On our move to the PNW from Illinois we drove with two boys, two dogs and a cat...plus a trailer with my houseplants and hubbys fish.
We stopped in Spokane and put the dogs and cats on their leashes...the cat had a figure 8 style harness, and went into the little grocery store. When we got back to the car the dogs were there but the cat was gone...his leash and halter were there but he had apparently squirmed out of it.
We checked the fields around the parking lot...there were not homes nearby but didn't find him A husband and wife saw us and asked if we had lost a dog, but we told them it was a cat, and we all had the "knowing look" but didn't say a word. We explained that we were moving to Oregon. They asked for our contact information and we exchanged information. We got to our new home later that day, which happened to be a Friday, and met the movers and got to work with the house. On Monday hubby went to work where he found a message from the couple in Sopkane...they had found Lucky..yup, that was his name...got him on a Friday the 13th when we first got married, so by this time he was about 8 years old. We drove up to Sopkane the following Saturday and got him back and I have never gotten hugged so hard by a cat in my life. He put his front paws around my neck and purred and purred and purred. He alternated between both boys on the back seat all during the trip back to Portland. It was a very, very long and wonderful day for all of us and I often think of that wonderful couple in Spokane. It's also amazing that Lucky actually went to them...he must have realized his mistake when he got back to the parking lot and we were gone......poor guy.