The Incredible Journey

The day we left Phoenix was Vivien's 3rd birthday. At breakfast, we put a "3" candle in her food and sang Happy Birthday.

Windy didn't mind eating at the table, but Vivien isn't quite built for that. She prefers hers on the floor.

Remember that movie where two dogs and a cat cross the country on their own? We had our own version of that, only it was two dogs, two cats, and three people.

Leaving Sunland Avenue

Luckily, the trip was fairly uneventful, but I'll list a few random highlights.

Dad rigged a cage, covered with thick blankets, in the bed of the truck. At times, the cats were back there, and sometimes Windy rode there. Vivien is a total basket-case in any moving vehicle, so we kept her in the cab with us the whole time.

Johnny Cash Live at Tundra Prison

Still lots of snow north of Payson. None falling, just banked up on the sides of the road.

Here's a typical configuration: Ling Ling sleeping on my lap while I drove, Cash in the middle, and Windy sitting in Dad's lap, or at his feet. Vivi was in the backseat with Alex.

Due to the slowness of pulling a loaded trailer up the mountain, we made bad time. Normally Phoenix to Tijeras is 8 hours. It took us closer to 11. We left Phoenix at 3:30 and got into Uncle Doug's about 2:30. We didn't even stop for dinner. We ate veggie burgers that I'd made the night before.

Had a nice breakfast with Uncle Doug and Aunt Lynn. The trailer tongue was nearly scraping the ground, so Uncle Doug lent Dad a different trailer hitch. We loaded up and left around 10:30.

Four Eury men and their dogs (probably the first time Vivi has been in a tree)

Stopped for lunch/dinner in Amarillo, at an ice cream/hamburger place called Braum's. Good stuff.

From Tijeras to Alabama, the wind was gusting like crazy. It felt like a hurricane. We stopped at the Oklahoma welcome center to walk the dogs and it almost felt like you needed to hold on to something to keep from blowing away. The strong wind played havoc on the truck's cruise control, so for a huge stretch of the trip I had to drive manually.

I can't remember where this was (one of many stops for gas) but both the dogs were snuggled together. Ling Ling was on the floor, and Cash sat beside the dogs.

We got to our KOA cabin in Alma, Arkansas close to 3 am. Ugg.

As we were packing up to leave the cabin, Alex offered to drive.

Saturday, the last day of driving. It's all kind of a daze now. State after state, mile after mile. The day went on forever. We ate at a Huddle House north of Birmingham, Alabama.

We were so cramped that Vivien even resorted to sleeping in the litter box. Ewww!

Since the I-40 west of Asheville was closed due to landslide, we had to go around, which added close to 80 miles. We chose the Memphis-Birmingham-Atlanta route.

I tried to drive as much as possible, since Dad had driven the entire route by himself just a few days earlier. The only parts Dad drove on the way back were Phoenix to Fort McDowell (the first half hour or so of the trip), a couple of hours in Oklahoma, and a couple of hours or so in Alabama. Not too bad.

Since we were getting in to Asheville so late (2:30 am) and I needed to get to Bonnie's to catch a plane the next morning (just 4 hours or so after we got there, actually) Dad dropped me off at Bonnie's and then went on to his house with Alex and the animals. I chatted with Bonnie for a little while, set my cell phone to wake me at 4:30, and then crashed on her recliner. I tried to sleep on the sofa with her dog, but it was a little crowded. He's a big dog. But the recliner was more comfortable anyway, as Bonnie had told me.

All our stuff safely stored in my parents' basement

Mom and Dad decided to put the futon in their living room

The futon, with temporary makeshift cover...and cats

Lynn and Hershey came over Tuesday night