Jesse the Traveling Cat and Why I Wasn't Invited on Vacation

Hi evfurrybuddy, it's me Dori *wavy paws.* If yoo are reading this, I assume yoo have survived the weekend and the return of Monday with all it's despicable hekkishness. Purrsonally I am working on a serious letter to the gov'mint to abolish Mondays at the same time they kick Daylight Savings to the curb for once and for all.

So yoo may have noticed that I was virtually invisible last week to my social media frens. I am mortally wounded to the core of my little heart to be ignored, but my momma explained that she needed a bweak and unfortnately I was sacrificed along with her accounts and our IG Cattoon account.

HOWEVER, I am not just a pwetty face. I am also an adorable purranormal pwivate detective and while there were no ghosts or demons to deal with, I used my spidey senses to find out that not only Wabbit's social media accounts were extremely active, but also a brand new account for Jesse the Toothless Wonder popped up and pwactically overnight went from 116 followers to over 190. And all because he was invited to go on vacation with my momma and daddy.

Not me. I was not invited.

Not that I would have gone if I had been invited. I went to Blogpaws in Kansas City and spent the entire time hiding under the bed behind the headboard, and also behind the bathroom towels. Truly, if I hadn't had Candy with me, I would have probably fainted with the vapors in the truest sense of being a Southern Belle. Which I am, being from Mississippi.

So this is what happened:

Momma was ready to hit the road to some place chilly so she could wear jeans and sweaters, and walk through autumn leaves. She does this every year about this time, so it comes as no surprise to any of us when she hauls out her suitcase and starts running around making notes and piles to pack. However this time I noticed there was a pile of cat food dishes, and a leash and a harness. I fweaked, and hid under the bed, right in the center where Momma can't reach me. I know. I've done this many times.

Finally Fwank knelt down to peek at me all cute and scrunched up in a tight ball of stwess, and told me Jesse had drawn the short straw and was going on vacation.

Yay! I mean... oh too bad. Actually, Fwank doesn't like Jesse from something that happened years ago but Fwank holds a grudge and still isn't over it. And I love Fwank so much, so of course I support him by giving Jesse my very best Stink Eye whenever possible.

So that morning when the car was packed and Jesse was seized unexpectedly and stuffed into his traveling box, I was out and about, giving Momma last minute hugs and ankel rubs. We had a new sitter come to feed us, one who has such a calm demeanor that we all came out of hiding on the second day. 

Meanwhile, from what I've been able to put together from conversations upon my pawrents return, Jesse spent the first day of travel sleeping under the back seat. He didn't eat. He didn't poo. But he did come out to sit in Daddy's lap and to investigate the minivan. He thought it was like a house on wheels.

Fwankly, I am suspiciouis that Jesse was a willing participant on this trip. I looked at his Instagwam and saw him acting like he was truly enjoying being the center of attenshun. Well, naturally I enjoy that too, but I wouldn't pose for pictures the way Jesse did.

Here he is actually looking out the window at moving traffic. And he's not even barfing from motion sickness like Fwank does. Momma repeatedly told Jesse he was a "gud boi" and boy did he eat that up. He purred like he's never purred before, and he was extremely chatty, especially between 2 - 5 am.

So they arrived on the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina and that night Jesse was left to have some quiet time while Momma and Daddy went to find noms. Unfortnately late at night not many places are open on the reservation, but they found a nice Kobe Express where their lovely waitpurrson showed them photos of elk standing on her front lawn. So Daddy was very excited that he might see elk as well.

When they got back to the hotel room, Jesse was no where to be found. He didn't eat or use his litter box. And they knew he did not escape, so the next thing they did was tear apart the bed. I assume memory of me doing this same thing in Kansas City tipped them off, and sure enough, Jesse was crouched behind the headboard. Yoo can't go under the bed, but there is a gap between the bed box and the wall, which makes it a most excellent hidey hole when yoo are traveling against yoor will.

My momma is allergic to strong bleach and she gets horrible rashes, so they always travel with blankets and towels and their own pillows. So after they pulled Jesse out, they stuffed the hotel pillows on either side so any future access to the hidey hole was foiled. From that day on, Jesse had a wonderpurr time being an only kitteh.

For those of yoo who don't know his backstory, Jesse was born under a neighbor's deck where his momma Peaches had found to keep her babies safe. Unfortunately when all but two kittens were taken away, Peaches made a run for it with Jesse and Jack, and when she returned the entrance hole was covered. So she brought her kittens to my momma next door, and found a forever home for them all.

Jesse has always lived outdoors. Even after Peaches and Jack moved inside, Jesse remained a garage cat because the two times she gave him a chance to be an indoor cat, he peed on stuff. I understand it was a dream of Jesse's to live indoors one day, and finally when we moved to FloryDa, that dream came true. He was once again a garage cat with Chevy and my daddy Nikolas, but when he got stomititis and lost all of his teeth, he had to spend a couple days at the V.E.T., and then a week in Momma's office. When he was well enough to return to the garage, Nik and Chevy told him he was no longer a part of their Garage Band and he was kicked out. So he moved into the house, and has been pretty good about not misbehaving. He has a cool box cave in the loft over the refrigerator, and at night he comes down to eat and socialize with my pawrents. He was pretty happy with the arrangement...

Until he went on vacation and then came home. That's when he got really upset. He wants to be the onliest kitteh, but he can't. He's 13, and he's set in his ways, and even if Momma loved him enough to find him a new home, she knows in her heart he wouldn't adjust too well. So the plan now is to work extra hard getting Jesse to acclimate into the Gang instead of staying on the fringe like he's done since we moved here.

Plans are to get him out and about more often. He did so well in the van, and also riding in Mosey, our stroller. Momma says the more confident he is, the less intimidated by Fwank (and me) he will be.

One thing... can anybuddy recommend a good body harness? Jesse wore a red bandana harness from Kitty Holster and also an orange from Cat Travel, but Jesse pulled in his elbows and got out of them both. Possibly Momma will try the harness again and slip one of Wabbit's tee shirts over it so Jesse can't escape.

So to wrap this up, yes Daddy saw Elk. Lots of them. Momma sez on the Cherokee Reservation the elk are like stray cats -- they're everywhere! In fact at one point when their GPS was acting up and Daddy pulled over, Momma looked up from her map long enough to realize she was staring at a family standing on the road right in front of the car!

The Cherokee Reservation had a lovely casino with top notch restaurants, and the land is beautiful with waterfalls and streams, and thick woodlands. Momma discovered Qualla Java coffee shop where everyone is so nice. Her favorite drink was the Spearfinger, a chocolate, caramel and vanilla latte that she ordered every day she was there. 

The street signs were in both English and in Cherokee.

And there were Bears everywhere! Bear statues that is. Bears play a large part in the Cherokee culture and artists from the clans of Bird, Blue, Deer, Long Hair, Paint, Wild Potato, and Wolf all contributed to the Bear Project.

So, if yoo ever have the chance to visit Cherokee, North Carolina, be sure to take walking shoes and bring yoor camera. Here is the highlight of the trip for Momma when Jesse willingly posed in a box of gourds. His leash was missing so she used her iphone cord to make sure he didn't take off on a walkabout.

Until Next Time...