Packing the Wagon - Preparing to depart

"You've been doing this for so many years now it must be easy", someone said. . . meaning, it's easy to get ready to hit the road for the summer. Not so much. Like the pioneers, we do have a checklist, including the cast iron cooking pot, food stuffs and clothing.

The challenge is, every year is different, requiring different equipment, different clothes (like the year we added a cruise to Alaska) and Fate throws us different curve balls every year.

Last year's challenge was extensive water damage to the trailer, this year we had a variety of challenges. None were fatal, but we were beginning to feel a bit snake bit.

We were feeling a bit cocky as we thought we were on top of things schedule wise. The garden timers and drip hoses had been in place for several days (instead of the day before we leave), we'd already taken care of several small repairs and improvements on the rig, like a new storm door, and there was no major cleaning to do. We were right on schedule!

We don't drive the truck much when we aren't towing, but we did take it over to the kids about three weeks before we were due to depart - good thing! The cruise control didn't work - so to the dealer it went. Feeling very confident because the problem had been corrected ahead of time we went on with the packing and last minute projects. Departure scheduled for May 24.

Sunday, May 21. Loading a few things into the galley I noticed the light over the sink wasn't working, nor was the ceiling light by the door, or the fan. . . what's up with that? Steve went to work tracking it down - must be a bad ground - crawling around under the rig examining connections led to an onslaught of terrible insect bites, some with blisters, and no solution. Final determination - it was loose wires in the switch for the ceiling light causing the problem.How that impacted the other lights and the fan us unknown, but, crisis resolved.

With all the lights and fan running I went on with loading, only to come back after a trip to the house to find they'd all quit again. Heaving a big sigh, I went back in for another load, and came back to the rig to find them all working again. No explanation for that, but they are still working, so that's good enough for us!  On to the next challenge!

A couple of final loads of laundry to do, get one load going and on to other things, now go check on it. What? The tub's sitting there full of water (and wet clothes). Sigh., The repairman will be here Monday.

Monday, May 22. Super nice repairman, and boy were we happy to see him so soon. We feared we have to wait several days for someone to come out.  He fixed the washer and ordered a part for the dryer too (it had been cranky lately).  On to other chores on the list!

Tuesday, May 23. One of those chores was actually several small tasks, all of which required my mower/wagon to haul things around, do a little mowing at the edges, things like that. Well, ol' Chuy, as we call it, has always been a little cranky to start, but this time it started ok, then ran for a bit and croaked. It made it about 30 feet and then died, repeatedly. OK, it's dead, and scratch those chores off the list. I loaded the necessary stuff into a little red wagon and pulled it by hand around the yard - no fun with our steep grade and bumpy ground, but we got the job done. Chuy is now resting peacefully under a tarp and hopefully he'll be replaced when we get home in the fall. We'll give him a nice funeral - no telling how old he is (around 20), and he's given us great service, but why did the thing have to die today!  (Chuy is named for the bumper sticker he wears, from the restaurant in Van Horn, Tx)

Wednesday, May 24. This is supposed to be departure day, but we are one day behind schedule for obvious reasons. No pressure - we'll still be able to make the reservations that have been set up. Things went pretty well for most of the day, then late in the evening, when much of the very last minute items get finished up, our water service went out!! Really?? I'm glad we keep a few bottles of water in storage, so it wasn't too big a deal, but after all the toting and packing I did really miss my long soak in a hot bubble bath!

So, all of this is to say, every year is very different - and we hope we don't have another like this!

Thursday, May 25 - Yeah! We're On the Road Again! First stop, Mason, Texas.