Charlotte the Traveler

We had thought Charlotte's first significant travel would come in the motorhome.  Then, we got the call that Tom's mom was back in the hospital & on life support and it wasn't looking good.  We packed and left in a hurry.  I would not want to board a cat in Grand County.  Boarding here consists of putting the cat in a cage at the vet's office for the duration.  Minimal time (if any) outside the cage.  That's not what we want for our little girl.  So, we packed Charlie's covered litter box (we still had it), her food and water (in Max's "Water Buoy") put her in her carrier and hit the road.  She cried for the first hour to hour and a half while she was in her carrier, and even after we'd made all our needed stops on the way out of town and let her out. 

Then, she seemed to decide it was happening no matter how much she complained and settled down on Tom's lap and slept most of the day away.  We'd trade off holding her at the gas & bathroom stops.  She spent a little time exploring & trying to get down by my feet (with the pedals & such). 

Oh, what fun she had when we stopped for the night at a motel.  She literally bounced off just about everything in the room, including our heads, butts & feet.  She started by exploring the room, then from about 9 to midnight she bounced off furniture, luggage and bodies.  When I made a bathroom run about 5am, she started bouncing again.  What a short night!

We got out the laser pointer and made sure she got a good period of exercise, including "flying lessons", before we hit the road again.  Her "flying lessons" consisted of running the laser pointer from one bed to the other so she'd be going so fast she'd leap from bed to bed.  Prior to the lessons, she would stop, jump off one bed, then clamber up the other.  Once she learned to "fly" she really had fun.

(Charlotte taking a peek out of her carrier during one of our pit stops)

Day two she settled to sleep in her carrier (top open) for nearly the whole travel day.  She was up on Tom's lap briefly at the start, but liked her carrier or the top of the big case with our "BYOBed".  She didn't cry at all.  We took turns either holding her, like day one, or just watching in case she bolted when we took out little breaks.

Once at our destination, we were lucky enough to get the room with bath that had been where Tom's mom lived here at the youngest son's house.  There are a couple of dogs - a maltesse-ShiTsu mix and Tom's mom's Boston Bull Terrier (who will now live with Tom's sister).  So, we got the only place we could keep Charlotte safe for sure.  She has delighted in the built-in counter that allows her to leap and pounce down onto us on our bed.  The first night was much like the night in the motel.

She has also proven to be extremely social - she has met a lot of  new people and she expects every one of them to be ready to pet her or to have her on their laps (if they stayed long enough to sit).  She has also proven that she really knows her "sit" - she's done it in front of new people, and even did it for our daughter.

We got so very lucky that Charlotte was waiting for us at the shelter.  We'll have to let the folks at the shelter know what a special kitty they had for us.