Al took off early Sunday morning with the 26′ UHaul.  I was to follow up with a pickup truckload o’ stuff and Ed the Dog and Twister the Cat.  The truck could literally not take one more item.  I had to leave the litter box and have Al pick up a new one before I arrived in SoCal.   Anna came over to pick up a few items I needed to give her – including extra boxes and packing materials she could use to clean out Sweetbriar.  Andy was able to come for awhile to pick up some last minute items.  By the end of the process Anna and I were unpacking boxes and stuffing things into corners of the truck wherever they would fit.

Finally got on the road.  Ed the Dog was medicated and situated in his bed in the back seat. He’s just so nutsy, he would whine and pace the whole seven hours – add the presence of a cat in there and…well, he was medicated, that’s all.  Twisty was in her travel crate on the front seat next to me, and just above her was her fuzzy bi-level barrel where she can hide at home; it was lying on its side and all was just fine.

Twisty began bitching almost immediately.  Ed the Dog didn’t say much but wasn’t quite ready to lie down.  I had to stop twice before I even got out of town because the cat food bin kept falling onto Ed the Dog’s space every time I turned a corner.  Finally got that settled but then…

Suddenly the back window opened completely.  I sort of panicked – heaven knows what a drugged out Ed the Dog would do – jump out the window at some hallucination or just a big ol’ truck passing by?  I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t close the window – the kiddie lock wasn’t on, I was pushing the correct button.  When I finally was able to get to an exit, all the while saying “Stay! Good boy! Stay!” – it turns out Druggie Doggie was sitting on the window button – so he had opened the window but like a good dog he was “staying” and so I couldn’t close the window.

Off we go again.  By this time Twisty has become psychotic.  Mind you, I’m only two  miles out of town.  She tries to claw apart the bars of her travel cage.  I start to think of where I might find a pet store before I hit I-5 down the Big Valley so I can get some of the kitty calming drops the vet told me about.  About this time my stomach takes the opportunity to remind me I haven’t eaten much all day.  In n Out Burger seemed like the way to go – satisfying and enough to get me all the way to LA.  As I pass the first one Twisty seems to have calmed down, Ed is already asleep, so I keep going, knowing the next one is half an hour away.  This is vaguely reminiscent of the years travelling with children, the Golden Rule of those years being “If the kids are asleep in the car, pee in a jar if you must, but DON’T STOP.”

I arrive at the Livermore In n Out, but by the time I drive around looking for the pet store, Twisty has again seemed to have acclimated, so I drive on.

Until the first rest stop, by which time she is chewing at the bars.  OK, I’ve never travelled with a cat, what do I know?  I take a chance.  After I take my rest stop, I let her out.  Ed the Dog is thankfully dopey enough that he doesn’t much care. before I start the car up,  I let her roam around the car a bit, hissing at her if she comes near me in the driver’s seat.  After a few minutes she climbs into her furry house thingy and that’s that.

From then on, peace reigned.  Once in a while she would poke her head out of the openings of the houselet to look around, mewing a bit on the summit of The Grapevine (do cats have the altitude thing in their ears like we do?) and coming out completely when we hit the LA freeways, as if to say “LA!  This could be my big opportunity!”  She watched the trucks go by and in typical cat style, acted as if she could take them on.

Ed the Dog slept.  It was nice to have my little buddies with me.  I think it would have been too sad to drive away and watch my old life disappear in the rear view mirror without their goofy animal antics.  That little black Twisty head popping out once in a while made me giggle more than once, and made me feel like I wasn’t alone.