“For Godsakes, honey, just be you…Be you…”

          Hi there!! I have been doing a lot of journaling the past week and I realized I should probably pop over and update the blog. It’s nearly June and we haven’t left yet. I would guess at the least we have another week here. We have a few issues to take care of first…

Issue #1: We ordered lithium ion batteries and they arrive this coming week. Then Paul needs to rig up how to connect and wire them, etc… because no RV is really made to be equipped with lithium ion batteries. We decided to go this route because we can get a lot of power without a lot of weight, as opposed to regular lead acid batteries (that which you would find in a car). For the amount of power we are getting, Paul said it would probably be 600 (or was it 800?) pounds with a lead acid battery. With lithium ion, it’s like 200 pounds. This give us a lot of wiggle room with what to pack and so on.

Issue #2: Besides the batteries, we have that leak in the back wall. We think it is from the top brake lights, because we found some of them (there are 5) are cracked. Cross your fingers that is the culprit! It’s a much easier fix. I am concerned with mold being inside the walls. I’m hoping once we take out the old brake lights we will be able to see into the interior of the wall – so we can tell if there’s any water damage or mold. Hopefully everything will be fine.

Issue #3: Even though the roof may not be the reason we have that leak, we are still planning to strip, clean and reseal it. This will take a few days – a few days WITHOUT rain, which we haven’t really had. Next weekend looks promising though.

Issue #4: When we took the RV to the mechanic for the fluid change and general check up, I noticed the windshield was shaking some. That should be an easy fix, covered by insurance, and someone who comes to us to fix it.

          Those are the big ones. The other things we need to do (like putting on our new electrical stairs, installing bluetooth speaker/light outside, fixing small leak in generator) are much easier and can be done in a day or so. We’re much less concerned with those, especially because we only have to depend on ourselves to take the time and do it.

          We haven’t yet packed up and started moving our things into the RV. We have two slide-outs in the bedroom – one for the bed and one for the wardrobe. When they are not slid out, the bed and wardrobe are right up against each other. This makes it impossible to open the wardrobe closets and organize how our clothes, etc will be packed up in there. We cannot put out the slide-outs because we do not have the battery power at this time. So once the batteries are installed, we will be able to move in our things.

          On top of that, once we move into the RV, we need to come home to clean and prepare for us not being here for months. Add to that, the replanning of our route since we are leaving much later than we originally planned. As of now we should be hitting Minnesota for our first official sightseeing stop. We’re aiming to hit Washington by August and Texas by October.

          Hopefully most of this will get done in the next week, and we will be on our way before June 10th (?!). Fingers crossed.

          I have to say, though… One of the nights we stayed in the RV, we played board games and drank beer, and it was absolutely fabulous – like camping, but better. During another stay at the RV, I got up in the morning to take Pookie out. Where our RV is parked, it is maybe 20-25 feet away from a giant hill of woods. So I take Pooks out and as I’m waiting for her to do her thing, I hear what sounds to me like quick, giant man footsteps in the woods. With every giant step, I could hear the leaves and branches cracking. I was a bit nervous for a moment, when all of a sudden a sizable deer leaps out of the woods, and then gallops (do deer gallop??) away towards the entrance of the RV parking lot. It was fantastic. And as Pooks was pulling on the leash like her life depended on chasing that deer, I realized how many amazing stories I’m going to be racking up daily on this trip. I really am going to have to be journaling every single day to remember the experiences we will have.

          In closing, that deer was the great reminder of what incredible things are in store for the next few months. The night of board games and that deer were the first two instances where I finally saw past the seemingly never-ending to-do lists…and I got excited for what is to come.

I’ll leave you with some lyrics and a link to a song I recently found and absolutely love…

“A traveler should take time with lots of stops,

Open eyes and coffee shops.

And see the things you want to see,

And not the ones in your travel magazines…”

❤

Land of Trees – Don’t Be A Fool