Adjusting to our New Cat and Adjusting to Being Home

The drive home with Cedar went better than I expected, but it was still hard on us and on the cat. The first day on the road was a short one, but he yowled the entire way, every moment that the car was moving. He did fine once we stopped and got him into the trailer. After spending two weeks in it every night, it must have felt like a safe space for him. Russ saved some of the Thanksgiving turkey leftovers to bribe him with; that worked well. He seems to really like any human food.

He damaged his nose trying to get out of the carrier.

Looking out at a new place.

At last I don't have to sit in that awful truck!

Toys helped keep him happy and keep us sane.

Moab is lovely. Too bad this was my only view of it.

It was less fun for us to travel since we chose to not stop and go out to eat anywhere. It made more sense to stay close and give Cedar our company. Plus I was concerned that the Mr. Destructo we adopted was never alone in the R-Pod. Russ did walk over to the Moab Brewery to pick up dinner on that first night, but I cooked every meal thereafter. Cedar did a little better every day. By day five, he got in his carrier without protest and slept the entire time we were driving. Goals.

The KOA in Wendover, NV was really empty. No one likes camping in the cold.

A fun bit of the holidays at the rest stop vestibule in Oregon.

He's doing better after each day on the road.

Boardman, Oregon. One of the best parks for RV camping we've found.

The park had a lovely trail along the Columbia River.

Russ and Cedar rest after a long day's drive.

Our last day on the trip. US 84 along the Columbia River Gorge.

Clouds and River. Beautiful.

We got lucky with the weather for our trip home. We had planned to use the gorge route, thinking that the mountain passes would be snowy, or at least wet, but the rain held off until the day after we returned. Since we've been home, Cedar has gotten used to being a solo, indoor cat. He loves the holiday decorations I put up, especially the gold bead garland.

His sleeping position is very stretched out.

A gift after we returned. The cat loves pulling off the fake berries.

He tends to hang in the room where we are. This is one side of my desk.

At the vet hospital. He did really well.

A welcome home Amaryllis from my parents.

One decoration area. He keeps pulling at the bead garland.

I did manage to get him into our vet. They were so busy, we had to wait three weeks, but he's got his first round of vaccinations in and he is scheduled to be neutered in about six more weeks.

We got our COVID vaccine boosters, too. Since we got home, I've managed to go to the dentist for a cleaning, get that booster, get a haircut and a pedicure, restart regular Pilates classes, and restock our pantry. The farmer's market continued once a week on Saturday through last week, which was a pleasant surprise. It's on a winter (once per month) schedule until April. It's great for my less waste living style. I found it really hard to live without creating plastic trash while we were traveling. Most places didn't have any recycling, so we just brought it all home with us. I think the thing I missed most was my big kitchen with an oven. We had a fabulous trip, but it feels great to be home.