My trip to Kansas. Day Four

This day started like every other.. with Amy's cats waiting for me to come up from the basement. I don't know why this amused me, but it totally did.

We took NAC Yaz out for a run in the back yard.

and Amy took me out to the area of her yard that she has set aside as a memorial for Sebastian
.

Our plans for this day was a tour around the Hallmark headquarters that Lisa works at and then a meeting up with some women who volunteer at the local shelters to watch "The Paw Project". We drove down to Crown Plaza, a shopping mall which is part of the Hallmark complex and then went to the Hallmark Visitors Center. It was really nice to have someone who knows so much of the history of Hallmark being the guide.

In the Mall.
Did you really think I'd get through a trip to Kansas with out a Dorothy reference?

Lisa's office and two of her many many awards

We then went out for lunch.. it was yummy.  We did a little shopping where I picked up a few souvenirs and gifts

We then headed over to Lisa's house to watch the show.. and I fell in love with her kitties all over again

and then we went back to Amy's where I fell in love all over again with Harvey and Lowenstein.. (yup, I'm so fickle)

The next day was a pure travel day.. Despite a big storm brewing over home, there were no delays and I got home at a decent hour. Of course as soon as I got off the plane we went right over to the e-clinic to pick Jack up and bring him home. In the short time we were there the truck got completely covered with snow, and the drive home was a little tricky.

I am totally scared to leave home again, as I can not help but wonder if the stress of my leaving caused problems with Jack causing him such trouble. If I weren't so afraid, I would totally visit Amy and Lisa again in a heart beat - not that I have been invited.  They were so warm and gracious and it was an absolute blessing to be there. I have bought a ticket to Barkworld this October and look forward to meeting up with both of them there - that is if I can get over my fear of leaving Jack..

My trip to Kansas, Day Two: Part Two

So, as we left things, I was at Lisa's house fangirling over her kitties.. because... kitties!!

No I mean seriously.. although when Lisa brought out the cat toy I not only found myself wishing I had a better flash, but that I had a better camera.. You know those super professional ones that they use on the side lines of football..

Now you are just being silly

Isn't that the point?

All too soon play time was over and we were headed back to Amy's house.. where Dottie got her photo taken..

NAC* Dottie.. 

and I attempted to get some good photos of  Evelyn

What are you talking about woman.. I ALWAYS look good.. 

and Harvey Monster explored the new cat tree..

I so want to inverse this photo and make Harvey "Ceiling Cat"
but who has a carpeted ceiling??

And about this time Lee (Amy's Husband) stated "You sure do take a lot of photos".. well yeah.. I do..

I think this is my favorite of the trip... mostly because it is VERY Amy with out Amy being in the photo..

I think this is enough for now.. I can't believe there is going to be a part three!!
*NAC = not a cat

Trip to Kansas, Day Two: Part one

So it started out with breakfast, and then a trip over to PetSmart to get a photo of Lowenstein with Santa..

We were early, so we walked around a bit. Amy brought her husband Lee with us and at some point the suggestion of getting a harness and leash for Lowenstein was brought up..

I think he liked having the freedom to walk around. He was much more comfortable being there than a lot of cats, but even so he was still getting a bit overwhelmed, so being able to explore seemed to help calm him a bit. That and he liked the fish..

Finally it was time for Santa. Oddly they didn't have anyone taking photos.. it was a BYOC kind of thing. I do have to say the staff was very nice about the whole thing, but that Santa.. well he seemed totally disengaged. He held Lowenstein, but he did nothing to try to calm him, or make the situation work.

Even in this second photo you can see he is off looking at something else entirely. *shrug* guess they just weren't expecting any cats (I suppose rightly so). I have about 20+ photos and these were the best.

While we were there I was able to surprise Amy with a gift card to PetSmart. I had won one and when I went to my local one I couldn't find anything that I wanted to spend money on. They don't carry food I was interested in feeding and I didn't need anything else. I thought it might be fun to either spend it on Amy or use it to buy something for the shelter. Well while we were there I saw they had a cat tree on a daily sale. I pointed it out to Amy and she said she needed one but financially it wasn't going to happen right then. So I pulled out my gift card and not so slyly put it in her hand and then over acted quite shocked that it was there and said her Secret Paws must have just shown up. (I had laughed so hard when I got the email telling me I had been paired with Amy). I originally thought it was $50 but it turned out to be $100! Ah well, I wouldn't have wanted to spend it any other way. It made me happy to see the look on her face and to know that Harvey Lowenstein and Evelyn are climbing all over my gift card ;)

Anyway.. She felt a wee bit uncomfortable since the Santa Paws had a much lower price cap (and I had bought her gifts in case she didn't 'need' anything at PetSmart or heaven forbid I couldn't get to one) so I told her that I'd just accept the fact that she was going to pay my "room and board" while I was here and not quibble when she offered to pick up my checks. I must say I think I got the better end out of the deal..

We then did a little shopping and met up with Lisa. As I mentioned I'm kind of a fan of Faraday and Maxwell and Allie. When I was invited I had hopes of going over to see them, but I didn't want to be pushy and say "HEY, I NEED TO SEE YOUR CATS!" (cause I'm pretty sure that's rude to some people) (btw, not to me.. say it to me any time) and wasn't I thrilled when we headed over to her house..

Now in my head I'm all fan girl. I mean serious fan girl.. like squeeing all over the place, jumping up and down feeling uber silly about meeting a couple of cats.. (cause you know.. society) but I didn't care..

And they didn't disappoint..

Yes, I got to see the "roadster"

oh my cod.. do these fangs not kill you dead??

LEG DANGLE!!

SQUEEEE!! I'm TOUCHING HIM!!!  *faint*

And he likes it!!

I so need to invest in a good flash.

Allie kind of disapproved of my fangirl aura.. which was a little sad, but that's OK. Evelyn was too ;) She was probably also annoyed at all of the flashing coming off me. I tried to put the camera away several times but I kept picking it back up.. (I was such a tourist.. I felt like should have had tube socks and sandals on)

I ended up taking over 1000 photos in December, so to be fair to you, I'm going to split this up even further.. Day two part two coming up..