Li’l Bit’s Blog– Christmas Family Road Trip–day 1

This is Little Bit, the cat, and I’ve decided to take over the blogging for the next little while.  I don’t get my voice heard as much as I’d like…
My humans woke up today and they seemed all excited.  I finally got out of bed and stretched as I sauntered out to see what all the commotion was about!
Piles of coats, boots, blankets, clothes?  What is all this stuff?  Why can’t these humans be a bit more like me?  I take my coat and boots everywhere I go, and why do they change their clothes so much?   I don’t need a suitcase for my clothes!
I heard the people talking about going to Crater Lake–now I’m an adventurer and all, but why would they want to drive for seven hours to go look at a big hole in the ground?  I can dig them a hole…not sure why they didn’t ask me.
Well, they loaded up lots of stuff, and they finally came back in and got me.  I started to wonder for a few minutes if they forgot about me…but I didn’t need to worry.  I get to go on every trip they take!  I guess I am a traveling cat!
At one point along the trip, when we had just barely gotten started, I saw an amazing sight!   Thousands of white swans and tons of cygnets all just swimming along in the swampy land next to the road!   Ducks and ducklings too–so many you couldn’t even see the water–I really wanted to stop and capture a few–I mean, capture the view, but my good chauffeur did not stop.  Talk about missing a golden opportunity!   Can you believe it?
Then, at a roadside stop, I heard a man mention a ton is SNOW where we are going to camp?  What are these people thinking?  Camp in the snow by a big hole in the ground made by a mountain blowing up?  This is starting to concern me.
As as the day has progressed, I’m getting a little bit afraid.  We saw a huge mountain, and the family called it Mount Shasta.  I don’t know what all the fuss was about, though, because it was completely covered with snow.   I couldn’t see any trees because of all that snow.  I’ll admit that the mountain  was majestic and pretty, but I’d sure get cold trying to climb it!   I think I’ll stay in the truck!  ?
My family and I pretty much drive along all day.  The scenery was nice out my window.  Reminded me of western Utah/Nevada, where it looks desolate, yet enchanting.  Really not many trees to climb, though, just fields of juniper.  I guess I would enjoy a romp through the juniper.
We we found a funny campground not quite to where we are headed.  Funny because it seems like it’s right inside a city, with roads so close, and noisy cars zipping by!  Not your usual camping atmosphere, but we are going to make the best of it.   The people did a pretty good job of setting up their new tent.  I was impressed!  ⛺️
I am a little bit of a naughty kitty.  I just couldn’t stand to sit in the truck and wait for the people to come and get me out, so I climbed out the window.    I just wanted to go exploring, but I almost got lost.  Mommy and Daddy were standing beside the fire, warming up, when Mommy heard a rustling in the grass behind Daddy.  She called the boys to see if it was them, then she seemed to know that I was the one making the noise.  I got scared when she called for me, so I ran away.  ?   Everyone wanted to catch me, but I wasn’t ready to get caught, so I ran some more.  Finally, Daddy caught me by my tail, and everyone rejoiced.  My family always says a prayer before we set out on a trip, and I really am glad that my family’s angels watched out for me.   I have a pretty good family.  ?
It’s night now, and my first road trip blog post is almost finished.    After everyone climbed into their sleeping bags, all cozy-like, they seemed to remember little ol’ me, still in the truck, crying.  I’ve slept in the truck by myself before, but I feel so lonely and neglected when I have to.  Besides, it’s c-c-c-cold out–freezing, actually.  We’re in Oregon, you know. Anyway, someone had pity on me and brought me inside the tent.  So, now I have to pretend that I like to snuggle down inside sleeping bags to sleep.   I purr real loud so I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings.   They like it when I sleep this way.
I think everyone’s gone to sleep except for Mamma and Daddy.   I’m not too sure they’ll get much rest.   After the skunk sprayed right outside the tent, they didn’t seem quite so enthused about sleeping in the open air.    :-/  Mamma keeps wriggling around in her bag, and I suspect she’s got a rock under her back.   She never does get much sleep while camping, but for some reason she still likes it.   I think she does it partly because she knows they are making memories.  Somehow, even with all the discomforts, the way-too-much-time that a camping trip requires to prepare for, the inevitable cold feet, sore back, or burnt oatmeal, the memories that you take away from these trips completely outweigh the pains.   And you just can’t take memories away!
I’m pretty smart for a cat, aren’t I?  ?
purr…