7/2812 -- Another Step

 Each day we come a little closer to our big trip!

Today we loaded a lot of stuff into our camping trailer -- clothes, maps, tour books, hiking boots, and other odd bits.  We took a shopping cart full out, hung shirts and jackets in our two 8" wide closets, filled our little clothing bins, got the book box and battery/flashlight box in place.  The Scrabble game is in the game box.  We won't go shopping for food until we are on the road.  It felt more real, taking the piles that have dotted the living room and putting them in place in the trailer.  It's amazing how much a 17' travel trailer will hold.

We got our trailer in 1991, just one year after we got together.  It has practically become an antique.  We've talked about replacing it.  When we have looked, we haven't seen anything out there that we like as well.  It has two double bunk beds and we use the top one for storage.  That's our attic.  The top 18" pop up and are canvas with plastic windows all around.  This makes the trailer very light and airy.  I rebuilt the seating area a few years ago and made cafe-type seating with extra storage.  The 3-burner propane stove serves our cooking needs.  We have water whenever we run and fetch it.  It doesn't get any better than this!

In our apartment, more boxes got packed.  Two boxes have taken up permanent residence in the kitchen labeled: "To Washington" and "To the trailer for the trip." 

Our traveling companion and co-conspiritor, Drichab Anna, came over to help pack.  Then we all trucked out to REI for some last minute supplies.  Drichab Anna drove our car out there so she could get used to it before she tries it with trailer attached.  You need that time so your hands know where all the bells and whistles sit, where all the gears and gadgets are.   

I got a webbed strap to contain some pieces of scrap wood I carry camping.  Adina got shoelaces for her hiking boots and a plastic container for six eggs.  I got some heavy not-wool socks for my boots.  I don't know what the fabric content was -- thermo-something.  They are supposed to "let air circulate and wick sweat away."  Sounds good to me.  Drichab Anna got a self-inflating air mattress that will fit in the attic of our camper.  Most of the trip, she'll use a 3-person tent, but in Yellowstone, no tents are allowed and she'll sleep in the trailer with us.  Thut thar's bear country.

A 3-person tent fits two people and a little gear nicely if you are very friendly.  A 2-person tent fits two people if they areyounger than ten years old.  Drichab Anna's tent should be comfortable for her.  She'll have room for her stuff and still be able to roll over.  For all this luxury in camping, however, the tent's low ceiling won't let her stand up.  Only the open sky will allow that.

We picked up a gorgeous National Geographic Yellowstone Map, then drooled over it at dinner at Noodle's, checking out where all the best campsites are.  We like campsites that don't look like Somebody's RV Park full of 40' rigs.  Primitive camping makes us purr.  An electric hook-up is nice but not necessary.  Rustic is good. 

We have some pretty exciting stops to make before Yellowstone, though.  Every day will be a new adventure! 

It was much more satisfying than packing.  I don't think we were sluffing off, not really.  The REI run was important.  We had to be sure Noodle's was still there.  It all has to be done. 

We are in that limbo between hitting the road with our ducks lining the macadam and packing that first box, some weeks ago.  Sometimes we don't know what to do next because our "to do" list is still so long.  When you hit that in-between Never-Never Land, it's hard to know how to priortize. 

Several severe thunderstorms rolled through the past couple of days bringing the farmers and gardens much-needed rain.  Thunderstorms also tend to bring me migraines.  One of those deadly headaches stops me cold.  They make me feel as if I can't do my share.  I get a kind of buzzing pressure behind my temple and on the right side of my head -- a sure sign that barometric pressures are swinging wildly.  A friend of mine who also had a head injury says she experiences the same thing.

Adina says she'll never again need a barometer.  All she has to do is watch my reactions.  Gosh, thanks.

So it goes.  Next week is doctor week.  I think we have appointments with one doc or another nearly every day.  I'll spare you the gory details of that.  Friday, the car goes to Dr. Bret for a check-up.  It will be our last complete week here.  Some friends want to get together and we have another party.  Then it will be our last Sunday at the church we attended here and a brat fry after worship.   

We're excited about the trip and sad about leaving friends.  We pull out the morning of August 9th and head west.  Can it really be coming that quickly?