When I met Pauli Loeffler in 2011, we immediately connected over karaoke and cats. She had an aging Maine Coon named Taffy, and with the cat having diabetes and other health issues, we knew it was time for her to go.
Pauli and Taffy were exceptionally close, as Taffy usually spent the nights above her head on her pillow. This happened for close to sixteen years, so losing Taffy was devastating.
With Taffy gone, Pauli felt an immense void and missed her terribly.
“Don’t get a death cat,” I told her.
“I won’t,” she said.
I knew Pauli would want another cat, and I knew this cat would have to be a Maine Coon. But she was patient and scoured the markets for months.
After a thorough and long search (Maine Coons are quite rare), Pauli found her cat, but it was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“It’s too far away and too expensive.” Pauli lamented.
The cat’s owner insisted on a courier for transport to ensure the cat’s safety. Pauli priced a courier for the cat, and even a flight to and from Cedar Rapids for herself, but it was too expensive.
“What if we drive it?” I suggested to Pauli.
“Are you serious?” Pauli asked, “It’s at least ten hours away.”
We looked at the map. We eyed each other and came to the same conclusion: for the cat, it was doable.
The plan was relatively simple… drive to Cedar Rapids, get the cat, stay the night, and drive back the next day. The goal? A weekend cat trip to Iowa and back without missing any days of work.
Pauli found a pet-friendly hotel in Cedar Rapids, and I began mapping the drive. Ten hours indeed, a lot of it through Kansas where our Pike Pass is valid, and speed limits are generous.
The drive to Cedar Rapids was uneventful. In fact, I don’t recall hating it. The drive was mostly pleasant, and I was a bit shocked to discover Cedar Rapids is a fairly small City.
Pauli navigated us to the cat’s owner’s house, and we began handling the ownership paperwork and paying the invoice for the cat. We placed the cat in a carrier and headed to the hotel to rest.
Naturally, we were exhausted. I crashed immediately upon landing on my hotel room bed. Rosie, as we came to call her, was exhausted as well. She slept next to me.
The next day we began our drive back to Oklahoma. Normally a cat is loud and full of meows when in a vehicle, but Rosie just slept, as if she hadn’t slept in years. She was quiet the entire way back.
In the end, Pauli was able to get her ginger Mainecoon named Rosie. It took a long road trip to Iowa, of all places, but Rosie was so worth it.
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