Betcha all thought I was talking about arriving in CO! Not! CO is still a long way off, but we're taking a much needed break here in New Buffalo, MI at the White Rabbit Inn. Gorgeous B&B, owned by our good friend AJ Boggio. Long, long ago AJ had me in to speak...and we fell in love with this place then.

Unfortunately, it took this road trip to CO to give us a chance to come back.

The Wabby, for those who are interested, is  holding up rather well. She sits in her cat carrier right between us, on the front seat of our Uhaul (oh boy, is that a long, sad story!) and occasionally gets to sit on my lap to look out the window. At the moment, she is enjoying AJ's hospitality in this wonderful suite...including some salmon flavored Friskies treats (AJ takes excellent care of his clients!)

We are taking a much needed day off today (might do some shopping)...and then it's on the road again, tomorrow. We stop in
Lincoln, Nebraska at a pet-friendly hotel for the nite and then...on Sunday, we will pull into our new home in CO, but we'll likely stay the night at my daughter's as it will be late.

Moving is definitely not for sissies. Moving cross country is only for the stalwart! More updates to come as we get Internet connections! Oh, and the Wabby says she'll have some Breaking Mews to share later on. (I think 2/3rds of the way through yesterday she had had enough...she would not even lift her head to acknowledge me when I talked to her; no doubt she'll tell you her side of the story tonight!)

Off for some decent food in AJ's kitchen. Toots! 

We wrote about Wag World™ in our "Top 10 Togetherful Cities in America" last summer, and I just found out they have something new going on. Looks interesting so I thought I'd share. Everyone knows that Wag World is a Beneful® site (and therefore part of our sponsor, Purina pet food), right? Well, you do now.

That's our open and honest disclosure statement.

Let's move on to the good stuff. Wag World is offering the first 2,000 members who post content on WagWorld.com a free Loofa™ dog toy. See pic. You can go to the site and join, then post a fav place on the map, write a review, upload a photo, and just be sociable. How hard is that?

The offer actually started on October 15th so...they are probably closing in on 2000 entries. You need to get over their today and add your stuff. (and then come tell us about it - we can share on twitter). The offer closes when they run out or on May 1st 2010.

Wag World is dog-friendly to the max, if you ask me. I just did a search on where to stay as we travel cross-country with the Wabby, and it gave me more than a dozen options that are pet-friendly! Okay, Wabby is a cat, not a dog, but really...the hotel/motels that are pet-friendly don't discriminate. And, cats are way easier to manage than dogs - in the sense that they kinda keep to themselves.

Anyone traveling with a pup, should visit this site and find out where to stay on layovers. It also has dog friendly parks and is a great place for YOU to share your pet-friendly locale so we can visit you, when we come to your town. Well, if we come to your town. Hey, you never know!

I like that the site is user-friendly, inviting, and gave me a reward (options on where to stay) within seconds of my search. It also has some good articles.

Now, I don't have a dog at the moment, so I am not in the market for the Loofa toy. But, I know lots and lots of you do have dogs...and you know your dog would go wild over this Loofa toy. So, get over there and make a big splash with your advice, pics, or whatever.

And, stay tuned. I will be sharing more pet friendly travel ideas as we move along on our trip. Now, Tom says I have to get back to packing. (and the Wabby is giving me the evil eye - all this commotion is not to her liking; wait till we get on the road! I bet she'll have a whole lot to say about being uprooted from her lovely, soft, cozy spot on the master bed!)

And now a word from our Sponsor: Tales for the Pet Lover's Heart".

Nestle Purina and Cincinnati-based Kroger Company (yes, that Kroger), have partnered to launch their second annual campaign to raise funds for animal welfare by hosting the "Tales for the Pet Lover's Heart." Since I'm all about this kind of thing - and try to support as many efforts to raise money for animals as I can, I couldn't resist writing about this today.

Here's the scoop - "The campaign invites pet lovers to share their favorite pet tales with Purina and Kroger online at Tales for the Pet Lover's Heart and for each story shared, Purina and Kroger will make an additiona donation to animal welfare orgs. That's in addition to the $150,000 they are donating up front.

Many people are not aware of the ways Purina supports our pets, and their people. I write about things like the Incredible Dog Challenge (one of my favorites) and sometimes I report on other events the different Purina brands are having, but all in all, I have been pretty impressed with the number and kinds of events Purina participates in - or even creates - to give back to pets.

For this event, there will be a special television version. The TV special, airing nationally on WGN America on November 15th at 11 a.m. ET, will celebrate "six pet lovers and will spotlight the positive effects people and their pets have on one another. Stories include:

• Racing Towards the Future - from competitive racers to loved family members, see how some greyhounds are getting the chance to experience a new way of life.
  
• A Nose Knows - Everyone knows that dogs are man's best friend - but are they heroes, too? Learn just how brave a man's best friend is as she sniffs out danger.
  
• Entertaining Animals - From juggling and balancing acts to comedy skits for allages, watch how one animal trainer works with cats and dogs.

I hope you'll be watching when Tales for the Pet Lover's Heart" airs November 15th. And, maybe hop over to the website and submit a story of your own? Surely, we should all visit and read the wonderful stories already there. If you Twitter, tweet and RT. It's for the pets, after all.

Yvonne sent me a message this morning about a cat that had been diagnosed with H1N1. Since her source was Fox "News" I didn't take it too seriously. I thought it was probably Fox "News" trying to blame President Obama for flu in cats.

I did take a gander at the AVMA Flu site and sure enough they had a press release up already. They got their info from the veterinarians in Iowa involved in the diagnosis and treatment of the cat in question. This 13 year old cat had the misfortune of living in a household with sick humans. It is thought that the cat's people spread the flu virus to the cat.

The H's and N's in the flu virus strains refer to proteins on the surface of the virus. The configuration of these proteins and the configuration of the receptors on the cells of potential hosts determines whether a specific flu virus can infect a particular species. In most cases these viruses are species specific except for birds and in some cases pigs.

Yes, it's true - the story is out of Iowa.

"A 13-year okd Iowa cat has been infected with swine flu, veterinary and federal officials said Wednesday in what is believed to be the first case of the H1N1 virus in a feline in the United States," this report from Fox News says.

A spokesman from the Centers for Disease Control says, "We've known certainly it's possible this could happen... This may be the first instance where we have documentation that transmission occurred involving cats or dogs."