Four Kids, Two Dogs, Two Guinea Pigs, A Cat & Their Parents

It could be a low budget film "Four Kids, Two Dogs, Two Guinea Pigs, A Cat & Their Parents".
Seriously.
That's how we will roll- literally across the country- on actual wheels.
The dogs will probably get bored and sleep most of the way (we hope). While the guinea pigs, confined to a cat carrier will lounge in their tiny digs and drink water and eat. I anticipate that the children will use the little vests and leashes to let the sweet piggy girls out to cuddle since driving about 8 or 9 hours a day won't be too good for them and they need their loves.

And then there is the cat. This lovely girl is really not going to be happy. She is a mostly outdoor cat. This came about rather organically. She started going out and hunting and then coming in to pee- on the clean laundry and on the living room rug. It seemed to be in everyone's best interests to let her spend time inside when being loved on and cuddled and all that but to spend most of her time outside doing her thing. And so she does. She is cuddled and loved and fed and then off she goes on her hunting trips. But now, well, now it is a different story.
She will be confined to a cat carrier and we have a leash and harness for her that- so far- she has not objected to. But after 7 days, she may decide that she is seriously done associating with our family and cut all ties. It took a lot of creative scheming and interviews with friends to figure out the set up and it is going to be interesting.

At rest stops, she will be put on the leash and in the harness and the metal dog crate will be set up with a tiny cat box. A blanket will be laid over it so she can do her business and then we will "walk" her- that ought to be very interesting. Then back in the carrier, pack up the dog crate and off we go. Every night, the dog crate comes back out and we set up her little digs for the night- and every morning we pack it back up. Into a minivan.
That same minivan that will house us, food, water and our token gym bags along with travel games and the Harry Potter series- audio style.
And this will be an adventure- not just the driving but the animals, the children and the grown ups and through it all, I am determined to laugh, smile and see the silver lining in everything- even if the cat throws up, the dogs fart, the children fight and the guinea pigs wheet the whole time.

People used to take a covered wagon for goodness sake. And it took months and it was uber dangerous since there was nothing between here and there. No place to get food and water- no roadside assistance, no anything but wilderness.-- And of course you weren't going about 60 miles an hour the whole way so there had to be a lot of endurance. So, I would say, all things considered we've got it pretty good- not that there aren't dangers- there are- but this isn't a covered wagon and we will have food and water and each other's company and, with luck, we will be there in what feels like no time at all.