In a recent post, Charlie told the story of the day when Camilla disappeared under the bush in the front yard.  This event has prompted me, Sue, to give some advise on what we have found to be the best way to track our pets should they magically 'disappear' under a bush, an RV, a bridge.  You know what I mean.  Cats especially have a mind of their own when it comes to them wanting to run free for a while.
The problem is, they don't realize that there are numerous drawbacks to being 'free', such as other cats and dogs who could be very territorial.  Also, there are notorious stories of how many cats have been taken by hungry coyotes and foxes.  Never mind eagles and even owls that might see your pet as a tasty morsel.
Some years ago, we discovered that a very good way of tracking down an outdoor cat  that was always running loose, was to attach a cat locator that, at that time, we had imported from Europe, due to the limited availability of the exact type of locator that we needed.
What we learned was that it was best to purchase a RADIO locator, bearing in mind how cats manage to find the most awkward places to hide out in, making a GPS sometimes unreliable.
We have numerous stories to tell of how our cat managed to head into a forested area and disappear until we were able to figure out that she had not gone very far at all, but she was a very adept escapee, who knew to lay low when trying to keep out of our line of sight.
So, it was with great joy when, after receiving the locator and she made her first escape, we started up the home device and it immediately started to beep and in fact, we also heard a second beep in the near bushes, which indicated that she was mere feet away from us.
The second beep came from the unit attached to her neck which not only beeps, but it also flashes, so if she disappeared at night, we could always track her down just with the flashing light.
The nice thing about our device is that it pointed in the direction that the cat is in and also, how many feet away she was.  The only drawback we found is that she sometimes ran out of the 100 foot range of the locator, so it was only when we carefully walked in the direction we thought she might be in that we could then home in on her.
When making our decision to purchase the Loc8tor, the most important factor we learned is that it is more reliable to have a radio controlled device than a GPS controlled device primarily because of the nature of cats, who are known to find the most out of the way spots to hide out for the day.
So, the moral of this story is that after our last escapee experience with Camilla, who is an indoor cat, but goes out with us on her harness, we will now attach the original locator to her collar just in case she managed to pull another break-away stunt.  We figure that now that we are getting a little older, we really don't want to be hassled with heading into the type of foliage that we used to encounter when chasing after our first cat.
The added benefit of having a pet locator is that ours came with two collar units and we ordered two extra units, so if we chose to, we could attach any of the units to our keys or wallets to help us find these devices that could get lost when on the road.

It's looking like our owners are getting ready to start their trip soon.  We keep hearing the terms "down south", "Florida", "distance", "running out of time" and "get the trailer ready".  We are assuming this means we will be taken out of our comfort zone, which, to be frank, we find quite boring, but we are cats, so we don't mind 'boring'.  
We must mention that usually, at least once a day, we are taken for a walk.  Apparently their friends think it quite strange to see us attached to them on a "rope".  However, we don't think it's strange to be wearing our different harnesses.  We are usually very good then we go out for a walk, but I (Charlie), must mention that Camilla was very bad just the other day when she saw a little bird hiding under the bush.  She managed to wrestle herself out of her harness and whoosh! there she was, under the bush too.  From where I was standing, watching in amazement at her crafty escape, I could see that the bird had fluttered to the top of the bush.  However, there was Camilla, happily sitting waayyy under the branches while my Mom was on the ground, half way under the bush, frantically calling her name.  Of course, as usual, my dear sister just ignored her and carried on behaving like a cat.  I obediently stood to one side while this comical scene was taking place in front of me.
The next thing I knew, Mom came out from under the branches and scampered up the kitchen steps back into the house, calling to our Dad to come and help her.  A short while later, they both came out with Dad rattling the box that Camilla loves so much.  Mom was saying to get the Temptations out.  He then shook the box some more while standing a couple of feet from the bush, while Mom was going back under the bush where she had been originally.
At this point, Camilla calmly walked out from under the bush, and casually stood in front of Dad while he took out the treats that Camilla loves so much.  Mom re-appeared looking totally disheveled while Dad and Camilla calmly conversed with each other and Camilla was happy to be picked up (after eating her treats) and the two of them happily went back inside.  Mom came back to me and the two of us continued our originally planned for walk around the garden.  I think I heard Mom muttering under her breath quite a bit though.
One thing I think I heard her say is that she wondered how on earth Temptations can have such a hold on one cat and yet the other cat just can't be bothered.  She seems to think Camilla is a drug addict (whatever that is). But it seems she was happy that the Temptations resolved an otherwise sticky situation and she vowed to always have them close by when she takes us out for walks in the future..

Our Mom and Dad seem to be planning their escape from the domestic life that they currently live in.  We get the idea that their feet are already itchy and they are planning another journey in their 25 foot self made trailer in early October 2016.
We hear we will be heading to Florida, where we will be their assistant campground hosts in Key Largo and then it appears we will be traveling throughout Florida, staying in some wonderful, isolated locations amidst the forests that make up a lot of Florida.  They are hoping to be near water, where they can put their little boat in the water, as long as there are no alligators that could snap us up at any given moment.
Until then, we may do a quick update before we leave, but you will probably hear from us when we are back in our home state of Florida.
Lots of Love from us both
Charlie and Camilla