(Kim's Perspective)
Today was a hoot. We anticipated an anti-climactic, nothing-to-write-home-about traveling day, but we were in for quite an exciting surprise.
We left the foggy, rainy drizzle behind in Acadia and hit the road back to Berlin. There aren't many direct routes, so we backtracked the way we came and took route 2 all the way back into New Hampshire. Lane, as always, chilled in the back as we drove. He really is an awesome cat. Let me explain a bit. When Bill found him cowering in the middle of the road (or, lane, as it were) on a dark, rainy night and brought him home for me to "find him a home"....duh...he was 0.9 pounds. We think he was maybe 5 weeks old at the time and once we decided we were going to keep him - you know, when I laid eyes on him and held him in my palm - he instantly took to Merlin who became his adopted mommy. From that point forward, Lane was no longer a cat. Everything he did was very dog-like. Yes, we had other cats in the house, but Lane took to Merlin and thought he was the best thing ever. Of course, he was so it was only natural that Lane recognized this, too. "Growing up dog" meant that he has great recall, mostly does what you tell him, walks on a leash (well, mostly), is calm and totally chill, and travels like a pro. No meowing, no freaking out. He simply gets in the truck and naps, snacks, or plops on my lap while we go down the road. Not being so dog like that he will "go potty" on command, I put him in the trailer at every gas stop to see if he needs to use his litterbox. He does seem to recognize the words "are you ready to go for a ride?", and on most occasions, he will look at me, walk over to his litterbox, do his business and be ready to pound out another couple hundred miles on the road. Never in his 15 years has he messed outside the litterbox or caused me ANY kind of typical cat ownership grief. As I said, he thinks he's a dog. Which, logically, makes him the BEST CAT EVER. No really, we have the best cat ever. It's not some cute saying on a photo frame or wooden sign, he really IS the BEST CAT EVER. I digress.
Today was a hoot. We anticipated an anti-climactic, nothing-to-write-home-about traveling day, but we were in for quite an exciting surprise.
We left the foggy, rainy drizzle behind in Acadia and hit the road back to Berlin. There aren't many direct routes, so we backtracked the way we came and took route 2 all the way back into New Hampshire. Lane, as always, chilled in the back as we drove. He really is an awesome cat. Let me explain a bit. When Bill found him cowering in the middle of the road (or, lane, as it were) on a dark, rainy night and brought him home for me to "find him a home"....duh...he was 0.9 pounds. We think he was maybe 5 weeks old at the time and once we decided we were going to keep him - you know, when I laid eyes on him and held him in my palm - he instantly took to Merlin who became his adopted mommy. From that point forward, Lane was no longer a cat. Everything he did was very dog-like. Yes, we had other cats in the house, but Lane took to Merlin and thought he was the best thing ever. Of course, he was so it was only natural that Lane recognized this, too. "Growing up dog" meant that he has great recall, mostly does what you tell him, walks on a leash (well, mostly), is calm and totally chill, and travels like a pro. No meowing, no freaking out. He simply gets in the truck and naps, snacks, or plops on my lap while we go down the road. Not being so dog like that he will "go potty" on command, I put him in the trailer at every gas stop to see if he needs to use his litterbox. He does seem to recognize the words "are you ready to go for a ride?", and on most occasions, he will look at me, walk over to his litterbox, do his business and be ready to pound out another couple hundred miles on the road. Never in his 15 years has he messed outside the litterbox or caused me ANY kind of typical cat ownership grief. As I said, he thinks he's a dog. Which, logically, makes him the BEST CAT EVER. No really, we have the best cat ever. It's not some cute saying on a photo frame or wooden sign, he really IS the BEST CAT EVER. I digress.
As we headed toward the New Hampshire state line, I asked Bill to pull over so I could get the sign for Maine which we missed on the way over. He kindly obliged and I snapped a quick photo and we were on our way.
The Sitts needed to swing by Wal-Mart before heading to the campground, so we stopped to grab some essentials like cat litter for the BEST CAT EVER. ;)
After the Wally World stop, the Sitts pealed off to fill out the paperwork for their rental so they wouldn't have to mess with it in the morning and Bill and I checked in at the campground and got set up in the same sites we had last time. We smelled propane when we were unhitching so we did a little troubleshooting of our system (mental note: replace regulator valve) while we waited for the Sitts.
I had noticed we had a recent visitor to our site. Another mental note: don't let Lane stray too far.
Stay here, Kitteh. Mommy doesn't want you to become a pile of bear poop. :D
While we were messing with the camper, Bill and Shele pulled in. This is where the story (finally! you say) gets good. They pulled in without their camper. Uhhh? Bill and I looked at each other and smirked. We had been discussing whether Bill would end up buying a four wheeler on the spot. He said if they offered him a good deal and could get the machine in the back of his truck so they could get back home with the camper, he'd consider buying one. And that's exactly what they did! We were cracking up laughing. They unloaded the stuff from the back of their pickup at the campsite and headed back over to Jericho Motorsports. We told them we'd pop in to join them in a bit. When we arrived, their new Arctic Cat was already loaded on the truck.
The Bills discussed any potential load issues...
...while I snapped a photo of their awesome new rig set up. :D I suspect, like us, they're now going to be gawked at by dudes in trucks and little kids in car seats as they ride down the road. It's quite funny really. We don't think much about the bikes being in the back of the truck until we realize that we keep getting stared at as we're driving down the road. Then it dawns on us what the big smiles, waves, and thumbs ups are for. Two people, two bikes, a cat, and a camper. Yep. Life is good.
I went inside to join (and congratulate!) Shele. She was quite happy - as evidenced by her giant grin. :)
I had them pose for a pick with Stacia - who, by the way, was a complete doll. She's just one of these really awesome people you meet and could spend hours talking to.
After we said goodbye to the good folks at Jericho Motorsports, we headed back to the campground. The Sitts unloaded their new quad and, as I'm sure you might have guessed, wanted to go for a ride. SWEET!! We quickly threw on our gear and were off. It was pretty late in the day so we only got a short ride in. Regretfully, we didn't stop to take any photos but I assure you, everyone was having a great time. We returned to the campsite, had a late dinner, and chatted about the days events. I'm SO glad they're having a good time and enjoy riding enough to recognize it as a viable long-term investment. I envision a whole lot of Hatfield McCoy riding in our future. :) This is going to be great!!
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