We take off from New York in our motorhome for our trip out west on September 29th...almost immediately after participating in a festival selling our handmade leather goods. We don't want to waste any time! I expect to be home by 6:30pm and out the door by 7:30 pm. This adventure will take us to see our son in Las Vegas (wildland firefighter) and explore southern Utah, Nevada, Arizona, NM and any other state that our wheels travel over with our rv. It should last 2.5 months approximately (we do need to get home to make some product, unpack the motorhome, repack the trailer/van and leave in early/mid January for Florida art show season.
Planning? I have pages of notes. I was planning on really analizing the notes but I see that is not going to happen...too many things to do before we go. We are going to explore the National Parks and beyond with our motorhome. It should take us about four days to get from NY to Arches National Park (we are reserved there). We will stay in rest areas, welcome centers, walmarts, etc. along the way. David would like it to be faster...I doubt it. Generally, we hope to boondock a lot and wing it where possible except for national parks.
What else have we done? Well the benchmark atlases are on order and I will report on them once we have gotten a chance to eyeball them. The tires were new before we put them to the test on our trip to Newfoundland and Labrador...especially the "hell" of route 389 in Quebec. We will check the tire pressure before we go and weigh the vehicle. The seals on the roof and sides will be checked again to make sure no leaks are even thinking about happening. Some meals will be prepared and frozen for the trip out so we can make quick stops and just nuke up dinner. Reservations are made for Arches National Park and for Zion/Watchman. Jayco is currently winterized but that will be
"cleansed" and made trip ready. The second water tank that hubby installed (more on that in another post) will be fully tested but not filled up for the trip out. The second battery that hubby was going to make a frame for and install isn't going to happen (no time...a common thing with us) and that may be a mistake that we will learn the hard way from. The Allstays rv ap has been purchased and we are quite happy with that purchase.
All that is left to do is make up the beds, stock the refrigerator with lunches, healthy snacks, breakfasts. So that is our planning in a nutshell.
Even though we just came back from the Canadian Maritimes at the end of June, I will be ready for another adventure. I love boondocking. Somewhere deep within my ancestral line there must be a gypsy. We expect to be chased by possible freezing temps down into vegas, southern Arizona, and/or New Mexico...we will see how that works out. The unknown always makes it interesting.
Very well written and informative blog! I read most of your posts and I'm impressed by the fact that you paid off your mortgage with the profits from your wooden toy sales. Are you still making toys or are the leather goods your main product now? Do you have an Esay, ebay site or a link that you could include on the blog?
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Hi Karen and Tony,
DeleteNo toys now; the kids aged out of it so we took up new adventures. First, it was hubby owning his own business, a specialized machine shop that China took away with their ultra cheap labor force. Fortunately we socked away money while he did did that work. Now it is leather goods and I work in silver. No etsy yet but we need to get on it. Will include that when we get around to it.