traveling with cats Archives - Cruisin with the Colemans

He Said What? She Said What?

Posted on March 20, 2019 by Cruisin Michelle

Questions answered from both Brian and Michelle

As we travel and talk with people, we often get many of the same questions. This week we decided to answer some of those questions in a “she said, he said” format because as you all know men are from Venus and women are from Mars. Ok, maybe, maybe not, but we don’t always agree or have the same stories. So here’s what he had to say…and what she had to say too.

How did you get into RVing?

Brian: We have loved to travel and spent many years as tent campers. We got to a point where we wanted to be able to be gone longer and go further, but the tent was a little limiting due to weather and other conditions so the decision to upgrade to an RV was an easy one.

Michelle: This is a funny story actually and I can’t believe Brian didn’t tell you first! As you have probably read in our blog posts we hiked across Spain on the Camino de Santiago in 2017. When we laied in bed in the evenings, resting our bodies, we talked about how much we loved being outside and seeing the world and we didn’t want the adventure to end. However, we talked about how challenging it was to only camp in a tent because of weather and determining if it was worth gathering all of our gear up “just to go out for the weekend.” We lived in a condo with very little space so our gear always had to be tucked away in our basement. We also didn’t have the the space to spread out our gear to let it dry out (and something always needed to be dried out!). So I started watching a lot of YouTube videos about RV’s and researching how much they cost. Then one day on the trail I said to Brian, “what would you think about buying an RV?” He said what I knew he would say, because this is his standard answer, “Absolutely!” We continued researching for the perfect RV, in our budget, over the summer, made our list of “must haves,” and the day we got off the plane from Spain we started shopping. Within a week we found the perfect RV, bought it, and have already put on over 8,000 miles. Best decision ever!

Our REI Kingdom 8 tent was the perfect fit for many years.

Brian: Michelle forgot to mention that CC (Casa del Camino) is not even our first RV. We actually left the lot with a smaller RV initially and immediately regretted the decision. After a stressful weekend in that camper, we bought our F-150 and upgraded to our Apex 269RBKS.

Michelle: Ugh, Brian. I wasn’t going to tell them that story! Geez, have some dignity. Hahahaha

Our first RV was not the right fit and lasted only a week.
Casa del Camino, our forever RV… for now.

What was your biggest RV newbie mistake?

Brian: Last Christmas on our way home from Florida we were really struggling with when would be the best time to winterize. In Tennessee, the weather forecast said that the overnights temps would drop down to about 30 and we knew that we would be OK. The temperature actually dropped down to the mid-twenties for most of the night. The next morning, I couldn’t get the valves open to drain the tanks because they froze. Even with a space heater and blow dryer, I had no luck. We decided to drive knowing that things would warm up as the morning progressed. When we stopped for lunch, there was a giant icicle hanging off the dump valve. I was terrified that it was a poop-cicle. It turned out to be from the gray tank, but it was still a pretty expensive mistake!

Michelle: Yeah, that possible poop-cicle was quite a scary moment and a costly mistake but at least it was only gray water. But that was not our biggest mistake by far! Learning about x-chocks and tire blocks and a million other things it seems like you need to know so your RV doesn’t move while it’s parked was quite overwhelming. We knew very little before we bought an RV since our outdoor home had always been a tent (and a really nice one I might add). I assumed that all RV spots were pretty level since we had always found pretty level tent sites. The problem is that even “pretty level” with an RV means you better make sure the rig doesn’t move. <insert facepalm> as I prepare to relive this story.

We were camping at Winton Woods campground in Cincinnati. We had an absolutely beautiful campsite on the lake. The site seemed pretty level but we needed a couple of leveling blocks on one side, then we put our x-chocks in and lowered the tongue jack. Brian unhooked his chains from the truck and I was about to unhook mine when the entire RV rolled backwards! Yes, our rig was headed for that beautiful lake we had to camp next to, I can’t believe it but we almost lost our rig into the lake. Fortunately, I had not taken off my chain and the truck saved us. The problem? I will take some of the blame. I didn’t tighten down the x-chocks enough. But from now on we always us x-chocks and we put chocks behind and in front of the tires. The sad part is, that isn’t the only time the rig has moved. Don’t even mess around with your set up, always make sure the rig is 100% secured before you unhook it from your truck. Live and learn, thank goodness we still have our CC.

Where is your favorite RV location or adventure?

Brian: So far I would have to say that some of the campgrounds we found in Michigan have been my favorites. I really loved the Munising Tourist Park Campground in the UP of Michigan. Our site was about 100 feet from the water and we had beautiful views of Lake Superior. I also really love camping at Traverse City State Park. The sites are a bit tight (click on the link to read a previous blog about these sites) but you are across the street from Lake Michigan and right on a bike path that will take you just about anywhere in Traverse City. I have also really enjoyed the Zion River Resort in Virgin, Utah. We have only tent camped there in the past but it is definitely on our list for our next trip to Zion National Park.

The view from the Munising Tourist Campground

Michelle: We always like to say that our favorite adventure is the one we are on right now. We try to live in the moment but we are always thinking about what’s next. We leave in a few days for Gatlinburg, and oh, how we love going down there to camp and hike. The best part is now that we have an RV we can spend more time there since we are not paying for a hotel. We can camp over our Thanksgiving break and Spring Break in our rig when normally those are times we would have to find a hotel. On this trip to Gatlinburg we are camping only 5 miles from the downtown strip and on the trolley route. I love trying out new campgrounds while we are there. The next thing I am looking forward to in our Summer 2020 out West trip. We have traveled out west 3 times but only going by hotel or in our tent. It is very exciting to think about taking our rig, our cats, all of our gear, and seeing the countryside. We hope to boondock and stay at Harvest Hosts. Which means our next RV upgrade is going to have to be a generator. Oh the money you spend when you are an RV’er.

Cosby KOA, near Great Smoky Mountain National Park

What is your best RV upgrade?

Brian: This probably sounds funny coming from a guy, but I love the new curtains that we just put in. The wooden window boxes that hid the top of the blinds were so bulky and made the RV seem very impersonal. Our new curtains soften the interior and make the room feel so much bigger and bring more of our personality into Casa del Camino, our home on wheels.

Michelle: If you are not a cat owner, this may sound utterly ridiculous but my favorite upgrade is what we have done for our cats. When you travel with two cats and they are not happy, they will let you know immediately. The first big change we made was converting our outdoor kitchen into a litter box and storage area and adding access through a cat door in the bathroom. This space is completely theirs when we are parked and there is plenty of room for our outdoor grill and cooking tools while we are traveling. This keeps the litter out of our rig and it’s easy to clean because we do it all from the outside. The second change we made was adding a cat tower. Fortunately, we have room for one in our rig and the cats love running from one end of the rig to the end with a bonus run up the tower. We have leashes for them and we get them out when there are opportunities but the tower really helps when they are cooped up in the rig for several days in a row.

The cat tower is an important place to watch what is going on in the RV.

Do you plan to go full-time?

Brian: We would both quit our jobs and go full time tomorrow if we could. Unfortunately, there are bills to pay and we do both really love our jobs! I like to say that we live like we’re retired on weekends and any break that we get from school, which is why we spend as much time as possible on the road.

Michelle: Absolutely! There are a lot of decisions to make before we can go full-time, mainly those decisions revolve around finances. We both have been teaching for more than 20 years and are well-vested in our retirement plans. Therefore, quitting our jobs and going full-time is something that will happen but not for a bit. The best part is that for a couple of months a year we get to live like full-timers since we are both off in the summer.

With Half Dome in the background, we are always looking forward to the next adventure.

We want to bring you more “He said/She said” segments. Let us know what you want to hear by leaving a comment or question below. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook to see gorgeous photos of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

8 Tips for Successful RV’ing with Cats

Posted on November 7, 2018 by Cruisin Michelle

As we prepare our next RV trip we continue to mourn the loss of our sweet little Lola. She was only 4 years old and seemed to be battling cancer her entire short life. Pepe and Lola are rescues that we fell in love with 4 years ago (this week actually) from one of our no-kill shelters in the area. You can find more amazing cats just like them at SICSA and we look forward to adopting from them again. Right now, we are still in shock and mourning while Pepe wanders around the house trying to find his best bud. Pepe is certainly more clingy, sitting on our laps at every possible moment. We will press on because we know that Lola is no longer in pain. For that, we are grateful.
To honor our sweet girl, let’s talk about how much fun it is to RV with cats! Imagine the joy and wonder you feel when you experience new places, now imagine that same joy and wonder through the eyes of a cat. Everything can be exciting for a cat, their noses are always twitching with new smells and their eyes are always flickering with the new sights.

Don’t get me wrong, it can be quite scary for these little ones. Look at Pepe’s backside in the photo above, he is obviously on alert. There was probably a fly outside swooping with great speed right outside the door. Haha. Let’s looks at a few tips for making traveling with cats easier for you and our furry friends.
#1 – Toys, Toys, and more Toys!
It is important to have a few of their favorite toys in the rig that you can rotate so the cats don’t get bored. Our cats love the laser, the feather on a stick, a mouse, a small bear, and their shoelace. The feather, shoelace, and laser never get old! The mouse and bear show up in random places and get moved enough that we know they love them. I have seen Pepe sleeping with the bear – so sweet! We love Jackson Galaxy toys, you can find them at any Petsmart.

#2 – Scratch Pads
Our cats have their front claws so it is critical to have scratch pads around the rig. Lola loves the one below, as you can tell. She especially loves it when it has catnip on it. We also have a scratch pad behind our chairs, one that hangs on a wall with command strips, and as you will see soon, a tower with scratchers on it. They get their relief to claw and your furniture will be saved. On a side note, if you are RV’ing full-time with cats, it is imperative that you are able to trim their nails. We play with and massage our cat’s paws all of the time so it is natural for us to touch and trim their nails. They don’t mind the trim at all but we set the stage for success early on. Talk to your vet so you can help your cats with the nail trim.

#3 – Hiding nooks
Cats have to have places to escape (don’t we all need that?). They need to be able to hide from each other, their guardians, and those pesky bugs. Lola loved this spot in our towels, she also loved the pantry. We tried creating places for the cats but they found their own hiding nooks. For example, we put cat doors on our under the bed storage, but the cats were never fans of that space. As long as they have somewhere to hide, you will be fine.

#4 – Places to Sit/Watch
If our cats are not on our laps or hiding, they are watching out the window or watching over our shoulder. We tried putting a bird feeder on our rig, but we learned the cats are already in sensory overload. There are plenty of birds and bugs flying around, they didn’t need the feeder too and the birds were not fans of being that close to the cats. Really, as long as they can see out the window, they are completely happy! We try to keep one window shade open overnight that the cats can see out of because the action really happens overnight! As long as humans can’t see in, we leave various shades open. If we don’t leave a shade open, we find that the cats spend more time climbing all over us while we are trying to sleep. It’s really for our ability to sleep without interruption.

#5 – Litter Box Space
This was tough at first – where to put the litter box?? Oh, the challenges! We read every blog we could find about the litter box dilemma and we didn’t like where anyone was keeping their litter box. From the shower, to under the dining table, to under the bed, we were not excited. We didn’t want clay in the shower, we didn’t want the smell (or thought of it) under the dining table, and we didn’t want to hear the litter box scratching while we slept. So we were stuck with what to do?? Oh, and it’s not just about the smell and noise, it’s about (1) ease of cleaning and (2) we don’t want to step on the litter they leave behind when they exit the box.
Then a big lightbulb popped on! The outdoor kitchen on our Apex did not impress us as a needed space. The grilled had to be moved to a picnic table just to use it and we don’t need an outdoor fridge. So there it was – convert the outdoor kitchen into a litter box space and bonus storage while we travel. They enter from the bathroom and clean off their paws before they come back in the rig. There is still some litter that comes back inside, but it is minimal. The best part – we go outside to clean the box and so no mess inside! This is one issue everyone has to be content with because cats need a good space to use the bathroom and you need to be happy with the location, smell, and ability to clean the box often.

#6 – A Tower?
Our sweet Pepe is a high energy cat and even with all of the stimuli around him, this cat was missing one of his favorite activities – running up the stairs. We have plenty of stairs at our home for him to run and he was missing it in the rig. It was Thanksgiving week and we were camping in the Great Smoky Mountains, Pepe had a lot of stimuli, was getting walked, and was still driving us crazy at 3 a.m. with his restlessness. So we went to Petsmart and we found this cat tower. Just like that – we got to sleep through the night! Though it is a bit obtrusive for us, it has been worth it for him. Now there are plenty of scratchers, spots on the tower for both of the cats to sleep, and a place for Pepe to watch us while we use the bathroom. Haha. Note: In the photo below, Lola is chilling on her scratcher on the bottom of the tower. We like to move the scratchers around because it keeps the cats interested. Cats really do get bored easily.

#7 – Walking with Cats
Yep, we do it! We knew when we bought our rig that we would have to teach them to walk on leashes. We were quite nervous because they were already 2 years old but we were determined. And guess what? They thoroughly impressed us with their abilities! They learned pretty quickly how to do it, but the desire took a bit of patience. Here is what we know: (1) don’t drag them, it will not help the learning process, (2) walk where there are no cars or other people, (3) walk by a good tree line, (4) it’s not your exercise, it’s theirs so walk slowly and not too far, (5) start with just wearing the harnesses indoors, then upgrade to the leashes indoors, and then go outside, and finally (6) if it is fun for them, they will walk with ease. We got the harnesses and leashes on Amazon.

#8 – Safe Travel Space
This is absolutely critical – the cats have to enjoy travel days! They cannot ride in a travel trailer or in a fifth wheel. First of all, the rigs are not temperature controlled, and second, you try riding back there. I did and the bounce is beyond scary. My stomach took a while to recover from the adventure. 🙁
We pull our travel trailer with a Ford F150 Supercab. The cats get the entire back seat area. They have a tower so they can see us and see outside. The bottom of the tower has a box to hide in, which Lola claimed as her spot. On the other side of the back seat area (which you can’t see in the picture, sorry) is a hard-sided carrier with the door open and Pepe sleeps in there. On top of the carrier is a clear Rubbermaid tub with recycled paper for an emergency litter box. We learned the hard way – don’t have clay in the litter box in the truck! Day one: we had a clay everywhere, and in turn, had to run to Petsmart for recycled paper litter and vacuum the truck out after a long day of driving. 🙁 The carrier is big enough to serve a dual purpose in case you need to lock up the cats for whatever reason. The Rubbermaid tub fits very snug between the front seat and the back seat that we have in the upright position so it doesn’t move while we are driving.
We don’t have food or water in the truck while we drive, but we don’t drive for more than 6-8 hours in a day. We did at first have food and water in the truck but it was making a mess. Therefore, after some research, we learned that cats can go much longer than we realize without food and water, certainly longer than we drive in a day. However, we always have treats in the glovebox just to make them happy if the day is getting long.
Full disclosure – we do use Hemp Oil to calm our cats. Travel days are stressful for everyone. We have a lot on our minds from did we do everything, how’s the construction, how long will it take, and where are we going. The cats feel our stress and they don’t like the moving from the trailer to the truck and back, they don’t like semi’s that fly by, and they just are not as comfortable as they would like to be. The Hemp Oil takes the edge off and calms them just enough.
Finally, we have also learned they travel better when they wear their harnesses and walk in their leash from the trailer to the truck and vice versa. They also rip fewer of our shirts when they walk vs. clinging to our t-shirt. We hadn’t figured this out yet in the photo below.

Did you learn anything about successfully RV’ing with cats? If yes, please like and share! We want the message to be heard that you can successfully travel with cats and we enjoy seeing our community grow. We will be back in our rig, as a family of 3 this time, in 6 weeks when we head to Florida for Christmas vacation.
I am sure there are more tips, please comment below and give us your best tip on RV’ing with cats! We will be sure to include more tips the next time we talk about RV’ing with cats! For now, we say goodbye to our sweet Lola. She had an amazing 4 years of life. We leave you with this important message – Please spay and neuter your animals! And help control the pet population by finding homes for stray aminals!
RIP Miss Lola Lou 7/21/2014 – 10/31/2018