Co-Pilot Morris McClelland

Today was much better with our co-pilot. We carried him to the car this morning with his leash on and just put him in the car. The leash came off as soon as we were through McDonalds. I don't know that he made much more noise that he does when we are home and there certainly wasn't any of the temper tantrums like yesterday. He's always active and vocal (just meowing) in the morning and then quietens down and goes to sleep for a long nap. Larry and Morris had their usual morning conversations but today it was about other vehicles instead of the usual birds and lizards. Morris spent quite a bit of time on the center console looking out the window as he is in this picture. He was dead to the world by noon in the back seat. He would occasionally let out a "meow" without out even raising his head. We converted that to "are we there yet" in people talk. He checked out the hotel room when we got here and "settled in". One thing we have noticed is that he doesn't eat, drink very much or use his litterbox while we're in the car. From what I've read, that isn't unusual.

It is taking forever to get across Texas and what a boring drive it is! Yesterday we were on the road for 9.5 hours, today was 6.5 hours and tomorrow will be about 4.5 hours. The 2 hour time change was tough yesterday but we'll get used to it. I used to do it about every week and not think twice about it but that was when I had had fewer birthdays. On to Little Rock tomorrow - finally!

Traveling with Morris - Day 1

The first 30 minutes of the trip this morning was our worst nightmare come true. We got the car all loaded and then tried to put Morris in his carrier. All 4 of his long, bony legs went in different directions. We would get 3 in and one would escape. It was like putting an octopus in a box.... But we made it and he immediately started in. He yelled, screamed, howled, cried, hissed - you name it and he did it - all at the top of his lungs. We left McDonalds and then Larry unzipped his carrier so he could come out. He didn't shut up but every few minutes we would get a moment of quite. We had decided that if he didn't shut up by the time we got to Wilcox (about an hour) then it was time for the Kitty Valeum. But the quite moments began to be more frequent so we kept driving. By the time we had been in the car for about 1 1/2 hours he began to quite down - maybe he was exhausted but whatever it was we were thankful for it. He started exploring the car and setting on Larry's lap while looking out the side window. By El Paso, he was sound asleep on top of the suitcases. The last few hours he slept in his carrier which really suprised us. In the above pic, he has just woke up from a nap and was having a conversation with Larry. We got to the motel and he immediately checked out every single square inch of the room before settling down for a nap. Hopefully, tomorrow will be quieter at the beginning... 8-)

We were suprised that the speed limit, after we got out of El Paso, was 80 mph for cars and 70 mph for trucks. Both drop to 65 at night. Miles and miles of nothing..

On The Road Again

Car is packed, road map is marked, hotel reservations made, house ready to close up and in the morning we are on the road again. This time we are heading to Little Rock, Arkansas to spend 2 months in a furnished condo on the 12th floor of a building that is right downtown and 3 blocks from the river. The big difference for this trip is that Morris gets to go along. His stuff takes up about 25% of the car with his crate, litterbox, box of food, etc. His Kitty Valium (tranquilizers) is within easy reach if we need it. We have this dream that he will fuss for no more than 1/2 hour and then settle down and be the perfect traveler. Morris knows we're going somewhere because of the suitcases, etc but he will in for a big suprise when he gets put in the car to go along. We're looking forward to the trip but there are a lot of unknows... How will Morris travel? Will we like Little Rock in the summer as much as we do in the fall and winter? Will we like living in a high rise? Will we like living right down town? Will Morris settle into a new place as easily as he did when we brought him home 3 1/2 years ago? How long will it take for me to go back to my mid-western accent? Can Larry and Morris get used to thunderstorms? Should be an interesting 2 months!