Last year, Mara Denardo and her family set out on a road trip from Pennsylvania to New Hampshire. About 100 miles into the trip, they stopped to get gas — and had the shock of their lives.
On top of their car, the Denardos spotted their cat, Ray Ray. They’d
been driving for two hours through back roads with hills and turns and even reached 70 miles per hour on the highway, yet somehow, Ray Ray had clung on.
“[H]e was just walking around the roof,” Mara Denardo said in a video for The Dodo.
The Denardos couldn’t wrap their heads around how Ray Ray had managed to stay on top of the roof the whole time, let alone how he’d gotten on the roof without anyone noticing.
“Before we left, my husband checked the luggage rack, and no one saw Ray Ray up there,” Denardo said.
Ray Ray has always loved large vehicles — they’d first rescued him as a stray kitten after finding him under their car. But never in a million years did they think he’d end up riding on the roof of their van for 100 miles.
Regardless of how Ray Ray ended up on top of their van, the Denardos were just relieved he was OK. They debated whether to turn back and drop him off back at home, but figured if he wanted to be included in their trip that badly, they might as well include him.
The next day, Denardo’s husband participated in a marathon, and Ray Ray cheered him on from the sidelines. He’d never been inside a cat backpack before, but he took to it like a natural.
“My husband, he ran right across the finish line with [Ray Ray] in his arms,” Denardo said.
Once the marathon was over, the Denardos had a big New York City trip planned, and decided to include Ray Ray in that as well. They packed him in his new backpack and brought him to see all the sights.
“We went to the Empire State Building,” Denardo said. “We went to Grand Central Station. People were coming up to him and petting him.”
When the trip was over, the Denardos triple- and quadruple-checked that Ray Ray was safely inside the vehicle before starting their long drive back to Pennsylvania. Safe and sound back at home, Ray Ray curled up on his favorite pillow and started dreaming about his next adventure.
“I would take him on a trip again,” Denardo said. “Obviously, he can travel safely now with his family and not on the roof of the car.”
