was a lot of "I'm sorry" leg rubbing...

Made me laugh.  There were no claws out, but he was letting me know that it was NOT time to go home.

Um, yes it is...

So, all in all, we're walking pretty good.  We'll do another walk or two before the day is done.