On the Road 2: Floods and Cats

     In the depths of moving pyschosis, with the tvs unplugged and the cable turned off, I had no clue that a major storm was tracing my route to San Antonio til the morning I left.  The New York Times weather map showed I would be driving along the curved spine of that storm.  That information hardly registered.  I drove in snow flurries, a moment of hail, and some rain to Dayton.  When I left the next day, the rain was worse and the visibility was pretty awful.  As I continued through southern Ohio and into Illinois, I began to notice that there were farm fields that looked like lakes.  Poor farmers, I thought.  Hope that dries out before it's time to plow.  Then farther into Illinois and into Missouri, and I saw telephone poles in the middle of what looked like more lakes.  Water lapped close to the edges of the interstate.  When I spoke to my sister, she mentioned flooding and the rest of the world knocked on my moving-obsessed brain.  The interstates are built on slightly elevated road beds, so those roads were fine but the folks in southern Illinois and Missouri were really hit hard.  I read in today's paper (a San Antonio paper!) that folks in one  Arkansas town whose name I saw on an exit sign are facing evacuation.

     When I left Forrest City AR however, the sun had finally come out and I drove the rest of the way in sunshine.  The trip was long, and I was really tired of hotel stays by night 3, but it worked out really well to spend one more night on the road, and arrive Friday morning, rested and happy, in San Antonio.

     So how did the cats do, you ask? (Well, some of you ask.)  Amazingly well.  Incredibly well.  Each one rode in a carrier on the back seat, with a blankie or towel inside.  No yowling.  No car sickness.  When I arrived at my cousins' home in Dayton, Terry had already set up two LARGE dog crates (used to be used for German shepherds), and we put each cat inside, with a litter box, said blankie, food and water.  That worked well too.  Maggie soon demanded out, and I let her out into the bedroom, but the new room combined with a curious resident cat and dog outside the bedroom door was too much even for my brave Maggie, and she ended up in a defensive position under the bed.  She came to me though, and I put her back in the crate.   Getting Maggie into her carrier the next morning was of course no problem.  Frannie though had decided she was not leaving, and we ended up in a comedy routine with Terry lifting the back of the crate to tip her toward the carrier and Frannie clutching the wiring and hanging by her front paws.  I am sure the howling laughter did not make her more comfortable.  Then, once we got her into the crate, the unlatched door (sorry again Terry) opened, and she ended up under the bed.  But Terry is patient and used to cat behavior, and in another comedy seen we used a foam bolster and a curtain rod and got her into the crate.  Frannie made it clear we were vicious cat abusers.  And traveled the rest of the way in her new travel position.  But the cats were so quiet during the trip that at one rest stop I pulled off to make sure they were still breathing.  I have pictures I will add later.

     Along the road I kept them in hotel bathrooms, with their carriers, blankies and disposable litter boxes, and it was not hard to find pet-friendly hotels.  Having started out in the master bathroom in the house here, they now have the run of my bedroom and one other room.  There is still no furniture, and probably won't be til Tuesday.  Sigh.  I am off to buy appliances, curtain rods, and other exciting things, and have explored enough to find the Starbucks I am in at the moment, the Super Target and Best Buy. 

Comments

[(formerly) no-blog-rachel]

You bring me back to my cross-country move (VT to CA) two years ago! Though we had the dogs with us instead of kitties. And yep, we were in a house w/o furniture for a few days too. Good luck with unpacking and enjoy your new home!

[Laritza]

Glad you made it in one piece along with the kitties. Do post the pictures :D

[Leigh]

Poor kitties. Poor you! It does sound exciting though. I loved living in Texas, though I never visited San Antone. Looking forward to hearing more about it!

[janna]

Once when I brought Harley to Mom's house with me, we ended up having to dismantle the mattress and box springs to get her out from under the bed!

And you make me home sick for San Antonio... You know about Sunday knitting at Candlelight, right?

[Christine]

You are so lucky. My cats howled the entire time I drove from PA to the DC area when I moved down here 11 years ago. I made the mistake of letting them out in the car and one immediately assumed the position under the brake and the other one assumed the position on top of the seat behind my head and wrapped his tail around my face. Needless to say that worked for one mile when I pulled over and stuck them back into the carrier and dealt with their fussing for the rest of the trip.

[KimB]

I can't wait to see the photos as I know what the "travel position" was for Frannie. Glad you are finding your way around. No furniture until Tuesday...gives you time to decide where it should be placed. Hope the appliance shopping was successful.

[Robbyn]

Yay Rob!! I'm so glad you're in your new home and that the girls took things with relative aplomb. The first time I moved a cat was when returning from college in Southern Illinois poor Aggie yelled and screamed for the entire first day of travel.

It sounds as though things are looking relatively good and I'm sure they'll look even better once the furniture has been delivered - complete with thw wonderful new wheel!

I'm so glad you all arrived safely :) Pictures girl, we want pictures!

Get any knitting done?

[Dan]

Rob: I'm glad you got there without the cats sicking up all over the car! I want to see pics of the house with appliances (and your furniture, of course).

[Sara Hass]

glad to hear that all went well on the trip, thanks for blogging about it! Yes, do show pics!! They have a Super Target?? Man, i guess everything really IS bigger in Texas!