Traveling Circus

We are on Day Two of our travels, after the Car Transport Fuck Up we didn't get to the hotel til almost 8p,everyone over tired and a bit crabby. We've traveled with pets before - an over night stay here and there but this is the first time we will be doing about 4 or 5 days with two large dogs and a cat. Traveling with pets is  like traveling with children except worse because the big worries is one they'll panic and sprint which generally doesn't happen with kids. And you do see people that end up having to leave with the pet still lost, of course if you lose one of your kids that would probably be frowned upon ("We had to leave Cindy, but we did put up signs in case someone spots her"). Then finding somewhere to stay - a lot more places take pets but there's weight limits, you can only have one, no cats,etc... eating has it's own challenges since you cannot leave them unattended, and then there's the Stuff. Food, bowls, leashes......

Bob the cat is a bit worrisome, cats are notorious bolters. I bought a wire small dog crate, an excellent buy! I put a bath mat on the bottom, it's big enough for her to move around  but light enough to carry. The best part is the big door so it's  easy to get her in it and she really seems to like it,that was a win. Molly could win awards for travel, she not only doesn't mind it, but enjoys it. We take turns sitting shotgun, she sits straight up looking at David or out the window or flops on the blanket in the back. I had bought an inflatable mattress and threw a blanket on it - since it's a work van the entire back is empty - but that turned out to be a fiasco. ALL inflatable mattresses have a slow leak so the dogs were wobbling around back there like they were on the Jolly Roger and didn't have their sea legs. David put Bob's crate on it so every time they moved she jiggled around - I let the air out and everyone is happy.  Bob is traveling well, but we do have to watch her, the crate really helps because she sits in there when we are taking the dogs out,etc...

Reuben is doing OK but he is not liking this, it's hard because you can't explain to any of them what's going on. Reuben occasionally does a re-enactment of a Hallmark movie with an heiress kidnapping plot line, but he seems to be getting a bit better and it has not affected his appetite! And then there's just the sheer volume of stuff we cart in and out of the hotel rooms. Bob in her crate, The Terrible Two on leashes, coolers with our food  and coffee stuff (since going out for breakfast is impossible), their food, the litter pan, our suitcases. We have to shut Bob in the bathroom during all of this so she tends to glare at us balefully from the bathtub as we shut the door. But all in all, it's been going well, the hotels all have pet friendly room with hardwood floors, we get two beds so everyone is comfortable. The van has plenty of room and airconditioning so they can stretch their legs or go sprawl out in the back. We did two short days (under 8 hours) - tomorrow is a ten  hour day and we'll see how it goes. But all in all it's not been bad.