Last night we made our delivery to the Fred Meyer warehouse in Clackamas
and got out in record time. When we go to Fred Meyer in Puyallup, WA we
can look forward to paying the lumper service $140 to unload the trailer
then wait 4 to 6 hours. But in Clackamas the lumpers only charged $50
and had us empty in 45 minutes! What a relief.

We checked the two truck stops in Troutdale, OR but both we completely
full (we didn't arrive until 9:30 PM, by which time most truck stops are
pretty well full). We ran about 45 minutes back to Aurora and found a
parking space - right next to where a driver had mucked out a cattle
trailer. Whew, what a stench! But Harri and I were both tired so we got
to sleep anyway.

This morning I decided to run in to the truck stop to get some breakfast
and take a shower (it's just so much fun to pay $9 for the privelege of
taking a shower). While I was getting my shower bag ready with a change
of clothes, etc I was seeing a few blackbirds fly past the window. Harri
was of course seeing them too, and was watching with great interest. To
keep her a little bit occupied while I was away I threw a few handfuls
of kitty kibble on the parking lot beside the truck, then went in to shower.

When I returned an hour or so later I chased off a good-sized gaggle of
birds, and Harri wasn't her usual quiet self. Usually when I walk up to
the truck she's standing in the driver's side window and gives me a
quiet little "meow". This morning, though, I could see that she was
talking up a storm. When I opened the door she was meowing and mrrrrping
and squeaking nonstop, telling me all about what had been going on while
I was away.

Based upon my observation of my feline masters, I'm pretty sure that
what Harri was saying was something like "Paw, there were birds! I mean
there were LOTS of birds! And they were BAD BIRDS! They were trying to
hijack the truck! Those dumb bad birds didn't know the truck was empty
but they were trying to steal it anyway! And they tried to get in
through the windows, but I fought them off! And there were LOTS of them!
And they were MEAN! And they fought A LOT! But I chased them all away
and kept the truck safe! And there are MORE BIRDS!"

Since Harri had been so very busy and had done such an admirable job of
defending our home-away-from-home I gave her an extra large handful of
chicken Tempatations *and* salmon Temptations, and an extra long chest
snuggle. I am so very fortunate to be protected by such a valiant
warrior guardian kitten!

Dan