OK, my horrible attitude is officially over. I have them...everyone has them. I left mine back with the other soggy stuff I didn't want stinking up my car back at the campsite. Driving is such a great release. For whatever reason, movement is a very helpful thing when trying to get over stuff. Once, when I was 13 I walked from Port Washington to Queens. I was pissed. It was so anticlimactic to have to have my dad pick me up, but I felt better. He kept asking me why I was at a bowling alley in Queens...I never admitted that it took me until Queens on foot before I wasn't so mad, and I didn't have money for the train home. It was a mystery my dad took to his grave.
I drove across Maine today. Let me say, I have personally driven across the country five times in the past 13 months and I have never, ever, ever, ever seen a state with crappier roads than Maine. I even drove in Mexico a few times, and... while they had more abundant roadkill to dodge, the actual roads were better than the ones in Maine. That, and only that, is the bad thing I have to say about Maine. Besides the nauseating, wheel-misaligning roads, this place is amazing. Even George stood up to look out the window, aghast at the gleaming rivers and lakes. I have never seen George have that reaction to something beautiful. Until now, I have only seen him do that for trucks. It is actually quite cute. George, like most cats, is very interested in looking out the window, and the SUV has a lot of windows. Already, a lot of drivers have follwed too closely alongside us... pointing, and oohing ,and ahhhing at George in the window.
It isn't that big of a deal. When I was walking George on a leash in Central Park in Manhattan, everyone acted like I was Sigfreud and Roy or something. Cats are very smart and adaptable. It is quite a mistake to think they can't handle the same situations that dogs can. Cats can learn to do all the same stuff, they just have to poop in a box and have understanding owners. George likes the SUV so much, that on this camping trip... even with the doors of the SUV open for hours...he wouldn't leave the vehicle, except to chase a neighborhood cat out of our campsite perimeter. I left all the doors of the car open because the girls at the site next to me thought I was making him George stay there. My Lexus is George's small, mobile castle, and he reins. I am always very aware of the temperature, and I check on him regularly if I have to leave him. I have actually paid for a few nights in a hotel room in NJ because it was too hot to leave him in the car for my visits. If anyone is concerned... thank you for caring about animals, and George is doing fine.
I had a few open days before I will visit my three friends in New England, so I decided to drive the five hours to Bangor. I highly recommend almost any town in Maine for a vacation if you are with a new love. It is the most romantic place I can think of in the United States. I literally had to detour to the Interstate on my drive to Bangor because I just couldn't take it anymore. Seriously, when anyone is feeling a bit alone, the last thing they want to see is a bunch of happy families paddling down the the river, or a couple on bicycles pulling off to the side of the road for that perfect kiss. I was just following my GPS, I can only imagine what I would have found if I went off the beaten path. I thought the extra miles for the nondescript Interstate were well worth it. As much as I love George, and know he is smart and adaptable, I will not paddle down the river with him, or force him to kiss me on the roadside. For that, I will have to come back with someone special, who walks on two legs.
