We are home!

We finally gets home from our trips. We is so very sorry we not gets to blogs much, but the innernets not gud to post picshurs and mommy not has any pashuns.

So this what we did:

After we leeves Canada on July then we takes a nice leasurely tour through UpState Noo York, in search of some cools.  First we goes to Rochester, Noo York where we gets ourVan last year. We stops at the woorld famous Jell-O museum.

Dis ourVan at the world famous Jell-O museum!

Okay so this not the biggest tourist place ever, but LeRoy Noo York is a very nice town. We spends the night there too. I sampled some of the grass in their village green, it was quite tasty!

Then we heads east and spends a night at a rest stops so we can gets to Syracuse, Noo York.  When we gets there we stays the night at WallyWorld acause mommy needs to get the oil changed in ourVan.  When we gets the oil changed, Squashies and me gets to ride up on the lift!  Squashies not thinks this was too much fun and hides in her little hidey-hole under the bed that mommy makes fur her. I not likes the hidey-hole acause I can't fit in it, and I just knows that there are treats in there!

So then we finds this grate campground that has green lakes! (Don't ask Mommy about the picshurs from this part, acause she might starts to cry again.) The water was really green but not in a dirty way. I smells it, and it was not stinky or anything.

This campgrounds had chewy grass, but it was good, and when I goes for my walks in the morning and after dinners, all the childern cames to pet me!  I was quite the star. One ladee takes my picshur with a card that sais "Cat on a leash".  She was doing a scavanger hunt.  She was very happy to see me.

We likes it there lots, and so we stayed a whole week. Mommy takes out ourFence so we can sit outside while she works. But don't worry kitties we not allowed to stays outside by ourselves. (We shows you a picshur of that later.)

All this purrty sure makes a kitty tired!

Then we spends the weekend driving through the back roads of the Adirondack. It was so purrty.  Mommy stops lots to bisit with the peeple that has town fairs. It seems like all the towns was having art shows and stuffs that weekend!  I gets to get out and sample all the grass, but Squashies not want to puts her harness on, so she guards ourVan while we walks.

This me sitting on top of a glacier rock in the Adirondacks. These big round rocks is everywhere in Noo York.

 Then the next day we goes to takes a ferry ride to Vermont!  It started out as fun, but then it gets the hots, and we not allowed to runs our engine or generator. Mommy gets a worry-worry and takes the big water bottle out of the fridge so Squashies and me can get a cool. We both lays down next to it for most of the trip.

ourVan on the Ferry from Port Kent, New York to Burlington, Vermont.

So then we drives through Vermont. Burlington is a nice city with lots of purrty houses.  We drives until 6 oclock cause that's when we eats.  Mommy finds a WallyWorld in Montipeller, VT so we stays there for the night.  The grass their was delectable!

Then we goes to one of Mommy's favorite places: The White mountains in Noo Hampshire- "Home of the worst weather on Earth".  Is ok, kitties, the weather is mostly bad in the winter.

Now I knows you has a picshur in your head about white mountains, but they is not white! But they is very cool. So while our poor Daddy has the hots at home, we was nice cool!
We stays at the Mt.Washington Cog Railway for a few days, as you can sees we has a nice place, and it was free acause Mommy has a park pass.  As you can tells from the picshur, there was plenty of grass to sample. Let me tell you kitties, mountain grass is the bestest!

ourVan at the BaseCamp of the Cog Railway.

Then Mommy has to do laundries so we goes to town. (She not brings us toona like she did when she does laundry in Canada! Hmmph!)


After we has clean laundry we drives to the other side of the mountains to the Mt.Washington Auto road.  We stays there for 2 nights to waits when Mommy not has to work so we can go up. But they not lets us go up in ourVan acause they sais we is too heavy.  I offers to stay down acause I know I'm very heavy, but Mommy sais is all our stuff that is too heavy, not me.

This ourVan at the Auto road parking lot with a beautiful birch forest behind us.

The whole time we is in the mountains it not get hotter than 83f, most days it stays in the 70s. So we tells Mommy she should go up the Auto Road without us. So she rides up.  Mommy loves history so was fun to go up on the 150th anniversary of the road.

We is going to stops now, acause the next part of our trip, we travels to Bar Harbor, Maine.

We hopes you likes our storee!

July in Ontario

So we stays at Laurel Creek most of the times while we was in Ontario fur a monf. We had a pass for the whole time, but sometimes we stays at Mommy's furends' driveways.  Twice we stays with Michelle, and lots of times with CarolAnn.

 

The beach, from the parking lot at Laurel Creek

 The beach at Laurel Creek

 

Most of this parts of the trips is about how CarolAnn shares her fambily wif us. They has dinners and goes to the movies and even goes to the whine countries to gets whiny! (We nots go, Mommy leaves us wif the air condition so we not gets too hot.)  It was VERY HOT!

We has lots of fun when CarolAnn's fambily comes to the van. Speshully when Katie, (CA's daughter,) comes acause she loves kitties and she pets us and gives us brushings.

 Dis Katie and Squashies discussing the merits of red-mousie! 

(Dis a bad picshur, mommy uses her cell phone so she not loose the foto-op.)

Now you would thinks that she not has her own kitty, she spends so much times wif us but she does.  Him's name is Oliver, but him has lots of nick-names. She just has a big heart and loves all the kitties!

Dis Oliver in the window, him not allowed to goes outside either, so we not really meets; but him must be nice cause he is a grey kitty too.

This is CA's beuootifur house!  Mommy sais is amazing in the insides too. But the insides belongs to Oliver so I stays out in ourVan, that belongs to me!

I do goes for lots of walks. Mommy not wants us to feels all cramped so we walks twice a day.

Dis me checking out the sidewalk at CarolAnn's.

Dis me and Squashies in CarolAnn's awesome back yard.

We does lots of fun things in Canada, but we not ever gets to bisit Cat's Cats, acause we only goes to Toronto once and we nots have the times to play.

So then we crosses back to the United States.  And do you know what?  They not wants to sees our papers again!  But the TSA person had to gets in ourVan, and him was lergic to us!  He nots bisits us very long.... 

Anyways, we was very sorry we nots gets to bisit the Canada kitties.  Hopefully, next time mommy can works not so much. We loves our Canada kitties and we has a good time in your country!

Love, TK

Where the wild things are!

Hello kitties! (This postie was builded on June 26, but we decided to shares it anyways. Mommy builds lots of pages then she not posts acause she gets busy.)

Yesserday we goes to African Lion Safari near Cambridge. And we has a very gud time!  We gets to see all kinds of aminals, but bestly we got to sees Lions.  ROAR!  Mommy takes lots of picshurs. But we not can show some acause the big man-cat lion was being norty!

I wants to be a big man-cat lion when I grows-up, not only is him very beautifur, but also acause no one yells at him when he gets norty. No one sais "Lion no-no" to him!

Dis was a very gud time to go, acause all the aminals had babies.

Bison calf, just born. Notice umbilical cord is still attached.

Head butts!

Then the monkees gets on the cars and takes a ride.  Monkey, No NO!

And this stripey-horsey not lets this car goes, even though all other places was empty. No one sais "Stripey-horsey ,No NO!" to him either.

Mommy also sees a bird show. She loves the raptors.

We hopes you likes our tour. We hopes to posts more abouts our trip soon. Including how Casper, Archie, Jimmy and Ben's mommy and daddy helps our mommy gets a parking space for ourVan in Toronto.

OOOO Canada!

 So on our ways to Canada we stops to sees some things, and we spends the night next to the big trucks.  Then we goes to sees the Nigara Falls waters, which seemed  terribly wet to me, but Mommy thought it was purrty.

Then we gets to the border, and after mommy gets all our paperworks ready, they not wants to sees anything but Mommy's little passyport book.  Like we isn't impurrtant!  Then the man in the little house asks Mommy when she was leaving, and when Mommy sais she not knows, the man sais they not wants her to stay furrever.  Then Mommy sais she not going to stay furrever acause our Daddy would miss us too much. So then the man sais we can go to Canada!

So right now we is hanging out in ourVan after having several days of spending late nights at Mommy's furrend frum works.  She is a very nice lady who gives us scritches! But now we hangs out with Mommy at our camp site in Canada. Mommy sais we is in Waterloo, but is not wet here like it was at the Niagra Falls.

We hopes all our furrends are having fun!
Love, TK

Our SpaceShuttle adventure- days 6, and 7

Sorry we have not been keep up.  Things have been very busy.
When we last left our story  we had camped a wonderful view on Route 1 all day Wednesday, in a place where the Titusville police said we could stay the night.

As our story picks-up: a park ranger came in the evening to say we couldn't stay, and that there was a 'better' place 4 miles north of where we were. So we went from being 4 miles to 10 miles from pad 39A.  We were pretty sad. But did what we were told...

So we ended up near the entrance to the nature reserve. Actually all of Kennedy Space Center is a nature reserve. 220 square miles of it.  How cool is that?

This was our home for the night.  We dry-camped here, (that means we didn't have any hookups, so we lived on what we had in ourVan,) for the night until late the next day.

Notice the space in front of the campers?  That won't be there by launch time.

STS 133, Discovery Launch Day
When we woke up the next morning, the 1,000 or so RVs at the site had swollen to nearly 5,000 vehicles, as the day watchers came in cars. Every available space was used. It was one big launch party.  People were having fun, and generally being nice to one another.  It was awesome.

 

 

 Mommy went out at lunch, and was sad to see that her new spot was at least 10 miles north of the NASA industrial park.  But she could see both shuttle pads. So it wasn't so bad.

Then it was time to get some work done.  Mommy had orginally taken the day off, but an emergency had her in ourVan, coding a break-fix for a client. (Mommy writes computer code to pay for ourVan and our gushifud.)

As the count-down got to 60 minutes, mommy was still working. I could tell she was stressed that she was going to miss the launch.  30 minutes before the scheduled launch, she got it done, she gave us a skritch, and took her camera and binoculars and set out to find a spot.

I mention mommy's stress only because at 15 minutes to launch they had a "hold" because the range system was off-line. Now the range/tracking system is very important because the computers actually launch and drive the shuttle until it gets into orbit.  So the many steps it takes to get there depend on the tracking system to know when to do everything.  If this system isn't working correctly, it could be very bad.  Some poor-smart-guy, had 5 minutes to get the system fixed, or the mission would be scrubbed for the day. This made mommy laugh at her own small stresses. 

The poor-smart-guy did a good job, and at T -5 minutes, the system was up and running. Now I know he couldn't hear it, but a huge cheer went up for him, where we were. Then they all found a place to see the pad. And the crowd got very quiet as radios followed NASA's transmissions.

Mommy had Auntie SheShe on her phone, who was monitoring the status on the TeeVee.  Now she should have known something was wrong, when they started the final count and she didn't see any venting gases on the pad everyone in our group was watching.  But she figured they were just too far away. That's right, kitties, Discovery was taking off from Pad 39A, and she had her camera on Pad 39B.  The really sad part is that 39A was behind the single palm tree in the southern view. Oh well... 

And then, Discovery was off, for the very last time... (click the photos to enlarge)

 

Rocket booster separation

 Kitties, I know it is impressive, but our mommy's face was leaking when she came back!?!

We had a surprise visitor over the weekend, can you guess who it was?

Our SpaceShuttle adventure- days 3, 4 and 5

 Hello Every Kitty. It's me, Sqaushies with our trip update.

As you can see we're all just chilling and having a great time.  On Monday, we hung out at 'The Home Depot' because they have the best wifi.  We stayed in the parking lot the whole day while mommy worked.  Even though it was very hot outside, we were nice and cool inside.



As you can see from the picture above, we have the bed made up so mommy can store stuff under it.  She leaves the comforter on so we have a place to curl up and sleep during the day.  A kitty has to get her beauty rest.

 This is TK doing what he does, even at home- taking mommy's seat when she gets up. It doesn't matter if mommy is sitting on a hard stool, if she gets up, TK wants to sit there.  "On your feet, loose your seat!"

This is our van in the parking lot of paradise. You can see that mommy is not so good at coloring in the lines!?!

And this is a cow truck that came by to get some stuff at The Home Depot.  TK said I had to get on the truck, because I'm a cow-kitty. But I said "NO!"

So on Tuesday we goes to our camping site. Now we know our furend Daisy is very famous!  And we know that Florida is HER state. But did you know that we are camping on a street named after her?  It is true!

 Mommy forgot to take pictures of our site, but we'll get some when we go back. Because....

Today we are getting ready for the Shuttle launch and our new furends at the campground (they have 3 kitties- we'll get pictures of them too,) said we have to find a place today because their won't be any places tomorrow.  So this is where we are.
 




Not a bad place to have an office!

This is the view out mommy's office window!

Uh-Oh I don't think that birdie can read the sign!

 

 I hope he doesn't get eaten!

 That's our update for today!

We would likes to ask our furends to sends some purrs fur our cousin cat, Riley who is very sick and in the hospital. Get better soon Little Riley, Uncle Tony needs you!

Our SpaceShuttle adventure- days 1 and 2

Hello every kitty, TK here with the news of our aventure!
So we not gets to post yesterday acause some stuff happens. It was all very exciting!
First we gets on the 95 road that goes all the way from our house to where the space shuttle takes off. And we is going along just fine when we sees a big smokes in the air.

 And then we sees this- The big smokes goes right across the 95 road!

 So this where we stays for the first 3 hours of our trips!  We sees all the peoples with their hands all white knuckle on their steering wheels. Mommy says they has a big stressed.  But mommy turn on our generator and makes a pot of coffee and some poppycorms and gives me my brushings while we watch all the goings on like being in a movie. We sees all the firemans (just like our Daddy!) running around trying to puts out the brush fire in the 50+ mpg winds. There was fires on both sides of the 95 road.  They sure had their hands full!  It was a very big aventure!

So then we gets to Washington DeeCee, and we sees 5 more brush fires alongs the way, but none that stops traffic.  At one we has to get diverted to the middle lanes, so we is not near the fires. Mommy sais that is these are for added over-flow durin rush hour and get switched in direction depending if everyone is going to work or coming home.

So then we has dinner at North Caroline welcome center, and we takes a nap, so Sqaushies can digest and not has a sick. We all just piles in the big bed and snoozed away!

So then we gets going again, but when we gets to Fayettesville, NC, mommy has a big tired so we goes to our favorite campground- Walmart!  But at 4am it was 45 degrees in ourVan. Squashies and I were doing our part to keeps mommy warm- I sleeps on mommy's head and Squashies sleeps on her tummy.  When mommy wakes up she laff-n-laff at us cuddled up.

But was too cold for going back to sleeps, so mommy decides the best way to warm up is to drive. So we starts driving again, in the middle of the night!

Then, when it was breakfast times, we stops at a Flying J truckie stop. We had our breakfast, and I gets my diabetes shots, then we goes back to sleep until is real morning.

Then we drives and drives. Does you know they has a race call Daytoona?  I can't imagine racing toona. But they does, and we drives by. They had miles and miles of tents. Peoples were camping to see the toona race!?!  And this just what we can sees from the 95 road.

Anyway, we gets to Florida, safe and sound. We tells you more tomorrow!
Love, TK

Heading out

Hatted By Sammy and Andy's mama!

So we are heading out on our first big solo trip in ourVan.  Hopefully, there will be many pictures to share of our journey!

We are going to Titusville, FL. to see Discovery launch.  Hopefully the shuttle will make her window, so we can see.

The trip will start early tomorrow, and we plan to take 2 days to get there, so we can go at a leisurely pace.  Mommy says she is just going to stop when she doesn't want to drive anymore.

We will post when we gets to our night spot, probably somewhere in North Carolina.

Happy Birthday, Marilynn! And OurVan Update.

Happy Birthday, Marilynn!

So I know I should tell you about all that we've been up to, but to be honest, we've not been up to much.  We eat, we sleep, we cuddle with mommy, and we sleep some more.

TK has been having some very good V-E-T visits.  His weight loss has steadily increased and is now about 2 ounces per month. He has lost 2lbs. since mommy first came to take us to our furrever home.  He weighs 19lbs 6ozs.  Way-to-go, Big brofur!

OurVan waits, poised to begin our adventures!  Mommy is starting to plan our trip. We are going to Titusville, Florida, on the last week of February, to see a Space Shuttle launch. Originally we were going to see Endevour (STS 134), but now we might get to see Discovery's last launch (STS 133).  Mommy says we are staying until a Shuttle takes-off.  I hope we have lots of food. These things are unpor, unpred, it's very hard to know when it will happen.

After we watch the rocket, we are going down to West Palm Beach to visit our Grandma and Pop-pop!  We are very excited for that part of the trip because we've never seen their snow-bird home!  I wonder if we will be allowed to catch the snow-birds. Mommy always says "Squashies, No-No," when I stalk the birds on our deck.

Anyway, that is all the plans for now. We hope every kitty has a great day!
Love, Squashies

Femme Friday

Sammy and Andy's mama makes this hat for me!

Hello Bloggie Furends. It has been a very long time since I've last posted. I'm very sorry about that. We have missed all of you!

So I wanted to fill you in on the goings-on.

We spent the night in ourVan at our Auntie SheShe's house for New Year's Eve.  It was very fun, and we proved that, even though it was very cold outside, we could stay nice and toasty-warm in ourVan.

Our daddy came and slept in ourVan too! It was very neat to have him with us, the whole fambily safe and warm- togefur.



TK does a funny thing when we are in ourVan and it is cold- he sleeps on mommy's head the whole night!  Daddy Laff and Laff the next day because TK was on the whole pillow and mommy only had a tiny sliver to sleep on. Mommy sais she didn't mind because she likes when we are all togefur in a kitty cuddle-puddle. Then, instead of saying "I love you Tiny Kat," like usual, she sais "I love you Tiny Hat" for the whole next Day! We might need to change TK's nickname to TH...,

Anyway, we hopes everyone has a great weekend.

Don't forget that our dear furend Billy SweetFeets is hosting the Carnival of Cats this weekend!
Love, Squashies

The Suprise, at last!

Hi Everybody, TK here.  It has been a very long time since we has been able to post.  Our mommy has a very big busy with work and the 'suprise' we talks about a few months ago.  But we has been keeping up wif our furends on the quiet.

So here is what happens for the last 3 months:

We gets a wonderfur pressant frum our Auntie Deb, who gives us TWO munkeys from Sammy and Andy's auction acause me and Squashies was trying out-bid each ofur. Then she also gives mommy a beautifur kitty bracelet and earrings too! Mommy actually squealed when she sees them. Auntie Deb is really speshul to takes such good care of all our furends with her's auctions and to gives our mommy such a wonderful gifts.

I gets hatted by Sammy and Andy's mama! Thank you Mama, I loves my new hat!

So we also buys Attie's Shmarshmellows for a Christmas party that mommy goes to. (We were not invited...humph!)  She also not gets Audrey's Kitteh Krak Treats, so we were not impurressed.  Mommy promises to buys the kitteh treats after Christmas when she gots time to cooks fur us. Anyways, Mommy sais I should tells you that the Shmarshmellows are delishus and that everyone should try them.

On to the surprise that you all has been waiting for furever....

This is it:

our Van

That's right kitties, Mommy buys us a Van! Is for us! She sais if we not likes it, she would sell it acause she not wants to go anywheres wifout us, eber.

Here we are exploring our Van for the first time!

See Mommy has this dream to takes-off across the country and sees the sites.  For a job my mommy writes computer code from home for a company all the way up in Canada. So one day she thinks "With the innernets, I can writes code from anywhere!"  (She thinks it juss like that- plural verbses and everyfing!)  For a long time she not thinks this will work, acause we not likes to even get in the car, and she not wants to go without us. But then she sees that little Emily thinks living in a van is fine. So she decides she will try.

So when Mommy first gets our van, we goes on a weekend Halloween camping trip wif our Auntie SheShe and Gramma and Pop-Pop to Gettysburg. Is not very far, and Squashies and I cries and cries when we was driving.  And Squashies has such ascairt that she has a pukes. But once we gets there and sees that all our foods and toys and treats comes too, we decides we likes to camp.  Ebery night mommy makes the big bed and we all piles on juss like at home!

During Saturday I gots to wear my harness and helps mommy hand out cannies to all the ghosts and goblins that comes to our campsite and yells "tricks or treats".  Of course, everybody was petting me and saying how handsome I am.  And there was a lady who was camping next to us that has a kitty too!  Her kitteh had a costume and everything.  She has a hissy, (the kitty, not the lady) when I goes over to sais "hi", so I leaves her alone and sits with my mommy.

Then I gots to get in Gramma and Pop-Pop's camper to bisit, and they has a doggie and we gets along very well cept once when she tries to sniff my Spot #13, then I had to gives her the hissy-swippy. But I not uses my claws, I just pat-pat her nose. She not tries that again!

When we goes home from Gettysburg, we not cries after the first five minutes. Mommy seemed happy about that.

So then Mommy does lots of things in our van to makes us more comfortable. She makes a fense to goes around the awning outside so we can get in and out of our Van to has lots of roorm to play when she has the door open (and she can watch us.) Then she takes out the little night stand thingie and makes us a cat tree that hooks to the frame of our van by metal brakets. It also comes out and has little feets so she can put it outsides when we are in our fense. She works with lots of power-tools we not even knows she knows how to use!  She worked and worked for lots of hours.

The night table that gotted removed



our Cat Tree

Then we all goes down to Huntsville AL, to bisit our Auntie Bethie in Novermber! This was a very long drive, but we not cries at all, we juss sleeps in our cat tree.
 
We has a week long bisit.  We gots walks in the morning then mommy worked during the days and then she and Auntie Bethie has a bisit in the nights. Some nights we went sight-seeing in our Van; Huntsville is a very purrty town. Then mommy sleeps with us in the van. Uncle Mike has a lergic to us so we not gets to go in the house. But we not minds acause mommy sais this was our 'shake-down trip' so we can sees if we can do this, so is best if we pretends we not has a house to go in anyway.
 
So we will shows you more about our Van in the coming months, acause we are going to blog about our trabels. Maybe we can even bisit some of our bloggie furends along the way!