Well, obviously we survived the night with fat cat traveling in the motorhome with us. At least now he knows why we used to fill up his bowls with plenty of crunchies and water, then disappear for the weekend! Now that we are traveling for much of the summer, we’ve included him in our plans and this should prove to be most interesting. After all, living in a motorhome for months is new to all of us, so, it should be very entertaining!

I woke up in the morning to find tiny little pieces of kitty litter strewn about, so I guess he found his private time in his brand new potty. What a way to start out the day! I promise the readers of this blog that I won’t go on and on about fat cat. But, until something more interesting happens, this is what you get. There he lay fast asleep early in the morning. That is after he made a dozen or so trips to our bed during the night trying to tell us something!

The first night was interesting to say the least. Fat cat walked all over us in the bed, pouncing, reminded me of my children when they were toddlers. The evidence of fat cats explorations are everywhere. From over-turned cushions to foot prints on my laptop! Now that I’m wide awake, he’s tuckered out! I guess the fierce jungle cat was on the prowl for most of the night.

It was a beautiful morning, the air was fresh and the Florida breeze was great! The birds were chirping and the squirrels were checking out our motorhome. It’s probably the first time they’ve seen one with bumper stickers of Dizzy Pig and Bonerama! That, my reader friends, is another story!

April 29, 2010

Departed from home on Thursday April 29 Land of Lakes, FL and arrived at Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont, Fl. Yes, our first 60+ miles on the road with Tigger! He’s our fat cat weighing in at a whopping 20.5 lbs. We have our entire route plotted on the GPS maps, cash in our pockets, all the Blues and Jazz CD’s we need, Sirius radio, a new tailgate grill installed, and we are so ready to get the show on the road!

We placed a harness and leash on the fat cat, stuck him in the motorhome and sped away. A great way to keep him from becoming a sailcat was to attach his leash on the dinning table leg all the while having a harness around his very large chest and back. When we first put the harness on him, he stood still with eyes wide open! You just knew what he was thinking, “somethings got me!” Well, we figured attaching the leash under the dinning table leg would give him room enough to squirm! Tucked away under the table was his comfort zone and last but not least, his potty!

Well, we’ve arrived and we’re settled in MissLueffie at our first stop. Oh, did I tell you who MissLueffie was? Sorry, she’s our motorhome. A 1988 Yellowstone, class-C maxed out with nice new tires and a bath at the local car wash! Man, is she shinny. Never mind the rust!

Oh, Now back to the potty thing! It’s large, it has a ventilation system made of charcoal for oder control, nice flap door and plenty of room. I’m a little concerned, fat cat hasn’t tested it yet though, we’ll see. We knew fat cat was going to be in total terror to say the least! So, we had a plan. Dope him up good with catnip and hope for the best. Well, it’s worked so far. We’re hoping it will lure him into his potty. I’m sure the moment our back is turned, he’ll do his business without a doubt!

Now, on to other things! As I type this journal, John is pointing a camera at me! He loves to document every moment. Wouldn’t you know I blinked when I wasn’t even aware he was snapping a pic! Well, considering I kept snapping pics of fat cat freakin out everytime we hit a bump in the road, I’d say I got John beat so far.

Well, the XM Radio sounds great here in Lake Louisa. Don’t need the GPS yet, John has maps in his head. There are gadgets everywhere in MissLueffie! From bow to stern. Everything is wireless and working. Wow! There is gadgets to check tire pressure, all six tires. A gizmo that tells us what amps we have once we pull in to a campsite,

We packed MissLueffie to the gills. Not an inch to spare. But, I’m a packrat anyway, so no problem there. I know where every single item is! I guess that’s why John says, “honey, where’s…” So, for my sharing all this knowledge with him, I’ll expect a glass of wine! Oh, I almost forgot! He knows where all the wine is! Oops, guess we’ll have to colaborate here won’t we?

So, once we settled in, we had to shift things around a bit and get comfortable. We’ll be here til April 30. I knew I had put a couple of things in the bathtub to dig out once we camped, but you’d never guess what I discovered! A 20 lb. bag of charcoal. Yes, you heard it right! But, he needs that to go along with that nice tailgate grill tagging along behind MissLueffie! But, wait! Just how many bags of charcoal does he have in the contraption called home for the summer? Three and a half! Well, we gotta eat, right! Besides, who wants to cook on a gas stove anyway? Grilling is fun and the food is certainly tasty to say the least.

Well, since I just had to bring along some comforts of home, I packed the toaster. You heard it right, the toaster. A womans gotta have something of her own while camping, I chose my toaster! All my hair stuff, jewelry, makeup, clothes, shoes and lots of them! Shall I go on? I didn’t think so.

Back to Lake Louisa. It’s your basic state park. It’s only been around since 1977. Has several lakes, some wildlife, bathhouse and laundry room, picnic area, nature trails by the foot or hoof. Well, now there you go, right up my alley. All the comforts of home, sort of. It’s wooded all around us, we feel quite secluded. Isn’t that what camping is all about?

Well, we’ve settled in for our first day, (a whole 60+ miles from home that is) fat cat has snifted every cubby hole, climbed where ever his very large body would allow and poked and prodded everything possible. Looked out every window, starred out the screen door with it’s newly attached heavy duty screen, cat proof, and is now taking what appears to be a nap meant to forget his troubles, he’s on vacation so he’s gonna enjoy! Sweet dreams Tigger…