Taking the cats back...home again.

Today I decided I was done with the kitties.

It's been about the right amount of time, anyway.

I cleaned everyone's eyes and noses. We took a few pictures, which nobody wanted to sit still for. And which didn't focus right, since they were on auto-timer.

I cleaned the big pet taxi carrier. And stuffed everyone into the cage.

I lugged them up the hill to the TRAX station. Nobody really meowed or anything, but they were heavy, and I knew we were in for a lot of fun. We had just missed the train, so we had to wait for the next one. It wasn't the worst problem to have, because I was already tired of carrying them. Everyone nearby wanted to talk to me about the kitties. Everyone nearby had siblings or friends who fostered kitties. And then the kitties started to smell. I think the gray one pooped and it started getting all over everyone. Gross. Everyone was just kind of chilling out in the pet taxi, though, so we were mostly ok.

We caught the train, and it was a SANDY one instead of a DOWNTOWN SLC one, so we didn't even have to change trains at Gallivan Plaza. Sweet. It was an older train, so we couldn't really get down the aisle to a good spot, but I sat in one of the "please offer these seats to the elderly or disabled" seats (which I usually don't) (sit in, not offer!) and that way there was space for the Pet Taxi on the floor in front of me. Another lady got on the train a few stops later, and she wanted to talk about the kitties too. And how nobody should ever buy pets from anywhere but the Humane Society. Great.

And then we got off at 3300 S, because you can either get off at 3300 or 4500ish, and last time I went I decided 3300 S would definitely be closer since you have to backtrack a TON if you get off at 4500ish.

And the cats were HEAVY.

So about every block or sometimes every half block, we all sat down and rested. And they smelled, too. SO badly. And my hands hurt. And my arms hurt. And my sides hurt.

And I sometimes carried them on my right hip. And when I did that, I would put my bag on my left shoulder, and hold the Pet Taxi handle with my left hand, and balance the big pet carrier on my hip, and reach my right arm to the far side of the carrier. I think that was how I carried them most often. Sometimes I would try to do the reverse, on my left hip, but that was less comfortable.

Other times I carried them in front of me. And I reached both arms around the sides of the carrier, and held it near the bottom.

And still other times I just carried it by the handle, and they bumped against my leg as I walked. That made me tired the quickest.

And then, when we were at about 3700 S, I remembered: actually, there's a train stop at 3900 S. I didn't need the 3300 S stop. I wanted the 3900 S one! It was too late to turn back, so I was walking six long blocks that I didn't even need to, carrying heavy cats. Great.

And then, I got to 3900 S, and I felt like we were getting close. EXCEPT, I couldn't figure out how to get there. And it was quickly getting dark.

There was an overpass to cross some train tracks. First, I tried walking under the overpass, right next to the train tracks. But that wasn't right. And I would have had to have actually crossed them, at not a crossing spot. And I was still having to stop pretty frequently, and it seemed like something that would get me in trouble, and not even get me to where I was trying to go.

So I went back out of that, and around the SLCC Milcreek corner, and down to the light. And I crossed the intersection, and crossed to the other side of the street, but it was 210, and not 300 W, and it looked kind of like a dead end. So I crossed back, and crossed again, and crossed again, so that I could go over the overpass on the pedestrian side.

And we stopped and rested, and then we went up the hill, stopping to rest partway through. And we got to the top, where there was a scary, bridge-like thing for pedestrians to cross, which was covered in graffiti. And we crossed it. And we started to go down the other side, except that it looked like it crossed the freeway. Which was wrong. We didn't want to be on the other side of the freeway.

So we walked back down the overpass. Back across the street to the 210 one. And I wanted to lay down and fall asleep on the side of the road. Because I was So. So. Tired. And Everything hurt. Well. Not everything. Just my hands and arms and shoulders and sides and hips.

And the kitties started to get tired of me jostling them around, and tipping the carrier to hold it against one side, and tipping it in the other direction to hold them on the other side, etc. I noticed I was getting cat poop on me which had become a mess inside the carrier and was getting on me when I would hold the Pet Taxi against my side. Great.

But we were ALMOST there. Sort of. And I could SEE THE SIGN.

I kept consoling them even though the cats don't speak English. "We're almost there. Just 2. 3 more blocks. I know guys, I don't like this either." So we made our way down the long industrial street that wasn't the right one, so that we could get to a street that got us to the right one.

And it was dark.

And I kept having to stop like, at every other industrial place's driveway, to rest. And partway through, there was a dog which became interested in us. But its owner was good and kept it from coming across the street to eat the cats.

And then we got to the right street. And the kitties were mewing because they'd had it. I wanted to cry. I was tired. "We're almost there, guys," I kept telling them. But really I was telling me.

And we got there! And the gate was open, for EMPLOYEES AND DELIVERIES (or something like that) ONLY. And I was there for a delivery (or whatever the word was), so I went in.

And there were people outside!

We only had to stop once to rest in the driveway. It was like we were sprinting towards the finish line of the race.

Except the people outside weren't just outside, or on break. Although I'd left at 4pm, it was now 7:45. The place was closed.

.

.

I explained to them that I was done with the kitties. I'd been fostering, and it had been about the right amount of time, and I was done with them. They said the door was locked, and there wasn't anywhere to put them even if it was open.

I said my arms were tired, I got off at the wrong stop and had carried them from 3300 S. I said I was done with them.

They understood that my arms couldn't carry any more. One lady said she gets tired after just walking half a block.

They decided we would call the foster people and see if they could come back (hello inconvenience), and I agreed that we could try that. They didn't answer.

One of the ladies said she would take them, but that she doesn't work tomorrow. And then she said she would just take them. And I was like "are you sure?" because you're always supposed to ask that even if you don't care if someone's sure. And she said that she was. And then I was just taking down the email address so that I can send pictures and comments about their personalities, and they noticed that Lisa V's phone number was on my papers, too. And we had to call her, too, because maybe the ladies could drop the cats off at her house, if they could just get her address. But she didn't answer either.

And then the lady who was going to take the cats realized she can't have kittens that haven't had all of their shots. These haven't. No, she's not allowed to have foster kittens. Because one time she had a kitten die. It got distemper, and someone brought it back to the shelter after they had adopted it, saying it had died. So she's not allowed to have kittens anymore. Just cats with all of their vaccinations.

But I still couldn't carry the cats anymore. So they offered me a ride home, and I can bring them sometime when it's open. And I should call the foster ladies first, please. Great.

So after goodbye pictures and almost 4 hours of trekking with cats this afternoon, we loaded up into the lady's van, and she drove us home. Everyone was happy to get home, and everyone was covered in cat poop. And smelled like it. I gave a couple kitties partial baths.

And now, as I type this, I'm back where I started. (DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $500.) Except my hands are still red and raw, and I accomplished nothing with my afternoon. Super.