A Thanksgiving tail

No, really a tail within a tale.

Everyone knows that Covid-19 restrictions suck. We all know that all the governmental officials are saying to limit contact and not have big family gatherings this year.

What better way to do that than to pack our little family into Piper and head out to the Oregon Coast where we can socially distance and enjoy some free online poker with our favorite site that won’t let anyone located in Washington play for fear of legal ramifications (thanks to government keeping us safe from ourselves).

So plans were made, vacation taken for E and creative holiday scheduling for me and some coordination with Sister Janet (she wanted to get out of town in her vintage bumper pull) and a couple of sites were reserved at the Premier RV resort in Lincoln City Oregon. We like this RV park for it’s great sites and perfect central Oregon coast location (see campground reviews).

As you may know, we adopted a juvenile orange tabby last year and have been leaving him home in the graces of his “Aunt Lois” when we go anywhere. We think he is around 2 years old now. His name is Jones (from the Aliens movie) Morse (from the dots and dashes in his fur) Jackson.

We have been having some separation anxiety when we leave the cat so we have been teaching him to travel in his crate in the vehicles and taking him out to Piper at home and spending evenings doing our home routine only in the RV. A new custom scratching post was built to fit in a corner with windows and a solution was discovered for the litter box.

With Piper packed and our sights on Lincoln City, we loaded a crate full of cat into the Beast and pointed our show south on I-5, a stop at Exit 88 for fuel and breakfast sandwiches (easy in and out fuel pumps, big lot and a great C store) and south we went. A few miles into the trip, E reaches back and lets Jones out of his crate and he starts exploring the cab but shortly heads under the back seat where he stayed for most of the trip. We stopped for human fuel, popped the slides and let Jones into Piper for some relaxation, food and maybe a pee. None of these things occurred in our allotted 45 minute wayside. He did find a way to climb inside my easy chair and REALLY didn’t want to get back in his crate. After a little struggle with everyone, we got back on the road south and made the last two hours of the run in a driving downpour that few people experience outside of a coastal setting (most other places would call it torrential).

We get into Premier before closing time and, working with purpose, get set up and into Piper in record time. Heat on and Jones comes out of his crate. A little trepidation before he realizes that this is our little home and he starts exploring his surroundings and trying to get in the cupboards.

He gets under the covers on the bed and finishes exploring in time for dinner and our normal night routine. Laptops out, blankets on laps and cat lounging while we log into our favorite poker site. The sounds of the high surf on the ocean lull us gently into going to bed.

Our time in Lincoln City turns into a beach routine of walking on the beach and exploring one of our favorite Oregon towns. It was great to spend time with Janet and her vintage bumper pull, enjoying the sun breaks (a northwest term meaning you get to see some sun in between downpours of rain) and doing some crafty things for the holidays. Thanksgiving dinner was a potluck type affair with Janet supplying spinach and a yummy dessert and us doing pre-prepared turkey and Stouffers stuffing. We had a great time catching up and spent some time building gingerbread houses, laughing and enjoying each others company in our little bubble of isolation.

On our return trip we let the crate door open and Jones made his way out to sit on the center console of the Beast, eventually curling up and sleeping there. On occasion he would wake up and check out the views out the windows and of course climb into E’s lap for some snuggles and kisses. We stopped about halfway home for lunch and a pee break in Piper and he was not neurotic about it at all this leg. Maybe he is a traveling cat after all!

Traveling with the cat. We are newbies to this task. I know there are lots of folks out there who do this and have modified their particular RV to accommodate the animals they travel with. I did some research and also spent some time wrangling different ways to set up the cat accoutrements. If you are interested, this is what we did;

Our litter box system is made by Purina under the Tidy Cats name and is called “Breeze”. This litter box is a two stage system with pellets atop a grate and a “pee pad” under the grate. We appreciate this system at home as there is no clumping litter and all liquid goes through to the pad. This makes it easier to scoop the solids out as well as changing the liquid pad every few days. The reduction of odor and less labor to scoop the litter is unto itself a reward. I placed this litter box in a plastic storage container (readily available at any home store). This arrangement not only makes it easier to transport the litter box as well as helps to contain any errant litter pellets that Jones brings out of the box with his toes. I can also put the lid on to transfer the box to and from the house or to contain any odors while in the RV if we want. There are not many odors from this box/litter system to begin with. We are not affiliated in any way with Purina, but love this system at home and on the road.

The food and water station are just two ceramic bowls “Jones dislikes eating and drinking out of plastic” and kept on the linoleum in our kitchen area with a spill towel under them. They are emptied and stored while under way.

While traveling in the Beast and towing, Jones has a bed on the back seat and his crate is left open so he can “den up” if he needs to.

During the time we are in Piper, we try to keep our routines the same as when we are home and Jones seems to be comfortable with his usual nightly routine of curling up on my legs on his favorite blanket. There are many cool things to explore in Piper for a cat and he tried to stick his nose in every corner and cabinet he could reach.

All in all, I believe that we have figured out how to eliminate our travel and separation anxiety and enjoy our family fully by including our little furbaby in our travels. We have been working on leash/harness training but that brings even more anxiety to both humans and furball as he is strictly and indoor cat at home (we live where there are numerous cat predators} and we don’t want him to become used to going out and possibly rushing doors and winding up lost or someone’s snack.

More travelling is planned and we hope you continue to travel along with us, I hope you enjoyed this installment and if you have suggestions about travelling, feel free to send me a note here or on twitter @bigfokkerdog.

Thanks for reading and until next time…get out there and explore!

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