Today was Day 2 on the road from Maryland to Oregon. So far, we’ve traveled through 7 states: Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana yesterday, and Indiana, Illinois and Missouri today. I know everyone is waiting with baited breath to hear my horror stories about the nightmare that is traveling with 5 cats, but the truth is, so far these girls have been pretty darned good. We’ve had a few minor incidents, but, really, I was expecting a lot worse.
Yesterday we had a little carrying on in the car, mostly by Dinah (the demon-eyed tortie in the photo above).Today, there was hardly any at all. There were a couple of random bouts of meowing here and there, but for the most part the back seat was quiet.
Today, our two incidents both took place at hotels. This morning as we were preparing to leave Smoker’s Central (a.k.a. the La Quinta in east Indianapolis on Post Road), Dinah (why is it always Dinah???) decided to attempt a 6 or 7 foot jump from the sink located to the right of the front door to the shelf above the ‘closet’ area to the left of the front door. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a particularly major feat for her – I call her my little flying squirrel – except that in this case, the ‘shelf’ she was trying to reach wasn’t actually a solid platform. Instead, it was made up of metal bars with spaces in between each bar.
I saw the idea take root in her mind, but I was too far away to stop it. She jumped and fell, taking all of the towels that had been folded on top of the shelf with her, and then disappeared. She wasn’t on the shelf (of course), and I didn’t see any movement under the fallen towels…so I immediately think that she’s hurt herself badly, and oh no, where am I going to find a vet at this time of morning in Indiana? I quickly moved the towels to assess the damage…but she wasn’t under them. Um, where’d the cat go? I called her name, and looked around frantically, only to see her come walking towards me from the bed area as if nothing had happened. OMG.
Incident #2 happened after we reached the hotel in St. Joseph, Missouri this evening. My mother’s 3 cats, Isabel, Ivy and Sophia were with my brother in his room across the hall. (They aren’t quite friends yet with Harley and Dinah, so we have to keep them separated.) After about an hour, I got a text from my brother stating, “The cats made a mess in here.” Seems they were running around the room, chasing each other like wild things – probably just happy to be free from their carriers – and upended the (thankfully not yet used) litter box. He had to go borrow a broom from the front desk to clean up the mess.
So, in summary, I have to say that other than the mind-numbingly boring car ride and last night’s stinky hotel room, there’s not much to complain about on this trip. Just the thought of saying that on day 2 of 5, though, makes me cross my fingers and hope that I’m not jinxing myself.
I’d take some time now and tell you about how much better tonight’s hotel is than last nights – we’re staying at a Drury Inn and Suites, and it’s great! – but I see Dinah eyeing the top of the room’s armoire, and I can see the gears turning in her head, so I’d better go.
More tomorrow!
From one left-handed, blonde Capricorn to another! What an adventure…..untie me too!