Moving to Decatur: Part One Catastrophic Travel

 2 boxes. 2 suitcases. 2 plastic crates and 2 cats in hard carriers. My friends Cindy and Bob had dropped the crates off to my brother Mitch earlier. My neighbor Ashley helped me with everything else. We packed the car. We brought the cats out and before they were put in the car Wednesday busted the door off the crate and disappeared. We called. We brought out treats. We begged but Wednesday was gone and there was a flight to catch.

I still can't properly think about it without feeling the greatest sense of loss. I had already lost Kitara and now Wednesday. I held Murder a little closer and we continued. There was a flight to catch,

We drove to my brother's house and loaded my bags and boxes into his car as well as Murder. I signed my car over to Mitch, gave his wife a hug and off we went to the airport.

Alaska Airlines in Kona. 2 crates, 2 boxes, 2 suitcases, one cat who I had bought a seat for and myself. I check in and the gal behind the counter tells me that Murder is in the wrong kind of carrier. No, I respond, Murder is in the carrier that the woman from the airline told me she had to have. The clerk disappears for 20 minutes and then comes back and tells me that Murder is in the wrong carrier and must go into cargo. I'm unhappy but say okay. Then I give the lady the paperwork for Murder and it's the wrong paperwork. 

Now I'm being told that Murder can't fly at all. I'm sobbing. I cannot leave this cat behind. The clerk disappears again. I'm panicking and call my brother who is almost back home and ask him to head back to the airport. The clerk returns and says that Murder can fly but she has to fly in the cabin, without the health certificate they won't be responsible for her. I call my brother back. I'm so grateful to have Murder still with me. 

Pn the plane I had booked myself the window seat and Murder the middle seat. Murder had to take the window seat. Whatever. She was a trooper all the way. No crying, no panic. I know she was miserable but she stayed calm.

We had a layover in Seattle and there I was approached by someone who told me that Murder was in the wrong carrier and couldn't fly. I was not very pleasant. He came back and apologized. Then a woman came up to me and said I needed to pay additional fees for the cat. At this point I was bitchy. She left and didn't come back.Later I'm approached and told the airline is giving me additional miles to use.Ha. Like I'll ever fly them again.

The flight to Chicago is uneventful. We're met by a car who drives us to Decatur.The drive was lovely. There was snow on the ground. But we made it home.