let me back up a minute

Some of you have contacted me saying that you don't know what is going on with me and these cats.
Sorry.
I talked about the trip to so many different people that i thought everyone knew.
Here's the skinny: my friend Francie (nee Heidi) lives in Portland OR with her husband and daughter; her mom -Nancy- is moving there to be closer to the soon-to-be-one-year-old grandbaby.
You might recall that i did the flowers for Fancie's wedding a couple of years ago; here is a pic of Nancy and Francie to jog your memory.

In Baltimore, Nancy lived with her other daughter, Elin, and 6 cats: Bunny, Emmy, Frodo, Maggie, Sam and Shadow. Elin flew out to Portland with Bunny early last week to pick up the key to the new condo. Nancy packed all their stuff into 3 PODS and sent them on their merry way late last week.
On Saturday Nancy and I loaded up her Jeep Liberty and the 5 remaining cats and headed for the west coast.
We detoured up to Milwaukee to drop of one cat - Emmy- to Francie's good friend from college, Carmen.
The PODS have arrived in Portland; Francie and her husband Jake have arranged to unload them tomorrow. I am trying to get Nancy there to oversee the moving-in process.
The burning question everyone seems to have is Why? Why am I involved?
My friend needed help, i've always wanted to drive across the country and since i am in charge of the route, i am collecting seven new states.
Everybody with me so far?