Seriously? Well, DUH! Of course we are! He’s part of the family, too! What is so strange about taking our loved ones with us? The two kiddos in this picture are our lives….so of course we’re taking them!
We have a ‘pet tube’ for Willie to safely ride in, a carrier to take him into/out of the truck, and Scooter has her own car seat so she can sit up high and look out. We have traveled to Grandma’s with both pets before and they did great. We just cannot imagine leaving them behind.
In fact, the reason I picked the RW 405 is because I ‘saw’ exactly where Willie’s ‘tree fort’ or cat tree will go. He can crawl around in the loft to his heart’s content, and we will make sure he has tunnels to run around through up there. (We plan to use our loft for storage of items we need to take but won’t be using on a regular basis.)
In the loft, we will put clear plastic storage boxes that will hold, among other things, treasures from our lives, children’s childhoods, our wedding. Our cold-weather clothes like sweaters and long sleeved gear will also go ‘upstairs.’ Memories of our Boone and his toys we can’t part with will also have a spot up in the loft.
Since Willie doesn’t mind riding in the truck, we are planning our travel days to run something like this: Once everyone is loaded in the truck and we’re on the road, after a couple of hours we will pull off to a rest stop, Pirate will take Scooter off to the ‘pet area’ while Willie and I go into the Gypsy Rose and into the bathroom. Once inside the closed bathroom, I will let Willie out of his carrier, and he can use his ‘outhouse’ which will stay in the bathroom 24/7. I can use ‘our’ facilities, too. Then, we will wait for Pirate and Scooter, if pre-planned, or we will load back up while they are doing their business. Depends on what the plan for the day is.
If, for some reason this doesn’t work, we will figure out new ways to the routine. I will NOT allow Willie to ride in the 5er while we are driving. Can you imagine if he were in mid-leap and we had to hit the brakes really fast? I don’t want my Baby Cat to break a leg!! Plus, Willie is such a ‘Momma’s Cat’ that he would not do well ‘left alone’ inside while Mommy is in the truck…just not smart all the way around.
Willie is more like a dog than a cat to begin with. He will be the purrfect Road Traveler! He is young enough to adjust (One year old on April 25th, also Mommy’s birthday!) and has been an explorer with no fear since the day we received him into our lives. He only stayed in the ‘nursery’ for 3 days before he took on those ‘doggies’ and had four wonderful months of having Boone to learn from.
Remember, we’re taking this on as a lifestyle, not a vacation. We have no agendas or time frames to follow. If we need 15-20 minutes per potty stop, so be it! We plan to do our exploring on the Road Glide, and that means both pets will be inside the ‘house’ during that time. This way neither pet will be lonesome during our absence. We have a Pet Safe Bark Controller so Scooter doesn’t bark her fool head off, and I pity the idiot who tries to enter our Coach while we are gone. Scooter will fight to the death to protect her people, property, and cat.
Yes, Willie is HER cat. When we went to Grandma’s with Willie, Scooter got between Willie and the other dogs to ‘protect’ him! She also did this when our oldest daughter Amy brought her Golden Retriever, Gus, to visit.
Bottom line is we know our pets and we feel comfortable living the Gypsy Life with them by our sides! …and we wouldn’t have it any other way!!
But OF COURSE you are taking them! I know I just couldn't imagine going to bed without my cat beside my head. Rest stops with the critters will be a normal part of life, smooth as butter. (Except maybe taking Scooter out in freezing cold and rain, which is never smooth as butter, but no less so on the road than at home LOL)
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