We first drove to Sarah's hometown: Charleston, West Virginia. Sarah isn't a big fan of long car trips, so she was going to spend a couple of days with her parents while our animals and I drove to Florida. She would fly down to join us a couple of days later.

I was a little worried about driving on my own with a car full of critters. I figured the three cats would settle down pretty quickly and not be a problem, but I was worried about Smokey. She can be a pretty needy little dog, and she likes to get in your face and get your attention. I was afraid she would make driving very difficult.

But Smokey turned out to be an angel. She stayed in the passenger seat for the whole trip, curling up and sleeping or just looking out the window. I couldn't believe how wonderfully behaved she was. I was so proud of her!

I split the 12-hour drive into two days, driving 8 hours the first day, leaving myself an easy 4 hours the second day. The time behind the wheel didn't faze me at all. I still have that traveler's blood coursing through my veins after all those years traveling with the Circus. I enjoyed the drive very much... although I was happy to arrive at our new home in Orlando, Florida, as were the critters.