Our Cross-Country Adventure

By WhoDat the Wonder Cat

My driver (Stuart Showalter) and I said goodbye to San Diego around noon on Friday, March 12, to begin our journey across the Southwest to Vermont via Atlanta and Reading, PA. I was concerned about the trip at first, but after voicing my discomfort for a few miles I realized that it was better if I let Stuart concentrate on driving, so I lay quietly in the back of the SUV most of the way after that.

Three hours down I-8 we crossed into Arizona and spent the night in Gila Bend. It was my first night ever in a hotel room, and I found that I could hide in a four-inch-wide tunnel between the box spring and the wall. I was soon coaxed out of there and the opening was blocked by pillows, but hide and seek became a game at each stop along the way. (You can see the pillow circled in the photo below.)

After exploring Phoenix the next day we checked into another hotel to await the arrival of our navigator, Cliff Mills, who was flying in from Seattle. We met his plane early Sunday afternoon and set off along I-10 for Las Cruces, NM. On the way, Stuart and Cliff were amused by the many billboards advertising fireworks, casinos, truck stops, etc., and one weather-beaten sign, in particular, caught their attention.

It was for a now-defunct local eatery known as  “BURGER TIME” that apparently served not only the iconic American ground beef sandwich but donuts too. The “e” in “Time” was missing on the billboard, so for the rest of the trip these two humans laughed about “Burger Tim” and his donuts. 

We spent Monday night in Fort Worth, TX, crossed into Louisiana on Tuesday, and arrived that evening in Jackson, MS. Until then Stuart and Cliff had prevented me from hiding in our various hotel rooms, but the misnamed “Quality Inn” motel in Jackson was the site of my most creative escapade.

After my companions went out to dinner, I found a small tear in the cloth underbelly of one of the box springs, and I climbed inside. When they returned, they couldn’t find me. I heard them calling my name, but  I didn’t reveal myself. They searched all over, even looking under the box spring on each bed. They should have noticed the bulge I created in the cloth, of course, but they didn’t. They thought I had sneaked out the door unnoticed when they left for dinner. After all, how many places are there to hide in a hotel room?

Stuart searched outside and asked the front desk clerk and a maid if they’d seen a missing cat, all to no avail. After about 30 minutes, with Stuart feeling heartsick over my apparent demise, I decided to reappear, much to his delight and relief. I was so proud of myself for this deception!

The next morning we drove through a horrible thunderstorm to the Birmingham, AL, airport and left Cliff to catch his return flight to Seattle. We later learned later that there had been tornadoes behind us in the storm and that Cliff’s flight had been canceled. He didn’t get home for two more days, but Stuart and I drove blissfully on to my “Aunt” Lynn’s house in Roswell, GA, where we stayed for a few days.

Upon leaving Georgia on the 21st we drove 13 hours to “Aunt” Susie’s home near Reading, PA. On the 25th she signed on as navigator, and the three of us then completed the journey: through upper New York State, crossing into Vermont south of Lake George, and on to the Burlington area. All told, we traveled 3,496 miles in 13 days, and I was pretty calm the whole way. Stuart nicknamed me the Wonder Cat for my ability to endure traveling with a minimum of complaint while providing amusement along the way.

We are now settled in our new apartment at 236 Zephyr Rd. #201, Williston, VT 05495. It’s a mere 0.8 miles as the crow flies from Sarah’s house, and she and her family get together with us frequently. It should be noted, however, that when Clover (age 6) and Forrest (age 2.75) come over I usually reprise my disappearing act and end up under the bed.

From what Stuart tells me, Vermont is a friendly, laid-back place and he likes it here. I, too, have grown fond of it. After all, his apartment is bigger than his San Diego condo, so it has more places to hide. LOL