Thunderstorms rolled in sooner than we expected on Friday, so we didn’t make it to the farmers’ market. With rain coming down off and on all day, we stayed indoors. Our stray kitty friend hung out underneath our coach. At one point, I enticed her inside and we fed her some cooked giblets from the chicken Donna roasted for dinner.

On Saturday morning, she was back under our coach. When Donna went out for a walk, the kitten followed her to end of the grass on our site, then she sat down and watched Donna walk away. It seems like she had set a boundary for herself. When I looked outside again later, she was gone. Donna walked for about an hour and when she returned, I saw her with the cat at our picnic table. The cat never left – she was hiding under our coach.

Donna came inside, got some money and walked back down the road. She had found a few things at a thrift shop and went back to buy two blouses and a pair of shorts. When she returned, we invited the cat inside again and fed her some leftover chicken.

We played with the cat for a while and then came to a decision to adopt and make her an RV cat. Once we made the decision, I rode the scooter to Petco in Branson to get some items we would need. A hundred dollars later, I had 25 pounds of cat gear strapped to the scooter. I bought a litter box and litter, kitten food – both dry and canned – a scratching post, nail clippers and dishes for food and water.

Cat stuff on the scooter

Comparing the cat’s size to kittens I saw at Petco, I think this cat may be about four months old. She isn’t a feral cat – she’s obviously had human interaction and socialization. She enjoys attention and keeps herself clean. We have no idea of where she came from, but she obviously no longer had a home when she appeared under our coach on Wednesday. We had been in Turkey Creek RV Village for two weeks at that point and never saw the cat before. We decided to call her Ozark since we found her alone here in the Ozarks.

Donna and Ozark snoozing and bonding

Ozark

I’ve been feeding the cat small amounts frequently. The cat scarfs the food down like she’s trying to make up for days of starvation. We’ll have to find a way to get her to a vet soon for shots and have her spayed.

She learned to use her litter box right away. I’m hoping she learns to utilize the scratching post and doesn’t tear up our upholstery.

I downloaded the Dutch Moto GP race from Assen and watched a very entertaining race yesterday. Last evening, I grilled a pork tenderloin that Donna prepared with her mojo marinade. She served it with baked cayenne sweet potato fries and local green beans.

Delicious dinner combo

I followed up the delicious meal with a special bottle of beer. The beer was a collaboration created by three brewers – Stone Brewing in San Diego, Ecliptic Brewing in Portland, Oregon and Wicked Weed Brewing in Asheville, North Carolina. It’s a Belgian trippel-style beer aged in barrels that originally held red wine before being used as tequila vessels. Stone blended the trippel with a double IPA they brewed. The result was fantastic – smooth, complex and beyond description. It has a kick at 9.5% ABV.

Belgian trippel and double IPA blend

Today I need to organize and pack the trailer for travel. I’ll also remove the tire covers and windshield covers this afternoon while they’re dry. Tire pressures will be checked and adjusted in preparation for travel tomorrow. We plan to dry camp tomorrow night somewhere around Kansas City, then move on to Des Moines, Iowa. I hope the kitty doesn’t get car sick.