Pets

I travel with my dog all the time and she's a road warrior; La Quinta is very pet-friendly, but a lot of places are these days (pup even came with me to an upscale place in Long Branch, NJ once--a treat while attending the Sea.Hear.Now Festival).

But I drove to Kansas with a friend who was moving there from Delaware (to get her car and pets there). Two cats and a Golden Retriever in a small car. The cats were unhappy THE ENTIRE DRIVE, dog was a trooper. So I strongly endorse others' comments about sedatives/pheremones/whatever it takes for the cats. We had to deal with the litter box issue as well and, of course, it was way too hot to have the windows open long

Stayed at a La Quinta and we were on like the 4th floor. I went down to the lobby in the morning to get a luggage cart and came back. We realized we couldn't find one of the cats. Panic ensued, accusations that I let the cat out were levelled, and a major delay as we searched the floor and the room. I asked the housekeeping people, random people in the hallway, etc. I know the cat didn't get in the elevator with me and likely didn't go down the stairs. Then we called the front desk. The lady who answered said "She's probably not missing--did you look under the sink fixture in the bathroom?" Of course we had. "Well, look REALLY well under there, because there is a small shelf up near where the drain goes down to pipe and cats often end up there." So I go to re-look, using phone as flashlight, and lying on my back to look up. Two shining eyes were looking back at me. I yelled "I got her!" and my friend thanked the front desk and we were off. Long story short, cats can disappear when they want to.