A Safe Arrival!

Greetings friends!

Well...
So.... here we are..me and the two critters. Our first full day in our temporary housing after our long drive to our new home state!

I traveled here with whom we call Lady D... She is my dear friend (so close she is the only person I would share Paladin with) and was an amazing cross country traveling companion. Riding with me and the two critters to TX. That's a heck of a good friend. But... there is more.. I have a 5 lb dog and an 18lb cat... and she is allergic... to cats. But she was still willing to do this drive with me! She took many Benidryl to be able to try and minimize the allergic reactions. It would have been almost impossible without her. She is very spatial and great at organizing and each morning she packed the car and all our stuff and the critters stuff and got it all to fit. I'd have a much harder time at it.. and end up with somethings that just wouldn't fit. Another great caveat is that she has friends that live a about 45 mins from our new home and so new friends to introduce us too!

As for the escape of our little lion.. some details....
The trip started auspiciously at 8am on Mon morning with my arrival at Lady D's home right on time. And she was ready right on time. Each critter was securely locked in it's cage with harness and leash's on. We had to take things out to rearrange to get her things in the car with mine. We took out the two critters and put them on the sidewalk next to the car. Suddenly, Lady D says' "ohh no.. his cage is open..." just as our Leo cat made a run for a fence... even on half a sleeping pill! He jumped up, and was gone.. but his leash was on the fence, Lady D got to it first and hauled it up... broken. No kitty. OHHHH NOOOOOOOOO

It took 45 mins and many neighbors and a great kid to track and catch him from behind a woodpile under a rose bush. But, with team work we got him! He was quickly wrapped up in a towel (by far the best way to deal with a squirming, mad kitty) and then safely deposited back into his cage, now equipped with a D lock for each gate and a new leash, attached to him and tied to the cage. WHEW... what a nightmare! I sent Paladin a shot of my much bruised leg.. but not the rose bush scratches. After that, kitty was on super high security. Ohhh.. and while I had read about checking hotel beds for places that kitty's can sometime get under.. I didn't read about the same things with some build in dressers! The very first night, he is all over me and I know he's okay in the room. But in the morning, there is NO sign of kitty. HUH? We didn't go out? where the heck could he be??? So I grab his kitty treats, and shaking them.. call him. and sure enough.... he comes crawling out from under the dressor. I give him his sleepy pill with a milk chaser and into his cage. Then i go check out the dresser. it's built out. and underneath is an open U shape where he had crawled into. OMG... if he didn't want to come out... I don't think i could get him out. So I added in checking out the nightstands and everything else in a room for places he might get through. I stuffed towels and pillows in a couple of beds to be sure he couldn't get through what spaces there were to get under them.

But.. except for some dust storms... and then crazy buckets of rain yesterday.. the drive was fun, stunningly beautiful in AZ and NM... the trip was smooth and uneventful. The car with it's wonderful new tires hummed along, getting between 24-35 mpg depending on where we were and how fast we were going, and how hard the wind was blowing. The lowest mileage was climbing mountains in Arizona and New Mexico.. and strong winds both places. Crossed through one of those super red sand storms in NM, and while I found it wonderful and thrilling, Lady D was sure I was a bit nuts. But for me.. it was all part of this adventure. We listened to Carol Burnett's second book on Audible on Wed, and it was great! She reads it, and we both have always liked her work a lot. I saw her talking about it on Rachel Ray one day and thought that would be great to listen to, and it was. We laughed and cried. Made our longest day go fast. Yesterday, our last.. we listened to the original Broadway soundtrack to The King and I.. which had belonged to my mother.. and the Broadway production of Camelot. Then we sang along with Simon and Garfunkel in Central Park.. and had on James Taylor and Carol King Live At The Troubadour as we pulled into the hotel.

We got unloaded and Lady D had called her friends whose husband arrived fast enough to bring in Leo's scratching post/platform. The we hugged and she went off with him. The kids and I got set up, and I manged to find a Target with a grocery just across the way. My little motel 6 room has a microwave and fridge so I don't have to go out to eat, and I got stocked up on some basics to await Paladin's arrival next Wed nite. The room has HBO and nice internet.
Its supposed to storm for a few days also, so even less reason to go out, besides the fact I'm very tired of the car right now.

So... here I am.. thrilled to finally be in my new home state.. nice cup of Starbucks instant coffee, critters curled up sleeping.. TV on and catching up on blogs and groups and events. LOLOL.. if I look out my window, we are right behind a Hooters, and it's bright sign. Otherwise, it looks dark and stormy outside. Thank goodness this is a quiet room. All the rooms along the way had lots of folks up very early, lots of banging doors and loud footsteps that Pixie was sure it was her doggly duty to warn me off. I finally started stuffing her under the blankets after 5am just to keep her quite so Lady D could sleep in just a bit more. There was one where the cat sat up and growled...hmmmm but otherwise, uneventful. This place.. is blissfully quiet. I don't think I have any neighbors, however this is Fri eve, so I would expect it to get busy later. That's okay, me and the kids got all the supplies we need for a cozy and lazy week before all the everything happens on the 15th. It's nice to hear Paladin's voice in the evenings. Today, was his last day at the CA office.. and his co workers have taken him out for beers. Tomorrow, the movers come to pack. and Sun.. to load and head here. With Paladin not too far behind them. He'll have a deadline to get here by 10am on Thur morning, and I do worry a bit about him having to have such long driving days with no options. But.. I expect.. as always.. he'll tough it out. And by next week at this time... we should have all our stuff in our new home!

Thanks again for all the well wishes to us on our journey and new life together.

The weather just said again that there is more more rain and storms are expected. Weeeee!
Safe paths to all,
Mystress