Once we were on our way, with our 23' RV towing the 17' donated trailer, we felt a sense of relief. We were finally on the road! This was going to be an adventure with our 3 dogs in their beds in the RV - it was a relief mission and a wonderful accomplishment knowing that people WILL help - you just have to ask! We asked and asked and we were towing a totally refurbished trailer filled to the ceiling with generous donations and in our pocket were checks totaling $4000 for the Pontchartrain Humane Society!

In another fortunate turn of events, we managed to stay one day behind the vicious weather that made its way along the same route we were taking. We remained totally untouched. The folks in Slidell worried about us since tornado warnings were everywhere. David and I and our little caravan traveled safely through the heartland of America, happy and free.

We made arrangements to call Sam and Lyn Bailey when we got to Baton Rouge, LA and meet at a rest stop a few miles from their home so they could tow the trailer into their neighborhood. Because there was still a lot of debris along their street, we would follow them "in" with our RV.

There was a bit of confusion when some of the members were viewing the inside of the trailer - they kept asking if we needed help unloading the trailer so we could take it when we left. David and I repeatedly said, "No, we're leaving it here, it's yours!" We really were very happy to unload it since it was quite a burden towing it that length of time. It still wasn't clear to everyone that the trailer was theirs to do what they wanted with it until we finally did leave - without it!

The trailer has more uses then we had ever anticipated. They immediately made it into an evac trailer - for future evacuations. They have stocked it with meds, food, dishes, blankets and towels. This way they can fill the trailer with many animals instead of making several truck trips. And when the night time temps dipped down in the 20's they were able to house 15 of the 59 dogs in it to keep them warm.

We parked our RV in the driveway of what used to belong to one of the neighbors, but very few people will be returning. We had made special precautions for our dogs, like carrying our own water, and not keeping them outdoors for too long. There's lots of debris and chemicals in the drainage ditches alongside the road. But I forgot to wipe their paws after each walk and they all got sick for over three days. Life is very hard down there. I don't know too many people who would tolerate the endless problems.

We took a side trip into New Orleans proper and most areas on the west side were doing fine and never were too affected, but the east side is obliterated. Just driving in those areas is difficult, some of the street lights that had been twisted and turned around in the Hurricane still were not positioned correctly. You could stop at an intersection and view two street lights - one red, one green - take your pick.

Since we were making a video of our experience we got a police-escort through the lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, right where the levee broke. It is not possible to understand the ominous feeling you would get standing there unless you were there! That area just got drinking water in the neighborhood the week before - 16 months later! But few people are living there and fewer will return. The policeman who was our escort told us terrifying stories that brought tears to his Irsh eyes.

The thread that kept David and I moving along was the basking in the warmth of the wonderful people who jumped in and GOT THE PROJECT DONE. There was no asking why or how long but "How much more can we help?"

We thank you all who helped out - again and again. Special thanks goes to Sue Adams who put this web site together - it inspired so many!

"...you should know that the trailer came as a surprise to most of our members. You see, right after we aired on CNN, we were contacted by a couple in California who said that they wanted to donate a travel trailer and we made plans to meet them in Texas with our truck to tow it back. We told everybody in our group about it and they were thrilled. Shortly after, these people in CA stopped returning our phone calls and replying to emails. Since the agreed upon date of meeting in Texas was fast approaching we made a last attempt to reach them. We finally did and they told us that they had changed their mind and decided to keep the trailer! Consequently, we did not want to get people's hopes up again, so we didn't tell the rest of the group about your offer on the trailer until you were well enroute. Thank you for restoring our faith in people, you can't know how much that was needed!" Sam and Lyn Bailey

"...CNN did a post Katrina follow up; and somehow our group got spotlighted. Anderson Cooper interviewed us on the rooftop of the CNN studio here in New Orleans and Gary Tuckman interviewed Sam Bailey at his home (President of the Pontchartrain Humane Society). The national media coverage was a huge boost for our little group; we got emails of encouragement from all across the country, donations, and people even came from various states to adopt our animals...very heartwarming!

One couple, in particular, Micki and David Voisard, went to our website after seeing the CNN broadcast and looked at our wish list. They saw that we needed a trailer to transport the animals to and from Pet Adoption Days. They got their town together (Tubac, AZ) to jump in and contribute a 17' trailer, packed with other wish list things...

What an incredible act of kindness this town did for one little Gulf Coast Humane Society! Was this act of humanity in the interest of helping animals or was it people helping people? Whatever it was it was extremely touching and made us all cry. We will always be grateful. Most of us lost our own homes last year so this little town of Tubac gave us hope!"