Hi everyone! This blog post is a look at my 4-day road trip from the East Coast to the West Coast. I was not traveling alone! My bf and I had to bring our 2 cats along for the ride and here you can see how it went 🙂
My small collage that I made of the four days. In the middle of September, shortly after my birthday, we packed up and left New Jersey for California. Our plan had been to drive from 7A-7P and make our way across the country by sleeping in hotels. We made four stops at night along the way and drove for 5 days!
(you can click all the pictures to enlarge)
On the first day, we had to pack up everything from my little apartment into the new car. Due to the prior weeks of preparing for the move, I had not slept for five days! I was so exhausted and it was a very emotional morning. We said our goodbyes to everyone but in my heart, I knew I would be back soon, so I tried to not be so sad about it. We made our last stop at our favorite bagel place and it was all a blur with how much was going on. All of a sudden, it was just my partner, me, some bagels, and my two cats on the road…
We made it to Ohio where we had our first snack break at a burger stop called Hardee’s that was way too similar to Carl’s Jr. It tasted good but then the burger got too saucy lol. Also, these snack packs were so addicting and we ate them throughout the trip.
Then we made our way to our first sleeping stop in Chicago <3. One of my favorite places to visit in the US. We arrived at my relative’s house by nightfall. I was so grateful she let us stay over the night and I always have a good time there. That night, Otto wouldn’t stop meowing but Odin felt right at home. We quickly found out that Odin would definitely be a homeowner if he was human since he fell right into routine when he laid out on the floor. TinTin prepared us a quick meal, we had a nice time catching up and and that was the end of day 1.
The next morning, Tintin made us breakfast and we were on our way. Otto decided he wanted to drive 🙂 I was still slightly sleep deprived since Otto kept us up but he does so well in the car that I can rest. I loved the positions the cats chose to pick during the drive. They managed to get cozy real quick!
Made it to Iowa and this is what we saw along the way..
Our next sleeping spot was this cute micro hotel in NEBRASKA, which ended up being one of the best of our entire trip. It was a small room that allowed pets and was a perfect first try since we never brought our pets into a hotel before. There was no room under the bed so the cats couldn’t get lost in there! The breakfast was nice too 🙂 and that was the end of day 2!
Thank u microtel! I got the most precious pictures of my little family. Time to go on to our next stop.
On the road for day 3! Passed by Cheyenne where we picked up this little cow lady. We debated staying in Wyoming, but decided to just keep going even though I was really excited to be in the state! I always saw amazing scenery online and was happy to pass through. We started to see less corn and started to see more uh ..rocks? The cats actually just slept every time they got into the car. So, we tried to take as many stops as we could to give them a break, but they seemed to be comfortable being on the road
This next night was going to be spent in Salt Lake City. It ended up being a pretty hotel and I just dreamed of being in a Winter resort the whole time I was there. I could’ve imagined seeing snow outside the wooden exterior. We also found out Otto liked windows.
This hotel had an indoor hot tub and swimming pool so we relaxed in the warm water and stretched our bodies. Then we spent the rest of the night at the bar and learned that one glass of wine was really enough in this altitude. An older couple were having an argument at the other table so it was fun to listen in 😀
Taking pics of myself to show to my family that I was still alive 😀 and look at Odin coming out of our trunk!
The breakfast was simple but I looked forward to seeing what options we had at every hotel breakfast! Then we were on the road again. We were feeling quite sick of driving at this point and decided that our next stop will be a shorter 9 hours instead of going straight. Then we wouldn’t arrive to SF in the dark.
The scenery was getting prettier by the day, and we got to pass by and stop at the salt flats. Did not try it..
Next stop was Reno… This 3rd hotel was the worst of them all. We originally tried to stay at a smaller hotel outside of Reno but they ended up not being able to take cats. It was awful because we couldn’t get our deposit back and ended up paying double since we had to get another room. We stayed at the Chelsea since we knew they would take animals. Even the food was not as good as I hoped for. I did get to see some Reno 911 in action and a beautiful sunrise and sunset. It was so cute to see the cats looking out the window from so high up. We painfully just ended day 3 and couldn’t wait to get home.
THE FINAL STRETCH. Started seeing signs for California and all of a sudden, we were welcomed by Carl the Fog on the bay bridge.
Around 11AM made it home! Here are some pics of the cats checking out their new place.
The last drive was actually very short and we got my favorite coffee along the way. I can’t believe we made it all the way and it was everything I could have wanted. I always dreamed about packing all my favorite things together and going on a trip with my pets and I got to share these moments with the love of my life as well. We finally made it to my old/new home.
There was a lot of uncertainty and I knew there would be a lot of things to work on in the house when we got here. I;m glad to be back with my siblings and I can’t wait to make this place feel like home.
As it shows, its very possible to travel with cats haha but I hope you enjoyed these pictures. Come back again for the next read.
bye!
