We Made It (barely)

Okay, maybe "barely" is being a bit dramatic, but it was definitely a long and stressful day getting Storm and Jaromir out to California. We made it and they are settling in nicely. They love the indoor/outdoor room pictured above and they gave outside watching all sorts of little animals running around. I am sure they will be begging us to go outside very soon but I am going to keep them inside for awhile so they know their "home."

Getting them both out here was not without incident but Andy and I dealt with it the best we could. Storm (grey kitty on the left) has a definite aversion to being in her carrier ever since she had knee surgery when she was 1 1/2 years old. She deals with this by crying and sometimes getting so scared she pees in her carrier. We got her sedatives for the travel and while I think they helped she went to the bathroom in the carrier on the way to the airport. Luckily, southwest sells pet carriers at their ticket counters so after paying $75 for each cat to fly I purchased a new carrier for $45. It was totally worth it. Andy helped me clean her up and then we got her into the new carrier. Jaromir (on the right) gets so scared that he just cowers and does not move so dealing with him was a bit easier. Once on the flight Storm had 3 temper tantrums (biting and clawing the case, crying) but other than that, managed to stay relatively quiet for the flight. She really disliked any turbulence. Landing was a whole other issue. I think at that point both cats were scared and had been in their carriers long enough (about 7 hours) so we had a few more accidents. We got them to the car quickly, cleaned out the cases (thank god we had pee pads in them) and then headed up to Napa. The drive took about 1 hr, 20 mins. with traffic so it was not that bad. Now we are here and the cats are settling in. I am so happy the travel day for them is over. I had been worrying about it for weeks. I am NOT moving them again.

Training is going well and I am getting excited for Escape from Alcatraz next Sunday. I can't believe it is coming up so quickly. Of course, it is about 5 weeks earlier than usual. And, since it is almost May that means June is coming and I will be heading to Hawaii! I can't wait. The Tour of California comes through town on May 16 as well. I am excited to stand on the side of the road at Oakville Grade (killer climb outside of Oakville) and cheer.

That's it from here. I am enjoying my time with my cats and having the husband in town for a week.