Travel Kitty

People ask us what we do with Persia when we travel.  They are always surprised when we say she comes with us.

She's our traveling kitty!

Mind you, she didn't start out a good traveler.  Like most cats, she was quite vocal about her dislike of being in the car.  There's no 'trick' to getting a cat used to travel...they just have to get used to it by experience.  For weeks before our first trip with her, she went for constant rides with us.  Picking up milk...she came.  Taking trash over to the dumpsters...she rode along.

Soon enough she was bored with the whole thing.

She always has her crate.  Most of the time it is open and this is how she spends the trip...snuggled into her pink blankie watching out the front window.

If she needs to 'do her business' we have a cat box available...with the best darn litter that can be bought!  (When she's done, she hops back into her crate, we lock the door, and pull over for a fast scoop out.)

Sometimes she get restless and sits up in the back window where she is the hit among the little girls who pass our car.  We can tell they are saying "awwwwww" as they point at her.

But even a cat can get tired of the long drives.  She lets you know it's about time to "be there".

Once 'there' she settles in like a Queen.  We call ahead to find hotels that take cats and our friends know how good she is.

You can see directly behind her (just barely) her travel cage.  It's a large size wire dog crate that folds flat.  It's high enough for her cat box with her bed on top.  That is where she sleeps at night.

Otherwise she out and about.  She is a very good girl and doesn't claw or otherwise be bad.  I've never had a cat that TRIES to be good!

When we are ready to leave, she supervises packing then hops into her crate ready for our next stop.  (That tiny bungee cord you see on the door holds the crate door open so it doesn't flop around.)

Lake Winona Walk ... photos by Himself

While we were visiting in Winona, MN Himself went across the street for a walk in Lake Park.  He took my camera with him.  I was impressed by the photos he took.

Enjoy the sights along his walking route...

In the background is the famous Sugar Loaf Bluff.  The 'sugar loaf' was created by quarrying in the late 1800s.  The height is 500 feet, with the sugar loaf being 85 feet tall.

The lake as a population of Giant Canadian Geese, a subspecies of Canadian Goose.

They are HUGE.  A standard Canadian Goose gander weighs 8-12 pounds.  A Giant gander weighs 16-20...and up to 23 pounds.

Lake Park is one of the nicest parks I've seen, wouldn't you agree?

The JH Hawes Grain Elevator Museum

On our way Minnesota via Illinois, we often stop in Atlanta, IL.  Good place to stretch and get a snack...plus there is always something interesting to look at.

This time we visited a grain elevator museum.  On the ND homestead farm Himself grew up on, his grandfather built his own grain elevator; giving himself the option to store his grain until he could sell at a good price.

You can see how tall it is.

Very clever!

LOVE the worn floor planks!

Looking UP.

Himself looking at the scale weights.  They had a very similar in their elevator.

A window to the past.  That's why we so enjoy small town museums.

A Small City In The Civil War - Ft. Defiance, Clarksville, TN

Another one of our Civil War stops during Bro 1's visit was at Ft. Defiance.  Himself and I had not visited since it was fixed up and an interpretive center was built.  " The four-acre Fort Defiance park features earthen fort and walking trails. The city of Clarksville dedicated a new $2 million Fort Defiance Interpretive Center in 2011 in time for the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War in 2011. The Fort has been owned by the City of Clarksville since the mid-1980s, when it was donated to the city by retired Judge Sam Boaz who had owned and preserved the site for some time."  

"In November 1861, Confederate troops began to build a defensive fort that would control the river approach to Clarksville, Tennessee. They mounted three guns in the fort. On February 19, 1862, Federal gunboats came up the river from Fort Donelson and reported the fort displayed a white flag and was deserted. The Federals took over the fort and enlarged it so that it would control traffic on the Hopkinsville (Kentucky) Pike. Clarksville was left with a small garrison of Union troops. In April 1862, this small garrison was made up of the 71st Ohio Volunteers commanded by Col. Rodney Mason.

During July and August 1862, there was an increase in guerrilla activity around Clarksville. On August 18, 1862, Clarksville was recaptured by Confederate Cavalry. Col. Mason was cashiered for surrendering Clarksville so easily. Union soldiers were sent from Fort Donelson to retake Clarksville in September 1862. Skirmishes were fought at New Providence on September 6, 1862 and at Riggins Hill on September 7, 1862. The town and fort were reoccupied by Federal troops who remained for the rest of the war. Col. Bruce was placed in command at Clarksville."   (Wiki)

Here's an interesting bit of information in the museum.

It was SO hot that day that we didn't walk on the trails.  

  

But our visit to the center was nice.

There was information on how the fort was made...

...and a diorama of how it looked.

The museum is nicely laid out.  Each of the figures along the wall tells a bit when you push a button.

This one has about four different speakers who read from diaries and letters.

The park is quite active with lecture series, special events, and reenactments.  We will definitely be back in cooler weather.