We began our morning by waking up at 2:45 to get ready and get out of the door by 3:15-ish. We had to drive to LAX, which is about an hour and a half away. We wrapped Charlie in some towels like a little burrito, and my dad held him tightly while I drove. Once got to LAX, we pulled into the cell phone lot, gave Charlie some love, got his jacket on him, and placed him into his carrier. I was so, so worried that he would "let loose" once inside his carrier, as he usually does, but it was just a quick drive over to the terminal... and he was fine!
Despite all my paperwork telling me to be at the airport BY 5:30, it turned out that 5:30 was actually when the office opened. Of course! So I sat on the floor with my kitty for a good 20 minutes, talking to him and letting him sniff my hand through the door. He didn't meow or act panicked; instead, he just laid down and stared intently at everything going on around him.
Once the office actually opened, the check-in process was easy. Thorough, though! They really checked everything, including the ground temperatures, so I was glad we rescheduled him to today. I was just thankful that he didn't defile his carrier while we were waiting, because that would give them reason to deny shipping him. I was fairly certain that he would, at some point, make a mess... I was just glad not to be there when it happened!
However... I WAS WRONG! While Charlie was acting traumatized and was curled up in a ball at the back of the carrier, he was otherwise completely clean when Gus went to pick him up at the Cargo Terminal in Boston! And he still had his jacket on! :) He continued to do well on the hour-plus drive from the airport to the new house, and was quickly ready to explore his new surroundings. He's never been in a house with stairs before, so our house is like a kitty jungle gym. Gus enjoyed following him around as he checked out his new home. I think he's going to like it there!
All in all, our kitty traveled for nearly 12 hours today, and did AMAZINGLY, SHOCKINGLY well! Way to go, Charlie! That's one more thing off the giant "To Do" list! :)
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