We left Tues 7/27 a.m. with my car literally packed to the roof, hitched to the back of our large diesel truck, also packed, the back totally loaded up and tarped down and both my parents and both the cats and I all in the cab. We thought it was roomy until we had to share it with the cat carrier, food and water bowl, and litter. I had no idea cats were so high-maintenance. After a few stops before we even reached the highway (gas, walgreens, exchange of keys with Emery) we were off-headed north east.
The cats traveled very well considering...Bart decided to be his typical difficult self and before my Dad could throw him out the window because of his incessant crying we drugged him up which made him drunk for a full 8 hrs. He could not really get around without misjudging distances and falling. Also his inner eyelids wouldn't close/open fully which just made him look pretty damn creepy and alien like. Marley was a pleasant surprise and adapted surprisingly well, her favorite spots were atop the carrier looking out the window or on the ground. Bart's of course were on the center counsel where he was most in the way or on whatever lap he could navigate onto.
We swapped driving every 2 hrs and took turns in the back with the cats as we drove across NM, upper part of TX-unfortunetly, since I hate it-and OK to Arkansas where we stopped Wed afternoon. OK totally sucks with toll roads and construction and I almost crashed as a result of some rain and skidding-luckily it was just a close call but rattled me a bit and I am definitely not looking forward to dealing with icy roads and lots more skidding. Scenery was of course beautiful in NM with the desert and mountains I've grown up with and love, TX sucked because its TX and OK was full of green everywhere.
Arkansas was nice because we got to stretch out our very cramped legs and visit relatives. We walked around near campus in Fayetteville, got some self-serve frozen yogurt which is always awesome and have some food that took more than 5 secs to make at a roadside store. In AR pets tend to just roam with the geese, ducks, chickens, cats, squirrels and dogs all fending for themselves. Definitely a different way to go about things but its worked pretty well.
We were off the next day, I think the cats appreciated the break from the car too, Bart just about scratched my head off trying to get him back in the truck. Made it to Ames by Thurs night and met my new roomate, Kelsey, and got the key for the trailer. We made it back to our hotel, snuck the cats in and fell promptly asleep.
The cats traveled very well considering...Bart decided to be his typical difficult self and before my Dad could throw him out the window because of his incessant crying we drugged him up which made him drunk for a full 8 hrs. He could not really get around without misjudging distances and falling. Also his inner eyelids wouldn't close/open fully which just made him look pretty damn creepy and alien like. Marley was a pleasant surprise and adapted surprisingly well, her favorite spots were atop the carrier looking out the window or on the ground. Bart's of course were on the center counsel where he was most in the way or on whatever lap he could navigate onto.
We swapped driving every 2 hrs and took turns in the back with the cats as we drove across NM, upper part of TX-unfortunetly, since I hate it-and OK to Arkansas where we stopped Wed afternoon. OK totally sucks with toll roads and construction and I almost crashed as a result of some rain and skidding-luckily it was just a close call but rattled me a bit and I am definitely not looking forward to dealing with icy roads and lots more skidding. Scenery was of course beautiful in NM with the desert and mountains I've grown up with and love, TX sucked because its TX and OK was full of green everywhere.
Arkansas was nice because we got to stretch out our very cramped legs and visit relatives. We walked around near campus in Fayetteville, got some self-serve frozen yogurt which is always awesome and have some food that took more than 5 secs to make at a roadside store. In AR pets tend to just roam with the geese, ducks, chickens, cats, squirrels and dogs all fending for themselves. Definitely a different way to go about things but its worked pretty well.
We were off the next day, I think the cats appreciated the break from the car too, Bart just about scratched my head off trying to get him back in the truck. Made it to Ames by Thurs night and met my new roomate, Kelsey, and got the key for the trailer. We made it back to our hotel, snuck the cats in and fell promptly asleep.
