Getting Ready

It's mid September and we're getting ready to leave in little less than a month.  The process has been one of consideration and elimination. Our 32 foot rig seemed big when we bought it but we've found that we both have more stuff than we imagined, and more that we think is essential than actually is.

We could carry most of it, but it becomes tedious to try and get to things which are under or inside of other things.  So we've spent a lot of time weeding out, triaging what is absolutely necessary and what would be nice to have.  Several iterations of this have gotten us down to a manageable load.  Gone are the extra wine glasses, coffee mugs and dishware.  Gone is the large coffee maker, replaced with a small french press.  The 4 slice toaster was traded out for a 2 slice model because it fits better in the cupboard. Also gone is my favorite multi-task crock pot/pressure cooker/steamer.  It's just too big and heavy.  What we've added are things to make life easier in a small(ish) rig.

We've  become big believers in small Sterilite containers which allow us to segregate items.  Clothing is a constantly evolving process of addition and subtraction.  She has too many shoes, I have too many old t-shirts which are hard to part with.  We'd better add more rain gear.  Do I really need a sport coat?  Maybe.

The decision on 32 feet was deliberate.  Initially we wanted a small van conversion, around 24-26 feet.  But we're planning on living in this for at least 9 months and the more we considered it the more it didn't seem feasible to do it in such a small space.  I know it can be done, Campskunk (do a search) has done it for years.  We decided we had too much stuff that we were unwilling to part with.  At the other end of the length spectrum, 36 feet and up, what you gain in living space you lose in "portability".  There are many places you can't get into with a big rig, and the expense and hassle didn't seem worth it.  It would be a different story if we were remaining in one place for extended periods, but that was not our goal.  So the 32 footer seemed a reasonable compromise.  The plan, such as it is, is to trade this one in toward the end of the trip for one of the smaller van conversions that we initially looked at.  That will then become our second vehicle and our weekender. 

We plan to start from Home Base here in Flagstaff and do a counter clockwise loop around the country, ending up in our new Home Base in Birch Bay, Washington.  We'll travel through New Mexico first, with stops along the way to Florida, were we'll winter for  2 months.  Then we'll start following the weather north, visiting friends and relatives along the way.  Once we visit the North East, and possibly the Maritimes we'll head west along the northern tier until we reach Washington, probably by late June or July. That's the plan. Ojalá!

This blog, if we can keep it up, has two purposes.  It will allow friends and family to travel along with us and keep up to date with where we are and what we're doing.  Hopefully we'll also get suggestions for things to see and do. Secondly it will help us to remember where we've been and what we did and when we did it.  All of which gets harder to keep track of as we get older. 

So welcome.  As our Spanish teacher once told us, we are about to embark on a Gran Crucero. Enjoy!