Rough Start to Leaving Westport

Before leaving Westport, we took a tour of Washington State's boat Lady Washington. She was built in Aberdeen, WA and launched in 1989 as a full-scale reproduction of the original. She is a boat instead of a ship because she only has two masts instead of three masts.  She is a beautiful boat as you can see from our pictures. It is hard to imagine sailing on this boat to China and back. She is a smaller boat, the deck is only 67 feet long. We enjoyed touring and talking to the very informative crew.

Lady Washington's crew member dressed in vintage clothing, bell, and the tiller for steering

The Hawaiian Chieftain accompanies and does reinactment battles with the Lady Washington. We were too late to tour this boat, but we were able to get some pictures from the dock.

In the meantime, our cats have had some minor medical problems. It started with peeing accidents in the middle of the night, always in the same spot on our bed. Trying to find out which one of the four was doing this was almost impossible and the lack of sleep was getting to both of us. Finally, we had a break when Dan found Squirrel standing near a big wet spot. We decided to take him in to the Veterinarian with hopes that he had a urinary tract infection. He did have a minor case, but his doctor did not think it was bad enough to bring on this sudden bad habit.

So, pills in hand and the wallet a little lighter, we took Squirrel home. Compared to pilling any other cat in the world, giving Squirrel a pill is a challenge and an experience all by itself. Did we mention the Lab Tech had to gas Squirrel just to get a urine sample? This cat can contort his body in the most amazing ways. Oh! and the howling and screaming would put a Banshee to shame. Thanks to Squirrel, we are both wearing war wounds. This is not the end of our story though.

That same night, Sandy woke up to the sound of water. She immediately grabbed for the cat in the dark and was surprised she had caught our gentle giant – Dusty. Back to the Vet’s office with three cats this time. Dusty has a full-blown urinary tract infection. Hitch has Struvite Crystals in his urine. Max actually has a clean bill of health.

For the next couple of weeks, we are giving pills twice a day to three cats and a special diet for Hitch for 2 weeks. Of course, Hitch does not like his new diet even though it is canned meat. Dan found out online that cats really love Parmesan Cheese so we tried sprinkling a little on Hitch’s food. He loves the cheese, but leaves behind the meat. You think herding cats is hard? Try feeding four cats with one on a special diet. Sandy spends about fifteen minutes playing musical cats and dishes until the food is gone. Oh fun and joy! We love our kitties and their diet is going through a major change so this never happens again!

Further research on line has led to a decision to stop or severely cut back on dry kibble type cat food, and feed mainly canned meats.  It will cost a bit more, but should lead to healthier cats and potentially much lower vet bills and laundry bills for our bedding.  Just a few links of research on cat foods:  http://www.catinfo.org/ 

http://www.catinfo.org/commercialcannedfoods.htm

Good-bye Westport!

A Saudi Cat Comes to America Part 2 by Dennie

We are still wrapping up family business in Oak Harbor WA.  Soon we will be on the road traveling and blogging again. 

In the meantime, we would like to present part 2 of Dennie's story on Quaise the cat. 

In August, the time came for Quaise and I to return to the U.S. as my contract was ending. I returned to the veterinarian from where I had adopted Quaise and inquired how to get my feline friend back home. The vet told me that either way, Quaise had to stay at his facility for 24 hours so he could make sure he was disease free. He informed me that there were two different ways to obtain the required paperwork. The first was to take about a week of running around to the various government offices around the city, try to find the appropriate officials to sign the forms and then only if they really wanted to. This would cost me $200 or more, depending. The second option was to pay him $100, he would make contact with his sources, "negotiate" with the right people and get my papers signed and stamped. This would take 1 day and I could pick Quaise up the following day. Presented with the two choices, obviously I chose the latter. I left Quaise with him and picked him up the following afternoon, complete with all required forms. Anybody who has spent any amount of time in the region knows that this is just "business as usual". Quaise now had a "passport" along with picture, stamps and signatures.

Later that week, I contacted the airlines and made reservations for Quaise. The airlines official told me that there would be no difficulties getting him to the States. I should have known this was too good to be true. On my day of departure, prior to leaving for the airport, I gave him a tranquilizer that the vet had given me. About 30 minutes later, Quaise was feeling no pain. One eye was going one way, and the other eye was going the other. His normal loud "meow" had a very tranquil sound to it. He was, to say the least, "mellow". We got to the airport, him in his shipping cage, and I approached the airlines counter and told the agent my name and that I had a reservation for my cat. He said that he had my name on the list, but there was no reservation for a cat and that there was nothing he could do about it. I put 3 credit cards on the counter and told him that I was not leaving without my cat. He gave me the typical bureaucratic look and said "sorry". We had a situation. I didn't know which way to turn, because I had to leave the country on my assigned flight. There was no choice on that one.

About this time, my friend and translator that I had worked with for the year arrived. He asked me if everything was going as planned. I explained the problem and he approached the ticket country. Now let me tell you about Monier. He had told me before that he was the 4th or 5th Great, Great Grandson of the first king of Saudi Arabia. Needless to say, his family name held a lot of clout. I watched him as he argued with the same counter manager that I had spoken with. I saw him reach into his pocket and pull out his wallet and show the man his I.D. card. The mans eyes got as big as silver dollars, he turned rather pale, and smiled and handed Monier a ticket. My friend then returned to me and said that the situation was resolved. He handed me the ticket for Quaise. When I asked him how much it would cost, he told me that it was all taken care of, his present to me and Quaise. He then asked me, "by the way...what is Quaise's last name?". I told him I guessed the same as mine, just had never thought of it before. He told me to give Quaise his family name, but not to tell his grandfather as he was a very old man, and would have a heart attack if he knew a cat had the royal name. He then smiled at me, shook my hand and gave me a hug, reached in and scratched Quaise's ear and told me to have a good trip to America and to keep in touch. Good friends are so hard to find and Monier was one of the best.

We got on the plane and the flight attendant informed me that Quaise's ticket was for the seat next to me. For the next 8 hours, Quaise Al Gatani rode in style, occasionally letting out a muted "meow" but mostly sleeping off the tranquilizer.

Upon arrival in the U.S.A. we were met by a friend who had rented a cabin in the Pennsylvania mountains so we could "depressurize" from a year in the Kingdom. It was a nice relief to see trees and green for a change and Quaise seemed to enjoy his new environment. We left a week later for my home in Alabama. When I arrived, I let him out of his cage and, like his attitude showed a year before, he strutted into the center of the living room floor, sat down and, in true cat fashion, began to clean himself. We were finally home. And the story continues, each day, living with a Saudi cat in America.

April 2010

Whew!  It has been a while since we have entered anything into our blog.  At the moment, we are back on the move, but taking care of some family business at Oak Harbor Washington for the next month.  Until we can post on travel again, we would like to introduce Rev. Dennie - SFC, US Army Retired, (Callsign: Padre).  Dennie is currently working in Iraq so he and his wife can fullfill their dreams and become full-timers in the near future.  They also have four kitties and one of them has a special place in Dennie's heart.  We loved his story so much, we asked if we could share it on our blog.   Dennie is reading our blog from Saudi, so he will be able to view comments made by you.   Enjoy!

A Saudi Cat Comes To America

- Part 1 -

In August 1997, I received a call from a company in Saudi Arabia, that they needed people immediately to work in the Kingdom. There had been a vehicle bomb detonated at the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) Headquarters in Riyadh and they needed security on the ground fast. I left for Saudi immediately. We arrived and went to work ensuring that the American compounds were secure by performing vehicle bomb searches and general installation security.

Let me tell you, the environment in Saudi Arabia, in August, is brutal. Temperatures at the screening site was around 135 degrees and 12-hour days were strenuous, both on the body and mind. Many a day, I dragged myself back to my room and fell face down on the bed to get a little sleep. Coming back to an empty room was demoralizing and frustrating.

A fellow worker went to one of the vet clinics in Riyadh to inquire about adopting a cat to keep him company. The process was relatively simple and, within a few days, he had a new roommate. I saw how it upped his spirits so, in a week or two, I also made a call to the clinic. The veterinarian told me that he several cats that were up for adoption and if I wished to do so, to come in after work that afternoon. So, after work that day, I drove across the city of Riyadh to see what kind of felines he had available.

Upon arrival, the doctor greeted me and told me that all of the cats, except for one, had already been adopted. He told me that the remaining cat had been brought in by an English lady who told him that her husband, a Saudi national, had informed her that she had to get rid of the cat and gave her the money to have it put down.

After bringing it into the clinic, the doctor said that he saw what a beautiful and friendly cat it was, so he decided that instead of euthanizing, to put it up for adoption. The doctor took me into the back room and, for the first time, I set my eyes on my new friend and companion. Here, sitting in a wire cage, was the biggest orange and white cat that I had seen in my entire life. He was HUGE. Not fat, just big and muscular. He sat there, giving me this once over look, like he was thinking "Now what do you want?". His arrogant look appealed to me, so I asked the vet how much it would cost to adopt him. He said "Well, his previous owner has already paid me to put him down, so I guess he has already been paid for. Go ahead and take him, if he's what you want.". I loaded him into the car and away we went, off to a new life together.

When we arrived back at my apartment (we lived on a compound, in a high-rise apartment building comprised of 4, 5 room pods per floor), I let him out of his cage and he walked out...well, like a king alighting from his royal coach. He took one look around and seemed to say "OK, I guess this will do, considering".

Weeks and months went by. It was nice to have a companion to come home to. Often, I would stop off at the restaurant and pick up lunch and take it back to my room. The cat and I enjoyed picking out the chicken and sharing it. I also found out that he loved cantaloupe. A strange food for a cat to like, but who am I to question a cat.

Not knowing what to name my new friend became a real problem very soon. I wanted to bestow upon him a good arabic name but, considering I didn't really know much arabic, what was I to call him. I thought of calling him something like Mohamed, but didn't really want to offend any of my Muslim friends.

 One night, I talked to my interpreter and asked for his suggestion. Asking me what words I knew in arabic. I told him that about the only word I knew, and used frequently, was the word that we used, along with the up-thumb signal, when we wanted the barrier gate lifted by our SANG guards. The word is "Quaise" and, in arabic, means "Good or OK". "So name him Quaise" he said. So Quaise it was. He seemed to be OK with the name. Heck, he didn't care what I called him as long as I didn't call him late for chicken or cantaloupe. We spent the next 7 months in the Kingdom and then returned together to continue our lives in his new country, the United States of America. I don't think he honestly looked back for a moment, as long as he had his new daddy, and I am so glad I made the call.

Quaise

Road Trip!

We have been in Westport WA for five months now,with two more to go. We have been feeling a little stale, a little sluggish, and a little bored. Dan suggested a trip to Centralia so he could have some maintenance and upgrade work done on the coach. Road Trip! Civilization! Yes!

We had our work performed at Brazel's Performance RV in Centralia WA. We had the normal chassis and engine lube and fluid changes done, and changed to an updated Air Dryer that conditions the air for air brakes and air ride suspension. Dan had rebuilt the old Air Dryer previously, but it still spit small amounts of oil along with the water, and coated the front of our tow car. The upgraded Air Dryer uses newer technology and should greatly reduce or eliminate that irritation.

We had the ride height of the air suspension checked and adjusted, and four corner weighed the tires. We moved some weight around in the basement storage of our coach to better balance the load. We had Road Master sway bars installed front and rear, and a Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer installed on the steering, followed by a complete alignment of steering.

We next tackled adding some engine performance to our Cummins C8.3 Turbo 300 HP (at the crank) engine. The motor is a mechanical controlled system, not by computer or electronic controls.

We first tested several mufflers on our rig on a chassis dyno - and chose a Aero 4040XL muffler. Next we changed the fuel plate (that controls the amount of fuel injected) to a number 10 plate. We ran dyno tests for each stage of the changes, and gained a good amount of horsepower and torque. Dan will be adding a turbo boost gauge, and a exhaust gas temperature gauge soon as a safety measure to monitor the effect of our new added power, to ensure we do not over temp on long hard mountain grade climbs.

(click to enlarge chart)












We spent the weekend at a campground only 20 minutes away from Centralia. This campground had pet goats and chickens. We stopped by to feed the goats our scraps and to get some pictures of them.






We spent Sunday in the downtown area of Seattle. Something we have wanted to do since we arrived here. We spent most of our time in Pike Place Market wandering around the maze of stores while enjoying samples of food and watching the colorful vendors. Sandy had to stop by the Undercover Quilt shop. It is small, but it is packed to the ceiling with fabric.




On the street, we met Cubby the Amazing Pike Place Market Cat and one of his owners - Patrick. While Cubby sat surveying his street corner, Patrick explained why they were there. Their mission: “TURNING UNWANTED CATS INTO HAPPY CATS”. They also sell very nice artwork along with their rescue mission.



On a sad note, we lost our oldest and dearest cat yesterday. Mischief, a.k.a. Grey was losing a lot of weight and had developed a fast growing tumor on his hip. After consulting a vet, we decided it was time to let Grey go. Grey was raised on a baby bottle by friends in Germany, and thought he was people - not having been raised by momma cat. He was very athletic and brave. He lived in Germany, Turkey, New Mexico, Texas, and traveled far and wide in our two motorhomes. He had a good 18 1/2 years with us.

He was a wonderful TV companion, a great alarm clock (get up! time to feed me!) and very motherly (where have you been?!) Yes, we still have four cats, but none of them will ever be able to hold up their paw to Grey’s unique and very mild manners. There are few cats as relaxed or as easy going as Grey and he will be missed.




Mischief with his brother, Trouble in Germany, July 1991. We laid Grey to rest in the woods in the very large campground we are hosting in.