Go Fish Galvez

Er, cat stories, that is. My little black boy is still with me but frankly I’ve had enough of my own cat stories so let’s just sum up and move on.

Grand canyons, for sure!

The end to the Jeepers saga, for those of you not following the comments trail, is that he came through just in the nick of time and left a small gift this morning in the litter box, a little tithe to the local Latter Days, so all my worry was for naught.

With this final success, he’s now graduated to the status of perfect little traveling companion, and especially today, putting up with me and ten full hours on the road with ne’er a complaint. What a little trooper cat!

So we left Price this morning, all evacuated and fresh and good, and decided, rather than jump onto Interstate 70 at the first opportunity, which would have put us on a path due east and into southern Colorado (been there, done that, nothing much there to write home about), to instead continue on south, past 70, on our little secondary highway because it would take us through the edge of the canyonlands, for one last glimpse of this magical place. Well worth the little extra time, for sure! Read the rest of this entry »

Reporting in from central Utah, specifically, the little town of Price, the beginning of the spectacular canyons of southern Utah. Breathtaking!

This is one of the most awe-inspiring landscapes I have ever beheld. Sure wish I could take the scenic tour of Bryce Canyon and see it all again but time—and kitty concerns—just don’t permit this trip, alas.

Canyonland!

Speaking of my little black boy, we had a “moment” in the truck today, and it didn’t smell so good. Gad.

Jeepers may very well be the only cat in the entire world that doesn’t know what to do with, or in, a litter box. No idea. The concept is seemingly not in his repertoire. I’ve put him in it, I’ve taken his right paw (and left) and showed him how to dig in it, and still the litter is pristine enough that I could return it to the store for a full refund. Read the rest of this entry »

And no Willys either, in beautiful (ahem) downtown Mountain Home, Idaho. Nope, it’s just me and Jeepers tonight.

Jeepers at the motel

That’s because Willys is now a (happy) new resident of the small little backwater community of LaGrande, Oregon. And I will personally guarantee that he’s absolutely thrilled to be there and not here with me and Jeepers, not in a cat carrier, not in the truck, not on the road. No, all that, I believe, was killing him.

After I was forced to place Willys back in the truck last night in a last-ditch attempt to get a little long-overdue rest for the drive ahead, I found him this morning in much the same state as I left him last night. Distraught. Ill-tempered. With patches of hair rubbed off from twisting and turning in fits inside the cat carrier. Now Willys was beginning to look, and smell, like he was stepping onto the path of a downward spiral.

So this morning I spent some extra time with Willys. I took him out of the cat carrier, brought him fresh food that he would not eat and fresh water that he would not drink. I slipped a collar and leash on him and took him out into the morning air, on a soft green lawn. But no matter what I tried, Willys would not be consoled, would not be comforted, would not relax. His constant loud wails and melancholy moans of the day before continued like clockwork, on the second, every second. Read the rest of this entry »