Smokey and the Bandit

On our way to church - don't we clean up well??

Grandma Sheryl loved our little Evan!

Obviously it was not the original plan to leave the cats in California.  The plan was to bring them with us to the airport and check them in as baggage.  And based on all prior conversations with American Airlines it was a good plan, a sensible plan.  On said day, per THE PLAN, we arrived at the airport ticket counter with 4 children, 4 huge suitcases, numberless carryon bags and two cats in a crate.  Alas we did not count on this fickle thing called weather.  It had dropped thirty degrees in Dallas overnight.  As a result all prior information we had obtained from the airline was now null and void.  Now, with ninety minutes prior to take off, we needed to obtain certificates of health from a vet and a certificate of acclimation stating that the cats could fly below certain temperatures.  Or, as the lady at the ticket counter so helpfully suggested, we could just all come back the next day because the temperature might be warmer in Dallas.  Chad, David, Evan and I checked in and left Scott and Brett to deal with this hopeless situation.  In the end our Temecula vet would not sign off on any health certificates and who could blame him considering he had not seen Smokey in ages and had never even MET Bandit!

Scott made the agonizing decision to leave the cats in the parking lot.  Riverside County Animal Control then picked up the cats after a call from Carrie in Nashville.  The Monday after arriving in Dallas I called animal control and confirmed that our cats were still alive and well.  We really did not know what to expect.  Thus began the saga of trying to get the cats to Texas.  Honestly the whole experience was too frustrating to recount so I will proceed with the condensed version (I would like to not relive the mini nervous breakdown I experienced after repeatedly calling American Airline's 1-800 number).  It was decided, after consulting with American Airlines ad nauseum and literally getting a different answer each time, that it would be best if Uncle Evan flew out with the cats as carry on in separate cat crates.  You are wondering why we did not do this in the first place.  Considering we were traveling with our children and so much luggage we thought it would be easier to check them in as baggage.  So we had them in one crate which is a no-go for carry on.  Oh the joy of hind sight...

Our neighbor Jeff picked them up from animal control and brought them back to Temecula where they lived in our garage thanks to the kindness of the woman who rented our house.  After numerous trips to the vet and a round of antibiotics Evan was able to nurse them back to health.  Certificates of health were procured and Scott cashed in frequent flyer miles to purchase Evan a plane ticket.  We watched the weather anxiously because there was a possibility one of the cats would have to be checked (again difficult to get a straight answer from American Airlines).  The day Evan flew out was cold.  At least as cold as the day we flew out if not colder.  But his ticket agent had evidently attended a different training program because she allowed him to CHECK both cats as luggage and did not blink an eye or make one comment on the weather in Dallas as being too cold.  I do not even think she checked the weather! 

In the end it was a blessing because we got to see Uncle Evan and enjoy 3 full days with him.  He was able to help Scott put some big things together and even built a fantastic cabinet for the niche next to our fireplace in the family room.  He also got to enjoy a bit of spoiling by Grandma Sheryl.  Meatball soup, homemade creme puffs, pancakes for breakfast each day.  Nothing is too hard for Grandma Sheryl.  Evan left on Tuesday evening and we continued to thoroughly enjoy the rest of our visit with Grandma who just left us today.  We are very sad.