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| 3 August 2002 Binder Park Campground Jefferson City MO We arrived here yesterday after a stop in Hermann, MO last night. Upon arriving at Hermann, we were officially following the Lewis and Clark trail, which is loosely how we’re structuring our trip west. After staying the night at the very noisy Hermann City Park campground (construction crews working overtime), we crossed the Missouri River to State 94, which follows the course of the river. Not closely enough for my taste, though, as it was only visible for very brief stretches. Otherwise, our view was of cornfields and some mysterious, low-growing crop that we haven’t been able to identify. The river must have been much wider at some point; on our right, there were bluffs carved by the force of a river. Of course, much of the area we’re travelling in now was underwater during the great flood of 1993. The weather has been wretched the entire time, in the mid to upper 90s. It hit 100 degrees as we pulled out of Hermann yesterday. Ugh! We had meant to make Arrow Rock our destination, but the weather and our late start conspired against us, and we were lucky to find a place to stay just outside Jefferson City. Jeff City (as we used to call it when I lived in MO) is the state capitol, and I will never forget the immortal words of the 1973 Let’s Go! America travel guide (written by Harvard students) which described it as ‘real hot in the summer, real cold in the winter, and real dull all year round.’ We may stay here the weekend in hopes of a break in the weather. It’s been brought to my attention that I haven’t yet mentioned our feline companions, Cyrano (Le Bergeracoon) and Roxanne (La Belle Coon). They are purebred Maine Coon cats, brother and sister, and we’ve had them since they were 12 weeks old. Cyrano is a big boy, weighing in at about 20 lbs.; he’s a cream cameo with white – sort of a golden-reddish topcoat, with a white undercoat. Roxanne is a brown patch tabby with white underbody and mask, and socks, and weighs about 15 lbs. Maine Coon cats are the largest breed of domesticated cat, and the sweetest tempered. They’ve traveled some 3500 miles with us so far, and of the four of us, they complain the least! People seem fascinated by the idea of travelling cats. It’s true that cats are resistant to changes in their environment, but we have been taking ours with us on trips since they were kittens, and they are now excellent travelers. We are so attached to them, and they to us, that the idea of leaving them behind on this greatest of adventures was unthinkable. We had several strategies to make travelling less of a strain on them; they have a travelling enclosure that we put in the back seat of the truck cab, situated so that they can see us (& the outside, if they want to). It’s well padded underneath with a thick foam mat and cotton blanket inside. At first I tried putting a litter box at one end, but they never used it (& have never had any accidents) so we took it out. I try to feed them a couple of hours before we leave on a trip, so that they have time to pee and poop, and so far, it’s worked out well. Also, if you feed them too close to when you get on the road, you increase the incidence of carsickness. We offer them water at rest stops, and let them out into the cab to stretch their legs. They sleep most of the time that we’re driving. ‘Where do you keep the litter box?’ - the burning question that you all want to know…well, at first we kept it in the bathtub, but we noticed that the tub was acquiring scratches, so now it’s just on the floor of the bathroom. We had a large enough bathroom to do this; some RVs just don’t have that much space in the bathroom. It isn’t easy finding a place in the RV where the kitties can have some privacy, and where it’s not in your way all the time. Of course, all this depends on the size of your RV and the layout. If you have a closet that goes all the way to the floor, that’s a good place to put it, if you don’t mind vacuuming litter out of your carpet. Personally, I prefer to put the box in a place that has linoleum for easy cleanup. One thing that the kitties really miss is their big scratching post, and perches. We’re working on a solution to this – will put up a picture when it’s in place. Right now, they have an 18” high scratching post, but it’s just not big enough for these guys. They have favorite blankets and towels they we carry with us, and put on the trailer furniture at first to make it feel like home to them. As I write this, Cyrano is keeping me company, sleeping while lying on his back, all four feet in the air. It’s his favorite relaxing position, and he’s done it since he was a kitten. It never fails to make me smile. |
Bev's Journal We Proceeded On... Part II: The Journey West |