Ohio – Traveling with Cats

When I moved from Seattle to Cleveland in November 2003, I was very clever (or thought I was!) by donating all of my furnishings and shipping about 30 boxes to Ohio with all of my personal stuff. I didn’t have a place to live yet so I shipped all 30 boxes to my friend’s home. I think I still owe her a good dinner since the boxes showed up on her doorstep on a snowy, cold evening and she moved them all into her dining room that night.

I also decided to ship my car to Ohio rather than drive because I wasn’t sure what the weather would be like in November, traveling through the northern US during the winter. However, when it arrived in Cleveland, my car was on the back of the lower level of a transport truck. Picture a truck with about 10 cars, with my little Saturn in the spot most likely to get splashed and covered with dirt as it crossed the country. I had to go through the car wash 3 times before I could tell my car was green.

Fast forward 2 years, I was getting ready to move from Cleveland back to Seattle.

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What drove me to move back to Seattle? I purchased a book in early 2005 of the 50 best hikes in the Cleveland area. During the summer, I selected a hike that was rated as “difficult” in the book. I figured that “difficult” in Cleveland meant “moderate” in Seattle. I was so disappointed when I finally took that hike because it was along one of the local tow paths which means it was long and flat. The only reason for the “difficult” rating was because the hike was 10 miles. It was on that hike that I realized how much I missed the mountains and the waters of Seattle and decided to move back home.

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​For my move back home, I had a very tight timeline of moving me, my stuff, my car, and my two cats, Shea and Leah. I had a moving company pick up all of my stuff except for a few random items. After my experience of moving my car previously, I decided to drive it back across the country. It’d be cheaper and my car would certainly come out cleaner!

But what about my cats? I didn’t want to take them with me in the car. I think they’d be miserable for 4 days of driving and I’d be miserable listening to their whining about being in their crates. My plan was then to drive across the country for 4 days, fly back to Cleveland, pick up my cats, and fly back with them. The timing became critical when the moving company told me that my stuff would arrive at my apartment in Seattle the day I flew back from Cleveland with my cats. My flight was scheduled to land at 11:30 am and the moving company was to meet me at my apartment to unload my stuff at 1:00 pm the same day. In other words, everything had to work out just perfectly.

The drive across the country was wonderful. The weather was stunning in October. I arrived in Seattle right on time. I spent the night on an air mattress on the floor of my new place. I flew back to Cleveland the next day, took a taxi to my place to check on the cats, and had dinner with my friend. My flight, with the cats, was scheduled for 6 am the following morning. I arranged for a taxi to pick me up at 4 am.

On that morning, I woke up at 3 am. I cleaned up the last bit of mess in my place in Cleveland, packed the last of my stuff in a backpack, and, at 3:55 am, loaded the cats into their crates. Not an easy task when it’s you against 4 flailing limbs. And then I waited… and waited… and waited.

At 4:15 am or so, I locked up my place and stood on the sidewalk, waiting for the taxi to arrive. These were the days before Uber or even smartphones so I didn’t know what to do! I had no way to get to the airport! I did have a flip phone so I called the taxi company that was supposed to pick me up only to be told that the closest taxi was in the city, 30 minutes away. With panic setting in (I had 2 cats, a flight to catch, and a moving company planning to meet me in Seattle in mere hours), I asked the taxi company for another one close by so I could call a different taxi. After some cajoling, they gave me a number.

I called the other taxi company and they sent a taxi right away. Around 4:30 am, the taxi arrived. I threw the crates and my backpack in the car and climbed in. To add icing on the cake, the taxi driver actually smoked in the car!

When you travel with animals, you’re supposed to arrive at the airport 2 hours early to fill out paperwork and deal with security checks. I got there at 5:15 am and my flight was boarding at 5:30 am. The desk agent was super nice to help me fill out the right paperwork and keep me calm. I had to catch this flight!

For the security checks, I had to take each cat out of their crate in the middle of the terminal. The agents checked the crates and the cats and then I had to stuff each cat back into their crate. Poor Shea and Leah were not happy with me at this point. They were just as tired and cranky (and probably stressed!) as I was.

But finally, the agent carted my cats away and I made my way to the gate. The flight had boarded and the plane was ready to go. Just waiting on my cats and me. As I sat in my seat, I had no idea if my cats were even on board in the cargo hold. They’re supposed to give you a tag when your pet is boarded, but I didn’t get my tags because of the timing.

During my connection in Chicago, I found that my cats did make the flight and were on my flight from Chicago to Seattle. We arrived in Seattle, both cats resting in their crates but definitely ready to get out. We made it to the apartment and the cats ran around their new home. Less than an hour later, I had to lock them up in the laundry room so the movers could bring in all of my stuff.

That morning in Cleveland was one of the most stressful travel experiences I’ve ever had. It was such a feeling of hopelessness to be standing on the sidewalk at 4 in the morning with two cats in crates knowing that it was critical to catch my flight. I don’t know what I would have done without my handy flip phone.

Leah doesn’t like even getting in her crate to this day, so I think she has flashbacks to that morning just as I do.