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.