Thanks for such kind comments. coll, before we gardened we played many a game of badminton on that lawn! Now most of our weekends are (happily, for me, at least) spent working outdoors, though my husband seems to think that next summer we might be able "just to enjoy" the garden. (HA!) Jan, that screened porch sadly doesn't get much use. The only piece of furniture we have there is a rickety old wicker rocking chair that came with the house. (Our furniture budget keeps going into the garden!) My mother in law likes to have her morning coffee there, though. And we stand up there to "survey the estate" in the mornings. moc, we did want to place a garden bench down there in the shade, but I'm afraid most of the real estate is taken up by hosta now. Though maybe while the bigger hosta are maturing, I have some space. OR I could move some of the smaller greenies and Albos that I planted as a weed barrier by the neighbor's yard. Hm...

Thanks for all your help everyone. I have only seen this little one 4 or 5 times in her life and now I will have her daily. I am not planning on being the fairy god mother and granting all her wishes; her mother did enough damage that way, but since she is afraid of us to begin with, I didn't want to start out being the meany. (Guess I have no choice). Unfortunately, it's a long drive (2 1/2 hours) and stopping every 5 minutes would take up our whole visit. I guess I'll try the 5 point harness with the car seatbelt for now. At least she'll have to think about that one for a while. And her dad will be going with from now on to pick her up. I raised one holly terror, I guess I should remember the rules! Thanks a million everyone... I'll try to check in more often and let you know how things are going. Dolce

We drove from NYC to Iowa, staying with friends along the way (which was part of the reason for the drive) when our daughter was about that age. It turned out to be fun, but we only drive about 8 hours a day--NAPTIME!. Here's how we handled the kid in the car seat. Get up, eat breakfast, gas up car, let kid run around and play while all these things are being done, EVERYBODY GO POTTY BEFORE YOU GET IN THE CAR. Get in the car, strap her in, she's in a good mood, talk, sing, point out stuff outside the window, she draws or colors, sometimes mommy got in the back to read story books, or tilted the seat way back (not the safest, though). Then, eventually, she falls asleep for a morning nap. Drive as far as possible--NO STOPS! (she wakes up at stops; hence the urgent need for the grownups to go potty, just in case, even if they don't think they need to or just went before lunch--go again now, you CANNOT STOP once the kid is asleep) Since she's lulled by the car, her morning nap is longer than usual. When she wakes, begin the search for food. (and a bathroom; we also did this right after she'd been potty trained; we used pull-ups for the trip in case, but had to get her to the bathroom if at all possible) Eat lunch, find some sort of playground (fast-food play area, or occasionally a city park) and let her run around for an hour. EVERYBODY GO POTTY BEFORE YOU GET BACK IN THE CAR! Back in the car, more talking and pointing out the window, etc. She gets lulled to sleep again for a long afternoon nap. When she wakes, find a bathroom and supper, then drive to the town we're staying in. It worked out pretty well in terms of distance, we usually arrived there right at dinner time. Playtime in the evening, and a sort of late bedtime because of all the extra-long naps in the car. The really long part of the trip was NYC to Clarion, PA (here we had to stay in a hotel). Then to South Bend, IN. Then over to Peoria, IL, then to the center of Iowa (the shortest hop of all). That'll give you an idea of how many miles you could hope to cover with a pleasant schedule. We stayed in very inexpensive hotels (Super 8, Day's Inn, Motel 6--it only has to be clean and safe, not w/ a pool or anything, and we brought our own playpen bcs the cribs were not very good, but it was cheap), We played in the hallways, alcoves, and outdoor walkways of the hotels (at 18months, everything is fun!) had great fun looking out the windows (I hate the new fences along the interstates in populated areas; I understand them, but boy they're boring!).

Can you travel at night? That's what I did when I moved 24 hours (drove 16 alone the first day with a cat). It is cool enough at night that if you have to leave them for 10 minutes to run into a truck stop to potty, you can crack the windows an inch or two and be quick about it. The key to traveling alone at night is to plan your stops in places that are active and safe at night and stop before your tank is empty, that way if you don't like the looks of the place, you can go to the next one. I like big truck stops, last time I stopped at one of those in the middle of the night, it may as well have been day- for the people who were there, it was their daytime. That old cat I use to put in a small dog harness and let her hang out wherever she saw fit. The cats I have now don't respect the driver's space, so they have to go in carriers. They don't much like their carriers, but do a little better if you drape a sheet over the sides of the carrier so they can only see out the front; it seems to give them an added sense of security. Take food and drinks with you. That way you can find a shady place to sit and eat while you run the AC. 8 hours is not that long of a drive (in the scope of your life), your biggest issue will likely be potty breaks. Take a cat friendly cleaner too (I use diluted vinegar), paper towels, some extra cloth towels (to use in the carriers), and a few plastic [garbage] bags. If you're prepared, then maybe no one will vomit or have some other kind of accident. If it's even a little warm outside and the sun is shining, then don't leave the cats alone at all, the heat will build so quickly- try sitting in your car in the sun for a while and you will see exactly how fast that is. Even in the winter, a car parked in the sun will build a bit of heat. A couple years ago for my birthday DH built me a solar cook box, which is a really cool sun powered oven, but it works exactly the same as a closed up car! Not good! Hope your trip is a good one.