Hi...
 
Sorry I didn't post Part 2 yesterday, too much stuff going on here.  The
ferrets wanted to tell you the rest of the story of our Big Move from State
College to Gilbertsville, PA, so here goes:
 
****************PART TWO: On the Road *********************
 
<Shadow speaking>
So off we went.  I was in one FERRET carrier, Patches and Slinky in another,
Boomer and Bam-Bam (cats) were in one carrier, and Ivy (cat) in another.  We
were all in the car with Daddy, who was following Mommy, Trouble and Koto in
the big diesel truck.  I don't know what was going on in the truck, but
daddy kept getting frustrated cuz mommy wasn't driving very fast, and she
gave explicit instructions to daddy NOT to go anywhere but right behind the
truck.  Mommy kept saying the last time daddy would see her again would be
sailing off the edge of the road in that truck!
 
So the trip was supposed to take three hours.  With mommy driving, it took
over four (woman drivers!!) I guess I shouldn't be so hard on her, she was
*really* scared and mommy doesn't usually get scared.  To make things worse,
it started to pour while we were on the road, right before something called
Seven Mountains.  Now, I don't know what that is, but I know that we went up
a big hill, then down a really really steep, winding hill before daddy said
we made it through Seven Mountains.  Mommy drove about 2 miles an hour
there, so whatever it is I didn't like it.
 
Now I have to let Stinky...oops, Slinky tell the next part of the story, cuz
I thought the rest of the trip went well.  Apparantly it has something to do
with the fact that I'm deaf...whatever.
 
<Slinky here> Dook dook....The first hour of the trip wasn't so bad, except
for being so slow.  But then, right around Harrisburg, the fun started in
the car.  First I should say that daddy isn't very patient.  He doesn't like
stress.  Well, all of a sudden the brother-cats, Boomer and Bam Bam, decided
it was song time (I guess they didn't like the Metallica that daddy was
playing) so they started howling.  Man, they don't know how to carry a tune!
Me and Patches was sleeping really nice, the vibrations of the car were
soothing.  Then all of a sudden we were awakened by this horrible cat
howling.  It only took a minute of this before daddy was really mad.  He
kept cursing mommy for ever deciding to move, and he told the cats that if
they didn't knock it off he was going to throw them out the window.  I voted
for that one!!!  Unfortunately, daddy really loves cats, especially that
BamBam one, so he didn't toss them.  Those dumb cats must have planned this,
cuz it wasn't like they were howling at the same time.  First Boomer yowled,
them Bam Bam.  Then Boomer, back to Bam Bam.  Shadow just slept through
it...man I wish I was deaf!  The other cat didn't make a sound but that's
cuz she was cowered in the corner of her carrier.  I think she was in shock.
Man, now I know why they're called Fraidy Cats...such WIMPS!  Oh well, I'll
let Trouble tell the story of being in the truck, since I wasn't there...
 
<Trouble here> Okay, about TIME you shut up, Slinky! Well, it was a really
wierd day. After mommy took all of our stuff out of our home, it was just
us sitting in these carriers. I saw mommy putting our cages in the back of
this really big truck, and I was like you are NOT putting me back there!
Thank God she didn't, but I got really confused when I saw all the other
animals going in nice quiet cars, then mommy says "let's go" and me and
Koto go in the cab of this thing! Koto was on the floor, me on the seat.
Mommy's "boom box" was right in front of my carrier, so I couldn't see
anything! No FAIR! But I forgot all about that when mommy gets in the truck
and turned that key thing. va-ROOOOMMM, and the whole earth shook and the
vibrations were really horrible. It was loud and no matter how I tried to
get settled my body kept shaking! When we drove out of our parking lot,
there's three speed bumps. When mommy went over them, I went FLYING! Once,
I almost hit my head on my carrier! COME ON, Mom! Even *I* can drive better
than that! I was going to start scratching and complaining, but then mommy
started to talk to us. I never heard her so scared! She said that she hoped
the truck was sturdy enough that if she hit something we would be okay...I
didn't like that idea AT ALL! But then she started to drive, and I swear
every three minutes she'd start saying "God, please take care of me! Take
care of my fuzzies!" She'd get on one road, then breathe a sigh of relief.
Then she'd have to make a turn or downshift (which I didn't like cuz the
stick kept hitting my carrier!) and she'd start cursing and praying and
whimpering.  She kept saying that the two thousand dollars would have been
worth it to pay a professional mover.
 
Then mommy calmed down for a few minutes, until we got to "The Mountain" as
mommy called it.  Just as we got there, it started to pour, and mommy almost
started to cry!  I kept trying to tell her that it would be okay, but she
didn't seem to understand.  All I know is that we started going up a hill
v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.  But the worst was when we started going back
down...mom kept cursing and saying words that me and Koto shouldn't have had
to listen to!
 
The next couple of hours was really not too bad.  Once mommy got on the
"interstate" she seemed to relax, but I was really getting sick of the music
she was playing.  She had put in a CD of someone called Enya, really pretty
music, but once the CD ended, mommy wouldn't take her eyes off of the road
to change the CD.  So we listened to the same thing again and again.
Finally we got to the "turnpike" and mommy was finally happy.  She even
seemed to enjoy herself there!  We went really fast, and the noise and
vibrations weren't so bad on that road.  But 5 minutes later we came to some
road stop and Daddy went flying past our truck and got off of the exit.
Mommy got scared, she was sure that something was wrong with the animals in
Daddy's car.  We exited and parked the truck, and mommy got out to see what
the problem was......
 
Tomorrow, the Problems of the Move in Part 3................
 
Kymberlie Becker
Director, Pennsylvania Ferret Rescue Association
"Forget Puppy Love...There's nothing Greater than Ferret Love!" TM
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/ferretlady
[Posted in FML issue 1960]