One of the things any good mom knows is that when there are big changes, take familiar things to help with settling kid/pet. It caused us more of the brimming-full vehicle issues, but we brought some of the pets beds and toys with us. It was so worth it and their stuff helped them settle down each night and made me super happy!

Emmie… being her adorable self in our first hotel

The next day (Saturday July 1) was going to be a 12.5-hour drive (750 miles) from Wickenburg AZ to Dalhart TX, but with lunch and other breaks, we thought we could do it in 14 hours. For this leg, we also decided to put the kitties in their soft crates (secured with straps) and I decided to grind the sedatives into a powder and just risk a sharp nip to get it on their tongue. Sammie (our drama king) of course started to gag (he is the upchuck expert anyway), but both kitties and Toby were feeling relaxed by the time we hit the road.

The kittens were sleeping and quiet most of the day. Occasionally Emmie would give one of her pitiful little mews (Nathaniel and I would coo to her letting her know we were still there) and Sammie would yowl (Nathaniel and I would laugh and assure him he would live). I have no idea why we laugh at his drama and we coo to Emmie’s. She is such a princess and his is such a plump lug… but this is how we entertained ourselves, and somehow they still love us.

Overall, they were so quiet, Nathaniel was just sure I had killed them with the sedatives (I promised to not sedate them the next day to assure him). Toby snored the day away. We tried stopping once for a litter and water break, but no one, not even Toby, wanted any of it. Luckily the heat was not as bad during our break.

We saw some of the prettier rugged terrain of both Arizona and New Mexico but had bad construction traffic in both states. New Mexico also had a serious vehicle crash that closed the entire freeway, but because we use Waze and Alan was paying attention, we were able to get off the freeway onto an hour+ detour, right where it had ground to a halt in front of us (thank you Jesus). I pitied those that were stuck in hours of stalled traffic. By the time we got to our hotel, it was midnight that same day and we had been on the road for 16 hours.

Where is Dalhart Texas, you ask? Right at the northwest corner of the panhandle of Texas. In doing a little Google Street-view sleuthing beforehand… it looked dry, breige (brown/beige) and desolate with water trucks literally spraying down the road to keep the dust down. Fun destination! It was a full hotel, but luckily, we had pre-paid for our room and folks were still checking in just ahead of us. The desk clerk pointed to a bowl of earplugs, announcing that railroad tracks were right across the street from the hotel and a major number of freight trains go right through town and blow their horns all… night… long. Yay, more nightlong fun! The parking lot was full (with license plates from all over (as far away as Wisconsin), so after unloading our menagerie, we both found places to park and came to check on the party going-ons. Sammie was busy with his litterbox, and they all seemed bright and bushy tailed.

Dalhart Tx… Google image showing necessary water truck and all.

We were so exhausted we were cross-eyed. In went the ear plugs and off to the few hours of sleep we had left. We had to be up and off again by 7 am. Our next leg was to just outside of Kansas City Mo to meet up with friends from Alan’s bowling days for dinner. Luckily it was only 500 miles and an 8-hour drive, so we could try for a 9-hour day.

Part 4 coming soon…

The BIG MOVE - Part 3

The Big Move - Part 4

The BIG MOVE - Part 2