All the cats I met on Route 66

And I even got to pet 60 percent of them

HEY! Live Event This Wednesday!

Join me this Wednesday, April 23, at 9:30 am Eastern! I’ll be having a LIVE conversation with my friend

Kelsey Banfield

.

We'll be talking about how both of us are dealing with so much uncertainty and big change energy in the atmosphere these days, and how we've gotten better at going with the flow over the years. How very Gen X of us!

I promise, it won't be a downer — I stand by the title of this newsletter.

To watch live, you’ll need the Substack app. Download it here:

And if you can't make it live, don't worry! I'll send out the replay once we're done chatting.

You’ve likely seen those bumper stickers that read “Tell Your Cat I Said Pspsps” out and about, and that’s totally me.

Anywhere I go, I’m putting out the vibe for any cat who might be in petting distance.

I look for cats in windows on my walks — something which likely kept me somewhat sane during my pandemic rambles — and wherever we go traveling, we inevitably end up making the acquaintance of a cat as part of the adventure.

(Fun fact: I’m wearing my “Tell Your Cat I Say HI!” sweatshirt as I write this.)

Our cross-country trip along the length of Route 66 was no different. In fact, we got to meet cats in five of the eight states traversed by the route. That’s a pretty decent percentage, if you ask me.

And I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t obsessively document all the cats I said hello to on the Mother Road.

Herewith: every cat I met on Route 66.

Red Oak II, Carthage, MO

This aggressively friendly bub greeted us as we walked into Red Oak II, a combination town-slash-art installation in Carthage, Missouri.

Local artist Lowell Davis relocated various buildings from surrounding communities to his property — a blacksmith shop, a feed store, a general store, a diner, private homes, etc. — to create an idealized rural community that, yes, a few people actually live in.

And this cat seemed to be the unofficial greeter of Red Oak II, demanding pets and attention like we were already familiar residents.

oh hello kind sir, I'm ready for the pets

Old Riverton Store, Riverton, KS

In the muddy parking lot behind the Old Riverton Store, this watchcat kept an eye on our campervan as we exited the premises.

I’m sorry I didn’t get to talk with her further, but we needed to get to Baxter Springs and through the 13.5 miles of Kansas in order to make Tulsa by sundown. I assume she was well-fed and kept quite busy, since the general store features a deli counter.

Big Texan RV Ranch, Amarillo, TX

This floofy smokey cloud swaggered over with Texas attitude as we waited for the Big Texan’s signature Cadillac shuttle service to whisk us from the RV park to the Big Texan Steak Ranch for dinner.

Obviously, I could not resist such a purrsonality and had to comply.

If the Big Texan sounds familiar to you¹, that’s because it’s the famous place where you can take the 72-ounce steak challenge to, yes, eat a 72-ounce steak plus a shrimp cocktail, baked potato, salad, and a roll with butter in one hour.

I do not regret to inform you that we did not attempt this challenge, nor did we even set foot in the dining room there! Instead, we hung out at the bar by the gift shop and had beers and apps. And looked at the live tarantula that lives in the gift shop.

TwentyNine Palms RV Resort, Twentynine Palms, CA

The long story is that we hadn’t planned to drive the entire way from Williams, Arizona to Joshua Tree National Park in one day. But a snowstorm was bearing down on us as we headed away from the Grand Canyon, and we felt that the choice was either to figure out how to put snow chains on the campervan or drive west into warmer California weather.

And when I woke up the next morning to palm trees, sunshine, and a friendly flopping ginger bubbo at the TwentyNine Palms RV Resort, I knew we made the right decision.

Not to mention that we got basically two full days in Joshua Tree, which was a true dream scenario.

Hotel Xola, Moreno Valley, CA

For our final night on the route, we splurged on a regular non-historic hotel room outside San Bernardino to give us a chance to regroup and repack every single dang thing in the campervan before we dropped it off near LAX.

(Seriously, the room was $99 and it was the most expensive one on the trip!)

As we loaded up the van for the last time on the last day of our route, this curled-up roundie watched us from a hotel staircase to make sure we didn’t leave anything behind. But we took a memory of you with us, li’l bean!

You may also like:

1. You might have seen the super awkward scene at the Big Texan in Will & Harper, which I loved watching, BTW. The Big Texan RV Ranch also had a luxurious indoor swimming pool, which we took advantage of before our dinner.