StealthGTI
Autocross Champion
- Location
- Newport News, VA
- Car(s)
- 2017 GTI Sport
Our first order of business in the morning was to assemble the kennels and then repack the car without using any of the space in the car that we previously had. The three kennels take up everything but the floor behind the front seats. We had to go to Home Depot for a few supplies such as shipping boxes and packing tape. When we got back and assembled everything, we found ourselves out of time with the hotel and just put everything in the parking lot so that we could work there and figure out a new place for everything. This isn't even all of it:
The shipping boxes, not photo'd, were a tool to gauge how much extra space we needed. Obviously, carboard boxes would present a problem if we encountered rain or snow. Once I knew what would fit where, we went back to Home Depot and picked up a couple of Husky roller boxes. They strapped-down nicely on the trailer's lid...
We then went to retrieve the cats, Mom's cremains, her records, and other effects from her good friend and executor, Joyce. There was more stuff than I expected. The Husky tubs were a wise purchase... I'm glad I bought two instead of just the one I thought I needed! With everything loaded, there were two buckets that we had been traveling with that wouldn't fit in the trailer. One was a sealed Chemical Guys bucket that had my "Motherfluffer" towels inside. There was no way I'd leave that behind! I found a home for it in front of the Husky tubs...
The other bucket was simply an uncapped cat litter pail that I had some car wash soap, wheel clean, and something else that slips my mind, perhaps wet towels. I left that behind and gave Joyce the option to either use the liquids or toss them. I didn't care; she didn't need to spare my feelings by saying, "Oh, we'll certainly use it."
The cats were already in small pet carriers in Joyce's home. I don't think I've described them. They are "Miss Kitty," an eleven year old female long-haired calico; "Rusty," a ten year old overweight male long-haired orange tabby, and "Digby," a five year old male polydactyl long-haired orange tabby. The boys have been afraid of strangers for as long as I recall, perhaps especially true of men. Rusty freaked out in a major fashion when we walked in. Our first task was to get each cat out of Joyce's carriers and into our kennels. Miss Kitty was easy. She is a very nice, easy-going cat. The boys were a handful. I did most of the handling because I wasn't going to be the loving sort who then winds up chasing cats all over a strange house because one got away. Nope! I manhandled their furry little butts straight into our kennels without fanfare, tears, or sympathy.
Our plan was that those kennels would not be opened for ANY reason unless said kennel was inside of a locked room. Having any of those cats loose outside the car or locked room would make me a homicidal manic since an escapee would likely be uncatchable until it was hit by a car. The wife agreed, which managed both of our expectations. We didn't take any photos of the cats at this point. They were scared out of their minds and burying their heads under the bedding in their kennels. Each cat has food, water, and a litter box. Here you can see that the kennels are plenty large enough for that...
The front kennels are on a level platform. The bottom photo shows one of the two fans that I added to ensure the rear kennel gets ventilation...
We hit the road very late in the day, perhaps 2pm. So, we didn't aim to get very far, just out of the area and into our first hotel at a decent time. Something I didn't mention was our change of route home. My car's engine problem, our one day delay, and reports of inclement weather (and visible slow-downs on I-80 in Google Maps) had me rethinking how much I wanted to risk being in the cold if I have further troubles. The potential for trouble had me thinking I wanted to stay on the Interstates since services are more plentiful there. We had silly goals to "check-off" some of the middle states and to visit a few attractions. BUT, given what my brother saw in the Sequoias, there was a good chance that the Bonneville Salt Flats and Pike's Peak would be inaccessible to my GTI and trailer, anyway. I had already cancelled all of our hotel reservations along the previous return route when we were delayed one day. So, we already had to reschedule everything... and with shorter travel days due to our fatigue. I removed NV, UT, WY, CO, and NE from our plan and moved our return route to along I-40.
Our first stop was in Tehachapi, just 120 miles down the road. I don't remember seeing the pumpjacks in Bakersfield that someone mentioned. I must've been really focused on the drive or simply desensitized to their presence after having seen so many in TX and NM. We got a nice suite at the end of the hallway and were able to park right outside the door. The parking lot was nearly empty. I "stunt-parked" two spots over from the only other vehicle in the lot, which made coming out to THIS the next morning a bit of a surprise...
I've heard of people with POS cars doing this to "teach a lesson" to those who park in more than one spot. In fact, I used to know a guy with a beater Mk3 who would park even closer to those "special" parkers. But seeing someone do it with an expensive truck threw me off. After taking the photo, I went to move the car so I could load. That's when I saw potential motivation for this driver's decision...
I suspect he was trying to conceal his cargo. While I still think it was inconsiderate to park that way, I at least understood that he wasn't trying to be a douche... at least I hope that's the case. Regardless, we were loaded and on our way before they showed their faces. That suited me fine. We also encountered our first ice along the trip, which was almost nothing at all, but still photo-worthy...
We drove to Flagstaff, AZ, with one of our fuel stops being in Seligman, AZ...
I'm told there's cool stuff to see in Seligman, but it was dark and I had a goal to make Flagstaff. So, we continued into the darkness. Here's where I stuffed my trailer at our Flagstaff hotel. Parking was very limited. Someone pulling a horse trailer commented at the front desk that "we" would need to park down the street. "We'll see" was my simple reply. He drove by as we were unloading...
In case you're wondering, we do unload the trailer every evening and reload every morning. That sucks about 90 minutes out of each day. This stay added another 15 minutes in each the morning and evening since we couldn't park near a door. I put a priority on getting a parking spot that worked ahead of a convenient off-load since parking was scarce here. The hotel room was interesting. The owners had converted one side into "suites" by knocking out a portion of a dividing wall, then made one side the king bedroom and the other into a living room. They left the bathrooms "as-is", which meant that we had two. The problem was that they were both TINY, nothing I'd want to lock the cats into. We used the Husky tubs and kennels to create a barrier so that the cats would have run of the bathroom and sink area...
Miss Kitty escaped around 3:30 am. She rubbed on my face and then went under the blankets. I was content to leave her be until my wife reminded me that her water and litter box was on the other side of the barricade. Plus, we needed to check on the boys to make sure they weren't out, too. I stuffed her back into their space and fortified the opening where she had squeezed through.
Our goal was to make Oklahoma City the following day. But, more important, I wanted to visit a special Route 66 attraction...
The shipping boxes, not photo'd, were a tool to gauge how much extra space we needed. Obviously, carboard boxes would present a problem if we encountered rain or snow. Once I knew what would fit where, we went back to Home Depot and picked up a couple of Husky roller boxes. They strapped-down nicely on the trailer's lid...
We then went to retrieve the cats, Mom's cremains, her records, and other effects from her good friend and executor, Joyce. There was more stuff than I expected. The Husky tubs were a wise purchase... I'm glad I bought two instead of just the one I thought I needed! With everything loaded, there were two buckets that we had been traveling with that wouldn't fit in the trailer. One was a sealed Chemical Guys bucket that had my "Motherfluffer" towels inside. There was no way I'd leave that behind! I found a home for it in front of the Husky tubs...
The other bucket was simply an uncapped cat litter pail that I had some car wash soap, wheel clean, and something else that slips my mind, perhaps wet towels. I left that behind and gave Joyce the option to either use the liquids or toss them. I didn't care; she didn't need to spare my feelings by saying, "Oh, we'll certainly use it."
The cats were already in small pet carriers in Joyce's home. I don't think I've described them. They are "Miss Kitty," an eleven year old female long-haired calico; "Rusty," a ten year old overweight male long-haired orange tabby, and "Digby," a five year old male polydactyl long-haired orange tabby. The boys have been afraid of strangers for as long as I recall, perhaps especially true of men. Rusty freaked out in a major fashion when we walked in. Our first task was to get each cat out of Joyce's carriers and into our kennels. Miss Kitty was easy. She is a very nice, easy-going cat. The boys were a handful. I did most of the handling because I wasn't going to be the loving sort who then winds up chasing cats all over a strange house because one got away. Nope! I manhandled their furry little butts straight into our kennels without fanfare, tears, or sympathy.
Our plan was that those kennels would not be opened for ANY reason unless said kennel was inside of a locked room. Having any of those cats loose outside the car or locked room would make me a homicidal manic since an escapee would likely be uncatchable until it was hit by a car. The wife agreed, which managed both of our expectations. We didn't take any photos of the cats at this point. They were scared out of their minds and burying their heads under the bedding in their kennels. Each cat has food, water, and a litter box. Here you can see that the kennels are plenty large enough for that...
The front kennels are on a level platform. The bottom photo shows one of the two fans that I added to ensure the rear kennel gets ventilation...
We hit the road very late in the day, perhaps 2pm. So, we didn't aim to get very far, just out of the area and into our first hotel at a decent time. Something I didn't mention was our change of route home. My car's engine problem, our one day delay, and reports of inclement weather (and visible slow-downs on I-80 in Google Maps) had me rethinking how much I wanted to risk being in the cold if I have further troubles. The potential for trouble had me thinking I wanted to stay on the Interstates since services are more plentiful there. We had silly goals to "check-off" some of the middle states and to visit a few attractions. BUT, given what my brother saw in the Sequoias, there was a good chance that the Bonneville Salt Flats and Pike's Peak would be inaccessible to my GTI and trailer, anyway. I had already cancelled all of our hotel reservations along the previous return route when we were delayed one day. So, we already had to reschedule everything... and with shorter travel days due to our fatigue. I removed NV, UT, WY, CO, and NE from our plan and moved our return route to along I-40.
Our first stop was in Tehachapi, just 120 miles down the road. I don't remember seeing the pumpjacks in Bakersfield that someone mentioned. I must've been really focused on the drive or simply desensitized to their presence after having seen so many in TX and NM. We got a nice suite at the end of the hallway and were able to park right outside the door. The parking lot was nearly empty. I "stunt-parked" two spots over from the only other vehicle in the lot, which made coming out to THIS the next morning a bit of a surprise...
I've heard of people with POS cars doing this to "teach a lesson" to those who park in more than one spot. In fact, I used to know a guy with a beater Mk3 who would park even closer to those "special" parkers. But seeing someone do it with an expensive truck threw me off. After taking the photo, I went to move the car so I could load. That's when I saw potential motivation for this driver's decision...
I suspect he was trying to conceal his cargo. While I still think it was inconsiderate to park that way, I at least understood that he wasn't trying to be a douche... at least I hope that's the case. Regardless, we were loaded and on our way before they showed their faces. That suited me fine. We also encountered our first ice along the trip, which was almost nothing at all, but still photo-worthy...
We drove to Flagstaff, AZ, with one of our fuel stops being in Seligman, AZ...
I'm told there's cool stuff to see in Seligman, but it was dark and I had a goal to make Flagstaff. So, we continued into the darkness. Here's where I stuffed my trailer at our Flagstaff hotel. Parking was very limited. Someone pulling a horse trailer commented at the front desk that "we" would need to park down the street. "We'll see" was my simple reply. He drove by as we were unloading...
In case you're wondering, we do unload the trailer every evening and reload every morning. That sucks about 90 minutes out of each day. This stay added another 15 minutes in each the morning and evening since we couldn't park near a door. I put a priority on getting a parking spot that worked ahead of a convenient off-load since parking was scarce here. The hotel room was interesting. The owners had converted one side into "suites" by knocking out a portion of a dividing wall, then made one side the king bedroom and the other into a living room. They left the bathrooms "as-is", which meant that we had two. The problem was that they were both TINY, nothing I'd want to lock the cats into. We used the Husky tubs and kennels to create a barrier so that the cats would have run of the bathroom and sink area...
Miss Kitty escaped around 3:30 am. She rubbed on my face and then went under the blankets. I was content to leave her be until my wife reminded me that her water and litter box was on the other side of the barricade. Plus, we needed to check on the boys to make sure they weren't out, too. I stuffed her back into their space and fortified the opening where she had squeezed through.
Our goal was to make Oklahoma City the following day. But, more important, I wanted to visit a special Route 66 attraction...
