Star619 - We've been lucky so far. We had a chance to get the one kitty (the one with the medical issues) used to the truck by virtue of her rides to the vet. The other one was unimpressed with the truck ride on Friday, but we persevered and last night, we managed to get her to "accept" a ride for more than an hour (DH was hankering for a good milk shake, so we drove into town) A little rescue remedy helped the situation, as it did on Saturday night when we spent the night in the trailer. I think we're well on our way to an actual camping trip.
As another bonus, it would appear that our partying neighbors may have chosen somewhere else to party this weekend, so we did all of our training in peace.
Battle Axe - Thanks to your post I looked a little more carefully at our trailer. We have a toyhauler, no slides, but the back has the "Add a Room" and that would let the girls get some fresh air too. The box was relocated into the back, we wouldn't be riding for the most part if we had the girls with us anyway, so less smell too. Bonus. Additionally, the toy hauler portion has 2 bunks that fold into couches, and lots of room for a card cable or two...
Grace MooreLinker - I would kennel in a minute if I knew, really knew, that there was a good one around here. My options are pretty limited though.
Tothill - I love the idea of the wet towel. I will try that with them today (it's supposed to get quite warm (for us) today, so it will be a good opportunity.
rjwilder - you bring up a good point. Our girls haven't been sick yet, but I can see the potential. I would really love for both ladies to be crated, and eventually they will be. stormi does well crated, but shadow not so much yet. She's the one we're getting used to the whole idea. She hated not being able to see where she was going, and really didn't like being crated. She settled down more when I held her, with the crate on my lap. We'll slowly get her to accept the crate without me.
The thing about all of the stuff they track in with their feet,... it's not a lot different in your yard, except for variety. My personal (un)favorite is the get out of the litter box, and hop on the table thing. That's what one of them did in the trailer this morning. UGH. must. scrub. table.
katykwilt - lol! I loved that! "discussion from the back seat" we had lots of that this weekend, but things seem to have leveled out some. The kitty doing all the talking is a "talks-a-lot" anyway, so we expected some of it. We have honeysuckle in the yard, and some catnip in the house (dried, I tried to grow it indoors once.... and outdoors another time. I have a yard full of cats all the time now, and none of them lives with us.) I will try that this week. The talkative one loves her 'nip. I don't know that the campgrounds we've used have ever asked about the dogs, but I will check. Both our old and new vet don't give shots to the geriatric cats (or dogs). So we're done with that phase of their lives so far. I hadn't considered the fleas and ticks. We don't really get them here where we are, but further south they're a risk.
carolaug - we've been very careful about this as well. It's part of the reason we think that they may do better with us, especially eased into the whole thing, than being left with a sitter or even being boarded. They get really out of sorts when I'm not around. I've gone on vacations with a friend and left DH here and he says that the one (the "sick" one) goes feral when I'm not home. She's settled very well into the trailer though. We've spent the last 3 nights in it, and she's purring and cuddly. There's also been solid presents in the litterbox, so I think so far we're doing well.