Memorable Day 1

commentary by: Mavis McWavis
edited for inappropriate language by: Mavis's Mommie and Daddy

It was Memowial Day weekend and let me tell you, it's not one I will forget in a huwwy. The brouhaha started Friday night after Dad got off work: Dad and Mom lugged all this [stuff] into the house, reorganized it, and took it back out to the garage. Now, this should have been my first clue; why would anyone stay up until 3 a.m. just moving [stuff] awound? Well, they actually put this [stuff] into the car, of all things. I should have hid somewhere wewy safe Saturday morning. I didn't. I too, was most unceremoniously loaded into the car and was to be a victim of the Stiltskin family fate.

Mom drove for what was supposed to be a 45 minute twip to a place called "Clements Canoeing," on Sugar Cweek. (Now, Clements I have heard of, but who the heck is Canoeing?) After a short stop at the Stiltskins' favourite outfitting place (Dollar General) we continued. Dad gave directions and Mom dwove wewwy fast one way and then wewwy fast another way, on back roads and on the highway (--I love dwiving fast cuz the wind whistles down from the moon-roof and fwuffs my hair all up); I could tell some confusion was happening cuz there were a lot of words like [oh darn] -- that and the fact that Mom kept making u-turns. Finally we arrived somewhere and unloaded all the [stuff] we had loaded last night--including me, [darn] near suffocating in a [dumb] Cat Voyage cage Dad stuck me in (I thought that the Cat Voyage cage was a place for my toys! Fooled again!). We were there about 10 minutes when Mom and Dad came back and reloaded all the [stuff] BACK INTO THE CAR! HALLO? HELP! I am surrounded by ijits!

Side bar: We had reservations to go on an overnight canoeing trip. The location was new to Scott, the map he was given was as detailed as one could expect when taken by satellite, and there was road construction and detours. We arrived in the nick of time only to have one of the attendants fail to notify the driver that we were there. The van pulled out leaving the Stiltskins standing high and dry.

I was vewy happy! we would now be going back home! And I fell asleep in my teepee. Well, I twied to sleep, but this big [butt] tent kept edging my teepee off the seat--good thing we had loaded that mother, eh? Anyhow, my naps. Big mistake they were. Next thing I know we are in Kentucky! I with I had stayed awake; I could have told them that our trip was jinxed! From that point on I remained on alert, besides, it was getting close to dark and I would be able to get my wevenge while they twied to sleep.



Since we had all the camping gear loaded and it was the start of a long weekend, we decided to continue driving south. We drove some nice by-ways through Indiana into Kentucky. More beautiful old towns with wonderful architecture. On Boy Scout trips, Scott (when he was a whelp) had visited a place called the "Land Between the Lakes" (LBL) in KY. There is a long history to this place so the quick and dirty one is that this is an area where two rivers run parallel to each other and in between was a huge swamp. The two rivers were dammed side-by-side and the result was the formation of two lakes. During the Depression, thousands of workers came in and drained the swamp and formed a National Park--LBL. Most of the park is in KY and the southern portion is in Tennessee. We decided that we would camp there, but upon a visit to the Tourist Center, we found that by the previous Wednesday, 30000 other campers had laid claim to all the spots. We ended up staying at a motel at the north end.

The park was lush and green--as so much of Kentucky is--and, Tennessee is even more so. We saw wild turkey, quail, deer, elk and bison. A beautiful sunset over Kentucky Lake, we later realized was deceptive; we thought at the time that it was the perfect ending to a tumultuous day.


We stopped at this place to look at the water and Daddy put me on top of the car to see better.
Do you see that!?? That is just wrong! I just don't get the wespect I so deserve!

That night, Mavie went into action. We didn't enquire about the motel's pet rules as we knew that Mave would be a perfect guest (prior experience) plus, we didn't want to hear the 'wrong' answer! Mavie did her best to get her revenge. She didn't meow loudly or anything--she just did her little "talking" (which is a combination of purr and guttural sounds ranging from short to long, high and low pitched, depending on what she is trying to tell us) ALL NIGHT LONG! If one of us was in the bathroom with the door closed. She complained until let in. Once in, she complained to be let out. Once out she ... well, you get the idea. When she wasn't complaining at us, she was jumping up and off the bed. When that didn't work, some furious digging in her litter box ensued, kitty-litter hitting the wall behind (fortunately, we always have a plastic undersheet in place). Then, some loud wrestling with her mice (she calls her little mice "Mildreds"). Finally, as a last resort, she found the window to the parking lot and pressed her little face against the window--that was until I caught her doing it! Finally, at midnight, we took her out for a walk on her lead. We also, vowed that the next day, we wouldn't let her sleep the whole time we drove!


to be continued....