What are we supposed to do now?

Hunter come quickly, we have an emergency!
What's wrong, buddy? Did you hurt yourself?
No, but take a look at what I just read. It's Sue's latest travel blog and she says in there that it is only five days until Christmas!
Oh no! What are we supposed to do now? Are you sure? The weather sure doesn't feel like winter. There is no snow, it's not cold and André and Sue are running around in shorts and t-shirts. No wonder we didn't realize that Christmas is just a few days away. On the other hand this explains the funny little tree on the table. How could we have not picked up on that?!
Do you think Sue could be wrong about that? I mean sometimes she doesn't exactly strike me as the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. She has been wrong in the past and done some pretty dumb things in her days. Maybe Christmas in the US is not at the same time as in Canada. Kind of like their Thanksgiving is later. Maybe there is still time for the snow and cold to come?
Never mind that, Trapper, I'm more worried about the presents. I didn't even start thinking about them!
Presents? You are not going to give them gifts, are you, Hunter? We have never done that before.
No, silly, not giving - getting! I haven't sent my wishlist to Santa yet and now it might be too late. And even if it wouldn't be too late, how would Santa find us down here? I sure hope you are right about their Christmas being later than in Canada so we can make up our wishlists and send Santa a Change-of-address card.
I have an idea: why don't we use e-mail for that? It's supposed to be real quick. Let's go get Sue and type up our mail to Santa right now!

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Hard work for us

Hi everyone

We had a blast traveling around with Alice, André's mom, and to show her what life with cats is all about. Though we are not sure if she is going to adopt one herself, we sure hope she is considering it after her experience with us. I mean, who could resist. After the pleasure of spending time with us anybody just has to turn into a complete cat lover!

True, but Alice says she travels a lot and she does not have a fifth wheel like we do, so having a cat may be impossible for her. She surely would want to take him or her (or maybe she would get more than one in which case it would be "them") along but can you imagine a cat traveling on a bus or a big ship? And not traveling anymore because she wouldn't want to part with her cat seems not to be what she has in mind. At least not at the moment. So I guess we just have to wait and see how she is going to resolve this grave conflict of interest.

André and Sue also enjoyed the time with Alice. They took her to places they had been before and at times they were astonished, how things had changed since they have been there last time. Let's face it: they are getting old! Some of the places we're talking about, they have visited 20 years ago. We don't think many cats even get to live for 20 years and these guys are talking about past trips. Do you think we should be concerned about whom we will be living with in the future, Hunter? André and Sue are as old as Methuselah and who knows how much longer they will make it?

I wouldn't be too concerned, Trapper, they still look pretty fresh to me. But maybe we keep an eye on them, just in case. Meantime we will have to get Sue to get back to work. Boy this is getting harder and harder all the time. Since we have been traveling she seems to think she is retired or something. She is all play and fun but no writing blogs or updating the web site. This has to change - we have followers who expect to read about our adventures and we cannot let them down. Besides, I have heard that in humans being mentally active will keep them younger. So getting Sue back to work may just help with that age concern we have.

Good thinking, Hunter. We could also keep her busy by nagging her for more walks outside, more treats and more attention in general. At least we don't have to worry about André. Sue is keeping him on his toes plenty.

So you see, we have our work cut out for us. Keep your fingers crossed for us and maybe send some requests for our blog. This would help in keeping Sue writing it.

See you around

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Looking for trouble

Hi everyone

In our last blog we told you that we are expecting company from André's mom. She has arrived and is just as nice as we had thought she would be. She even lets us use her bedroom during the day and talks and plays with us. Only at night are we not allowed in her room but that is because André and Sue don't want us to go in there. Anyways, here is a story which happened during preparations for her visit and which I want to tell you: the day before André and Alice arrived, Sue cleaned our fifth wheel, did the laundry and got everything ready for our company. And that day I got myself into a jam I was lucky to get out as quickly as I did.

Yeah, nosy here has to go wherever there is a hole big enough for him to fit. I was wondering how he would get himself out of this one. You see, Sue very seldom uses the couch in the living room but that day she not only opened the drawer underneath it but also sat down on the couch later on to read. This was Trappers good luck. When Sue had opened the drawer he had to get in there of course. Only Sue didn't see him do this and closed the drawer again without giving it a second thought. She had taken out an extra blanket which she would use while Alice would be using her duvet during her stay with us. Sue then took that blanket to the front bedroom and put it into a duvet cover. That's really interesting by the way. We had not known that the couch in the front room can be turned into a bed! It's a pleasant surprise: another place for us to go sleep. But back to the story. Trapper gets under that drawer and when Sue had put the blanket in its cover she returned and closed the drawer not knowing that he was in there.

Exactly, and she wasn't missing me since I make a sport of  frequently disappearing and letting André and Sue look for me. Now I found myself trapped not in the drawer but between the front panel and the actual storage space. There was no way out of there unless Sue would open the drawer for me. And there was no telling when that would be. We had never seen that drawer open in all the time we have been living in our fifth wheel. It could take weeks! So I'm lying there trying to figure a way out of the situation.

And then Trapper got lucky: after finishing with her work Sue did something she seldom does, she sat down on that couch to read her book. All of a sudden I see Trapper pawing at her feet. The gap between the front panel and the floor is just big enough for him to reach under it but by far not big enough to crawl out. Boy Sue sure was on her feet  quick and, realizing what had touched her, she let Trapper out. Who knows how long he would have been trapped in there if Sue had not chosen the couch that day over her usual place.

So you see there never is a dull moment here.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Living THE life

Hi everyone

We have to give it to André and Sue: they learn and they follow instructions pretty well. Well, most of the time anyways. I mean they took their sweet time to take us to our chosen winter destination. After we spent two weeks back in North Bay we had almost given up on our dream of a warm, sunny climate, palm trees and endless beaches but they finally came around and headed south. It was about time, too you know. In North Bay we had to cope with cold and nasty weather and we even saw some snow. No thanks, we've had enough of that in past years.

Yeah, especially now that we live in "Escargot", our fifth wheel. In the house it was not too bad. There we had a good furnace which kept us warm. But here it kind of stayed a bit nippy even when André and Sue turned the heat on. I even had to find something to cover me when I wanted to take a nap. Really not our idea of comfortable retirement. So we were very happy when we finally drove south and the climate improved by the day. This is more like it. We enjoy temperatures in the mid to high 20s and all the new sights. Sue has not taken us out as much as we would like lately but this will hopefully change soon, too. We're working on her.

Trapper is right. Florida is a great place to spend the winter. We can lay by the open window or look out the open door (too bad they always close the screen door, though) and feel as if we were on vacation. The days go by leisurely, we snooze whenever the mood hits, get lots of treats (I think Sue has a bad conscience about not going out with us), we even got a new food which tastes sooooo good. On the campground we are right now there is also another cat. She is roaming free and was very interested when she saw us. Must be a female, they just can't withstand our good looks and charm. So she actually walked towards us but then Sue closed the door and ever since we can only see her (the cat) through the window. Who knows, maybe one of these days we'll get to meet her.

Now we have some more traveling ahead of us and then we will go to our destination for the winter. We are curious to see what it will be like there but first we expect company. André's mom is coming to visit and we will do our best to make her feel welcome. Like visiting her in her bed in the middle of the night, sleeping on her cloths and letting her give us lots of treats so she will feel like a member of the family. Company sounds like a lot of fun! We'll let you know how that turns out.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Fall is coming

Hi everyone

We have settled so well into our new life that we actually do what we had planned for André and Sue: relax and live one day at the time. Well, you might think, isn't that what cats do anyways? Maybe some or kittens who don't know any better or old cats who think they've seen it all. But not us. We are at the prime of our lifes and have a lot to see yet. So we have a lot of thinking to do. I mean not only do we have to make all those important decisions but we also have to constantly figure out how to get André and Sue to do what we want done or to go where we want to go. So an unscheduled stop like the one at the truck stop where our car broke down, really poses a serious problem.

That is so true! While we were stranded there we got bored because André and Sue were not around most of the time. They had abandoned us for the comfort of a motel room. It's understandable in one way. There was no electricity in the fifth wheel and hardly any water in the fresh water tank. For some reason they had come into the habit of traveling "light" in that respect. A couple of batteries for emergencies, minimum of fresh water and empty waste water tanks. Saves on gas but has its drawbacks as we came to realize. Anyhow, when they were around Sue wouldn't even take us out for a stroll. She was afraid that all those big trucks constantly coming and going would spook us. And she might have been right. They are huge and loud and we are so small. How would the drivers have seen us?

Though it probably was saver this way, it was boring as Hunter here just said. One can watch those big rigs only for so long before that, too looses some. So we were condemned to sleeping, hanging around and hoping that André and Sue would come spend at least a little time with us. You can understand that we were extremely excited when we finally hit the road again. Now we are back in the old routine and just drifting along in life. A couple of nights here and there, the usual inspection of a new place, making sure we get our treats and taking it easy in general. With fall the days are growing shorter and temperatures are dropping and we enjoy the comfort of the fifth wheel. Looking out the window we can observe the changing colours on the trees and when we go out for a walk there are now different smells in the air. Soon it will be colder even and we have to plan for the winter. Should we change fur or would it be better to somehow get André and Sue to drive south rather than north (as they do now) and keep the warm-weather fur on?

We like the warmth and therefore would prefer the second. We would also like to travel further and see more. This means that we are currently working hard on getting André and Sue to understand that the south is the place to be in winter. Florida maybe or some place like it. Just as long as we get to go along which excludes destinations where one has to fly. Flying would be horror for us. So we are happy to see that the two have been looking at maps of the southern US lately. We will find out soon. From what we gather, we will go back to North Bay in the next few days but will stay there only two or three weeks. After that we will find out whether or not André and Sue got the message and are headed in the right direction.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

In a foreign land

Hi friends

We reach you from a foreign land but hope that our signal will still make it all the way to you. Last time we posted from New Brunswick just before we drove south to the United States. As we had expected, there were no problems whatsoever at the border, the border guy was actually very nice.

We have to say, these Americans really know how to welcome travelers. In the first town we came through, they had put flags on every single hydro pole and most of the houses to show us, just how much they love to have us. Now, they did that for us but may not do it for just anybody. We don't know for sure. So if you ever come to the United States and the flags are not up, don't be disappointing. It's nothing personal, they might not know you, is all.

André and Sue visited with some friends in Massachusetts and they came to our fifth wheel to check it out. They are very nice and Roni even brought us a new toy as a gift. We only saw them a few times for short periods, most of the time André and Sue were out with them. But we had a great time having the fifth wheel to ourselves most of the time. Then we continued and last night we even had it to ourselves all night long! We were wondering what the kids were up to, staying out all night but now they are back.

Just the place we're staying at is so different from what we're used to: there are a lot of really big trucks coming and going at all times of the day and night. Some of them stayed for several hours with their engines running but never leaving. And someone came and loaded our truck onto another one and took it away. What is that all about? André and Sue keep talking about some garage and boon-docking here till Monday. We'd rather move on but have no clue how to do that without our truck. We will let you know what's going on and what the two have done now to get us stranded, as soon as we find out.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Graduating to international

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

Hi everyone

Let me tell you why my buddy Trapper here is bouncing off the walls with excitement. After having earned our reputation as achieved and sophisticated travelers in Canada we are now going to expand our horizon by traveling internationally. That's right, we're going to the US! This leaves me totally cool of course and you should stop jumping all over the place, Trapper. Where is your dignity man?


Of course I'm all excited. I mean we've seen other cats travel with their humans but have any of them been outside their country? I doubt it. We must be the first ones for sure! We will be going to Massachusetts and who knows where else on our way back to Ontario from there. Good thing our papers are in order and Sue has them handy for the customs people. They will let us in of course and will be happy and proud that two great and good-looking guys like us come to their country. But just like humans need a passport, we need papers to get across. For us proof of our shots is sufficient, though.


Yep, and they speak English so communications will be no problem. At least not for us. If they will be able to understand us is a different story entirely.  But lets wait and see. We sure hope Sue will be able to guarantee that there will be food and plenty of treats available to us in this foreign land but we think she's probably thought of that. She is pretty good at looking after us. Has enough experience by now.

You, our friends, will get to read about our adventures south of the border of course. So stay tuned.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

We don't get it

Hi everyone

We learn new stuff all the time but sometimes we just don't get it. Like today for example. For the second time in days André and Sue came home with those things for supper. They are really ugly and look as if they had been in the sun too long and gotten a bad sunburn. Bright red! And then the fight for the food begins. These things don't have a fur either but a kind of shell which needs to be opened to get at the food. So special scissors and pliers and these ridiculously small forks come out and André and Sue tear the legs of those ugly things and twist their tail off as well. They then begin to get the food out and with delight feast on it. Sometimes some juice splashes all over the place and we are wondering, why they don't wear bibs or something. But nothing much can surprise us anymore and so we would not be astonished if some day they would even do that. Really curious behavior! 

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

On the high seas

Hi everyone

It has been so much fun in Newfoundland and we really did enjoy it. André and Sue have behaved nicely and we got to go out more often than ever before in our lifes. If it continues this way, we could keep traveling forever.

We do continue our trip and after almost 5 weeks on the rock it was time to set sail for Nova Scotia. An we mean that almost literally. After a very early morning (Sue who is always the last of us to get up, got out of bed at 3 a.m.) we drove to the harbour at Port-aux-Basques where we boarded the ferry. This was our second trip on a big boat and we seem to be naturals at it. Sailing the high seas doesn't bother us at all and we seem to have what humans call sea-legs. Never once did we loose our balance on the 5 hour trip.

After we arrived in Nova Scotia, we drove to Cheticamp which is on the northeast side of the province. André and Sue know some people there and wanted to visit them. They also wanted to see the world famous Cabott Trail. So we found a nice campground and settled in for a couple of nights. We actually wanted to stay for 3 nights but they were booked for the weekend and so we had to leave after 2. The only downside of our stay at Cheticamp was that Sue didn't take us out. We don't know why but looking out the window we saw quiet a few dogs and maybe she was afraid that we would chase them away which would have upset their humans.

As we said, we had to leave after 2 nights and drove to Louisbourg which is a fantastic place to be. Here we got to go out and since the campground is literally steps from the fishing harbour we got to see the sea and smell the saltwater! Wow, we've never experienced that before and it was amazing! As far as we are concerned this place is awesome!

That's it for today. Sue will tell you all about this part of our trip in her travel blog so don't forget to check it out.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Traveling cats

So here we are in Corner Brook. The day we arrived it was pouring and by the time André and Sue had our fifth wheel parked and water and electricity hooked up they were wet to the bone. Don't they know that they are supposed to seek shelter in weather like this? I mean, really! We had come to the conclussion that they were pretty smart for humans but that was before they kept staying out in the rain like some dummies. At least Sue didn't try to drag us outside for an inspection of the campground. We would have told her something if she had. So we settled in for a lazy day (not too many of those when you're on the road) and I had just dozed off when I was woken by Trapper calling me.

Another trailer had parked just beside us and when the rain stopped the door opened and out came the owner: another cat with her two humands. I just had to call Hunter and have him see for himself that we are not the only traveling cats. That's so exciting and we would have loved to go out there and meet her, exchange a few road-stories and tips and of course tell her that while she was welcome here, we had been here first.

Yes, that is very important, we have to let her know that this is our campground. But no matter how much we begged and pleaded, Sue didn't hear us or pretended not to understand what we wanted. She did not let us out. That was a bit mean of her and she better watch out. We'll pay her back for this sooner or later.

It's been raining on and off since we arrived here and so we still didn't get to go out. Now we hope that the weather will be better at our next stop which will be close to Port-aux-Basques. André and Sue have been talking about that town the last few days and we can't wait to see what the fuss is all about. Meantime we hang around here and keep an eye on the trailer next to ours. Who knows, maybe we will get a chance to go meet that cat after all.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Well trained

Hi everyone

After a really nice and relaxing week outside of St. John's André and Sue decided to continue our trip. We had loved a longer stay without moving around and this was not the first time we did that. As much fun as it is to explore a new campground there is something to be said for longer stays too. We think we finally got through to those two and they begin to understand that the key is the right mixture. They still have a lot to learn about traveling but we do our best to train them well.

There is one thing we can't get André to understand though. This guy is up in the middle of the night when it's still dark out and there goes our beauty-sleep. He moves around, starts cooking, sometimes sets off the smoke alarm which is this annoying shrill beep that hurts our ears and worst of all, he closes the bedroom door. This of course means that Hunter can't get in there anymore until Sue finally gets out of bed. For me it's no problem at all. I just squeeze under the door and jump on Sue. She is the total opposite of André when it comes to getting up. Boy do we sometimes have a problem getting her out of bed.

It was a bit better when we first started traveling but now we are lucky if she shows up before 8. Why does that bother us? Well she is the one giving us treats when she finally comes crawling out of there. Treats are important to us, like walks outside and getting pet and brushed. We work hard to get as many as possible and we can say we have been very successful in training Sue about that. We got her to give us treats not only for doing something nice or well but also to reward us for what she and André achieve! That's so cool. Imagine getting treats for no other reason than her getting up in the morning for example.

And that's not all. We have both of them at the point where they are happy grooming or petting us or simply because we go to them. We don't have to anything but be there and let ourselves be pampered and then we get those treats as a reward. Then again, we allow them the company of cats and not just any cats, the two bests cats there are. Humans are so funny this way.

Well, we got Sue to type our blog. Her work is done and I bet you she'll reward us for that :-)

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Names and faces

Hi everyone

It has been in the works for a little while but our fifth wheel now has its own name and face! André's mother Alice first came up with the idea writing "vous me faites penser a des escargots avec la maison sur le dos" in an e-mail. After André had worked on it for a bit he and Sue finally found a signs place to print the decals for us in Gander. They have put them up and we think it looks pretty cool. Though nobody has faces as gorgeous and names as powerful as ours we think it looks cute and approve of André's design for our logo as well as what it says: 
Escargot

@Home on the road

a la maison sur la route.

As we said, the design is André's. He is good with stuff like that and had already designed the logo for the camp after he and Sue bought it. He found the drawing of an escargot on the internet. Then they came across a ceramic escargot in a store in Baie-Comeau and bought it. André then took the colours of that escargot and used it on the drawing, added the wording and voila, our fifth wheel had a face and name. What do you think of it? Let us know and if you ever see us on the road and happen to have CB radio, call us (calling fifth wheel "Escargot". Do you read me?). We would love to hear from you and see how many of you will see us.

Are you sure about that? I mean we do have CB radio but since we travel in the comfort of the fifth wheel and not in the car where the radio is, how are we going to answer calls? You didn't think that through, buddy.

That's what we have André and Sue for. Let them work a little bit. After all, they are allowed to stay and travel with us. They will let us know when somebody contacts us.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

On the ferry

Hi everyone

In our last blog we told you about our ordeals. Things have improved drastically since then and we are back to loving traveling. As a matter of fact we love it a little more every day. This mostly for three reasons: first we get to go outside more than we ever did before we started exploring the world. Second we found out (after that horrible trip across Labrador) that the rides in our fifth wheel are not all that bad after all. We are getting used to it and it doesn't bother us much anymore which is great. And third we get to see and explore new stuff at every stop we make.

When we drove across Labrador Hunter here was really scared and went to hide in the litter box as soon as we hit the road. Sue didn't like that at all. She felt sorry for Hunter and wished she could do something to make his fear go away. First she offered him another place to hide and then he found out, that the traveling is not actually scary. He now feels comfortable enough to not hide at all but even stay on the moving part of the fifth wheel when Sue or André open or close the slides. This is fantastic news. Congratulations, Hunter, for overcoming your fear! I'm proud of you, buddy.

Thanks, Trapper. I really didn't like it there for a while but now I'm fine and enjoy the trip. This includes the new stuff we get to experience. Like the ride from Labrador to Newfoundland on the ferry. First we drove a very short distance and it became dark and smelled a bit funny. Like in a big city with lots of cars if you know what I mean. Then a rumble started and a bit of vibration but nothing bad happened. After a few minutes, the rumbling became louder and then everything started to gently roll a little. As seasoned world travelers we know this is what happens when one goes to sea. It was actually lulling us into a snooze and we only got woken up about an hour and a half later when we arrived in Newfoundland and rolled off the ferry again.

Then we drove to St. Anthony where we stayed a whole week. This was very nice and Sue took us out for a walk twice! One of these two times we found out that in the next trailer there also was a four-legged occupant: a small dog. To Sue's astonishment Hunter headed straight for that little dog when he saw him! She had expected him to back off but no, curiosity got the better of Hunter and if Sue hadn't stopped him, he would have walked right up to him! I'm not as brave and kept my distance.

Anyhow we are having a great time and can't wait to see what the next campground has to offer.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Shaken cats

Hi everyone

It's been a while since our last post and that is because of one of the cons of being in rural Canada. When André and Sue decided to travel they checked out how best to keep in touch e.g. how to get internet while on the road. And they found a neat little device which lets them access cyberspace anywhere they can find a Rogers cell phone signal. Cool! So we were not concerned at all that we would be able to let you know what we’re up to and where we’ve been. But then we ran into the first of our problems: you can't get a Rogers signal everywhere and thus - big shock - still no access to the internet. Ok, we thought, a problem but not really. There has to be some campgrounds which offer WiFi and sure enough many of them do. Problem solved, or is it? Oh, we don't get a signal when it's raining (or overcast), sorry. These guys must be with Xplornet or something! But while it is frustrating we still can live with it. We will be connected again sooner or later. Then, about two weeks ago, problem number two occurred: Sue's computer crashed and wouldn't even let them reset it to factory default. So she had to go buy a new one. It's a cute little thing called a net book and she really likes it except it does not have the same edition of Windows 7 that her old computer had. And it does not have a CD drive and so she can't just re-install all her programs by putting a CD in the drive. She has to do it in a more time-consuming and complicated way. And she has no internet to download copies of programs or register them so they will actually work. She also can't restore all her (and our) files from the remote backup server because of NO INTERNET. Now we're really frustrated. How can we write our blog like that? And when we have a connection, however slow, how can we get one of the many pictures from the camera to go along with that blog? We think that Sue is about to trow the new computer out the window and that scares us.

What also scared us but is part of traveling in rural areas, is the roads. Man are they bad in some places. I mean, really! We drove across Labrador and thought we would never make it. 1800 kilometers of dirt and gravel roads with only a couple of places to stop along the way. We were getting shaken, rocked and shaken again until we hardly new what's up and what's down. It went on for hours on end while André and Sue first drove from Baie-Comeau to find the only truck stop on the road to Labrador City after 320 kilometers. That doesn't sound too bad but remember: gravel road, road construction and potholes the size of Lake Nipissing (or almost)! Then the next day another 270 kilometers of the same only to find that there really isn't much to be found in Labrador City. So André and Sue decided to continue to Churchill Falls. Big mistake, let us tell you that. If Lab City hasn't anything to offer, Churchill Falls is even smaller so we kept going another 531 kilometers to Goose Bay. Man, we were so done when we arrived and so glad we spent a couple of days there before we hit the (dirt)road again for another 560 kilometers to Red Bay on the south coast of Labrador where we finally found some paved road again.

Can you blame us for trying to make a run for it out the door and seek refuge in the woods every time André and Sue opened the door? We were ready to move out and not come back! Even André and Sue had enough after that. On the up-side: the landscape is gorgeous and one really appreciates the amenities of our fifth wheel and of civilization once you get back to it.
Anyhow, we now need to catch up on some sleep because snoozing was out of the question on this part of the trip as you might imagine. As soon as Sue (somehow) will be able to get back to normal with regards to computers and internet we will tell you about a campground in St. Anthony, Newfoundland and how we got there. Meantime check out André's and Sue's blog too to get their insights.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

It's apuzzle

Hi everyone

This week we have to tell you about a phenomenon that keeps us wondering. We just can't figure it out. Here is what happened: Sue kept complaining about being hot and then two days ago this thing happened. She and André went to town and when they came back we hardly recognized Sue.
Her fur had come off and grown back in a matter of a few hours. But not just that, it had grown back much shorter and the colour has changed too. Her fur is now shorter than ours! We just can't figure out how that works. With us it's twice a year that we loose our fur and grow a new one and it's predictable when that happens - in spring and in fall. Period.
Humans are so different. First of all they only have fur on their heads (André doesn't even have that) and for that reason kind of look funny anyways. Second it seems they can change it at any time they want. We don't know if that really is the case or if it's just coincidence. And then it never seems to grow back the way it was before. It changes colour and is shorter. Almost like they loose it and then it grows back partially in a hurry but then it keeps growing until they decide to change it again. This is so complicated. With us it's simple, change it twice a year, same colour, same length everything.It's a real mystery. Have you ever thought about what you would do, Hunter, if we could change fur at will?
Not really, but if one looks as gorgeous as we two do there really is no need to change anything. It could only come out worse, don't you think?
True! And with that we leave you for today. We don't know when we will be able to tell you more about our travels because André and Sue keep talking about going into an area where there may be no internet but hopefully we will be connected again in a few days or a week or so. Boy, this makes me realize that we truly have become cybercats1 Who would have thought that?!

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Taveling is cool

This traveling thing turns out to be very interesting indeed. While we still struggle with the whole driving part, we found out that the stays are actually super cool. No place is like the one before, they all look different and the smells! Wow, we get to sniff all kinds of new and fascinating stuff. You see, after we have put up with the shaking on the road, Sue has taken us out at every stop. So we got to explore the surroundings, look, listen and smell. My buddy Hunter here, in his usual manner, only takes a few steps from the trailer before he lays down and takes his time familiarizing himself with the new location. Then, once he feels comfortable, he gets up and starts to walk wherever the most interesting smells and sounds are coming from.
True, easy does it, my friend. You, Trapper, on the other hand seem to think that there simply is too much terrain to cover to loose any time and you get going as soon as your paws hit the ground. The other day Trapper quickly detected a squirrel and started chasing after it. Too bad Sue couldn't keep up with him and so he ran out of leash before getting to the squirrel. The little bugger then ran up a tree and mockingly chattered at Trapper. How frustrating! But all in all it is very interesting and, man, is the world big! We must have been driving 20 hours or so and still haven't arrived at the end. It must come soon, though. At least we think so. You know how they say that a cat will always find his or her way back home? If we had to start now, it would take us a long time to get back to Lake Nipissing. And we probably would get lost somewhere along the way. So the end of the world has to be someplace close or any cat would have a hard time finding the way back.
Anyways, when we're not driving or outside, we still get to enjoy the new places. Hunter's favorite spot is right at the open door. Only the screen door keeps him from walking outside. And Trapper here is all over the trailer, wherever he can see out a window. He often chases after something he sees by running from one window to the next and back. Bottom line is: traveling turns out to be fun!

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

We're gipsies

One of the horses - they are really tall!

Can you believe it: we are now gipsies! Not that there is anything wrong with gipsies it's just that we are so used to living in a house with lots of space and all the amenities one can wish for. And now we have officially moved into our new home which, while being big for a fifth wheel, is small. And it is moving and we will be all over Canada! At first we didn't even know if André and Sue would have space for us in the car for the ride to Almonte where the trailer is parked. See after they had packed everything up and emptied the apartment last Saturday, they came to clean and load the rest of their belonging and us into the truck and drive to their friend's horse farm near Ottawa. Boy, do those humans have stuff! Lots and lots of it. So much in fact that we were concerned that we would not fit into the truck anymore. Thank goodness our fears were unfounded and we got to ride along.

On the evening of June 30st we arrived at Pia and Alfons' where we will stay for a couple more days if we correctly understand André's and Sue's plans. We watch the horses and sniff all the interesting and unfamiliar smells while they put the route together which we will take to the East Coast. The trip will take us through Quebec which worries us a bit because obviously they speak another, completely different language there which we are not familiar with. So we wonder how that will work. But we will be fine just as long as we get enough treats. Speaking of treats: where is Sue? We need to go beg some from her.

Anyways, we will get to see new things almost every day from now on out and we will tell you about them. So stay tuned for more as they say.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Our first trip in the fifth wheel

We are back from Almonte where we spent 9 days with Sue in the 5th wheel. Actually we came back 3 days ago but we couldn't get Sue to type up our post for you. Anyways, she was there to help her friend with preparations for her daughter's wedding and we got to go along. André and Sue decided it would be a good way to get us used to living in the trailer. 

We have to tell you: living in the fifth wheel is actually not bad. What we didn't like at all was the driving! Man, there we were in new surroundings all by ourselves and then it started moving and shaking. It was scary! Thankfully we found a space underneath the couch were we could hide and we only came out when Sue came to check on us a few times during the trip. We finally arrived and, as we already said, had a pretty good time. There were horses real close to the fifth wheel which we could watch. And we had the trailer all to ourselves most of the time because Sue was at the house or running errands. But she made sure to come check on us regularly because it was extremely hot and, the first few days, muggy. So Sue made sure we were comfortable, had enough water and even ran the air conditioning when needed. In the evening she would have time for us which we really enjoyed.

So all went really well and then on Sunday, André and Sue took us back to Corbeil. But this time we traveled in the car with them. Initially Trapper whined for a bit because he doesn't like rides in the car but after they stopped and let us out for a bathroom stop (on harnesses and leashes) he settled down, too.

End of this month, in about 10 days or so, we will return to Almonte and then the fifth wheel will become our permanent home for the time being. So stay tuned. We will have a lot to tell you once the big trip begins.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

First impression

Hi friends

Did you check out André's and Sue's new web site as we suggested in our last post? If you did you know what the two of us are facing. So you surely can understand that we were really anxious to check out the fifth wheel they've bought and, if we liked it, take possession. After all we are the bosses around here even though André and Sue don't always seem to remember that and make decisions without our input.

Yesterday they finally took us there and let us spend about an hour in what will be our home starting July. We must say, it's not half bad. Smaller than what we're used to but nice with lots of windows that will allow us to keep an eye on what's going on outside. And then there is carpet in most places which makes for softer landings when we jump down from wherever we've been. Hunter especially likes that since his hips sometimes give him discomfort and he didn't really appreciate the tile and hardwood floors in our current home. So that's a plus. Now we will have to find out what it will be like to permanently live in a fifth wheel and traveling.

We will update you when we take to the road for the first time in a few weeks.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

We are back

Hi everybody - we are back
After over 2 years away from the keyboard we have decided to come back and keep you posted on our new adventures which are about to start. As you probably have read on André's and Sue's new web site RieserCanada.com, the two have made quiet some changes in their and consequently our lives. We would have loved to have some input but they made all the decisions without asking us and so we - once again - can do nothing but to go along for the ride. Only this time we mean that literally! If you don't know what we are talking about, check the web site we mentioned and you will see what we have to put up with!

Anyhow. Seems that André and Sue are getting really serious about that travel thing. The other day Sue came home with collars for us. They have our names on one and Sue's phone number on the other side and, quiet frankly, look fabulous on us. Sue says they are so people can call her should we ever escape. This way she can come get us. Good idea, actually. Only Trapper still has to get used to his. Every so often he tries to grab it with his teeth but his neck is too short for that and that really frustrates him. Why don't you just accept it as a piece of jewelry buddy?

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.