Canada, here we come!

It’s been like Christmas around here.  I shop almost exclusively on the computer.  First, my feet hurt so badly walking around on concrete to shop means a big time pain increase.  Second, I know my sizes and brands and materials as well as what styles look good on me.  Third, I always save money.  Therefore, it’s been a constant stream of stuff I need for the coming six months.  We aren’t going to have an ‘address’ to receive mail until September 1^st.  I don’t buy just clothes on-line.  I buy cosmetics, my probiotic, shoes, underwear, travel books, Drake’s shoes, embroidery kits, Sarah’s graduation gift, Jay’s graduation gift, wine, a purse, and an Elite cooler bag.

         That cooler bag is made in Dallas, and it’s the best cooler I’ve ever owned.  I got one when Sarah Lynn was born.  A gift from a friend to carry baby food between New Orleans and Houston. (Yes, I’ve owned it 30 years!)  It is soft sided, and it looks like a big tote bag.  With an ice block, or even just ice cubes dumped inside the bag, it keeps food cold for three days.  When the zipper broke about two years ago, I returned the bag, and they put in a new zipper for the cost of the postage – one way!  I decided for the upcoming trip, I’d buy another one because I’m going to try and carry more ‘food’ with me than I usually do when traveling. 

         My feet are really bad.  I’m having lots of pain which escalates when I’m ‘on’ them for long periods of time.  Well, that’s what touring and hiking is all about, so I’m expecting ice packs, a big martini, and my feet ‘up’ during evenings for a lot of this upcoming trip.  Drake will want to watch the Rangers, no matter where we are most nights, and we don’t like to eat a huge restaurant meal late anyway.  Gosh, are we old people or what?

         Anyway, the point is I’m planning on cooking for a few nights at the places where we are staying for 5 or 7 days.  I’ve been acquiring crock pot recipes which take 6 to 10 hours to cook.  (And, I don't appreciate all you cookinistas laughing at my crock pot plan.  I know who you are.)   Anyway, MY plan is to put something in the crock pot as I’m leaving the house for a day of sightseeing.  Even if we don’t eat it that night, if you have a soup or a chicken or a roast to work with, each one will be good for several types of quick meals.  Thus, the extra cooler since there’s a period where we are one day’s drive between multi-day stays, and I don’t want to keep replacing cold staples. 

         The planning on this trip has been very extensive.  We’ve done this enough now to know having what you want with you AND being able to put your hands on it immediately is crucial.  Usually, we just unload our entire cargo trailer the day we arrive at wherever we will be staying for a few months.  This time, we will be working mainly out of the trailer, and unloading as few items as possible when we are only staying for a few days or a week in a place. 

We are taking probably one-fourth the amount of stuff we usually travel with since all the places are 'furnished. The bikes are going to travel inside the trailer instead of on top of the car.  (Here we are at Craters of the Moon, with Drake taking a pic of the trailer with mounted bikes and me from the top of a lava mountain.  I graciously let him struggle to the top with the camera while I waited on ground as 'perspective'.)  It's much easier to decide to ‘ride’ on a whim if Drake isn't bench pressing them over his head twice every time we want to take a spin. 

(In the next picture we are being inspected by the army because the 1788 lighthouse we wanted to look at is now inside an army base in Virginia.  Had to prove we weren't geriatric terrorists.)

For the Canada trip, Drake is going to bungee the bikes one of each side INSIDE the trailer.

Additionally, he's rigged a clothes bar to hang our extra clothes inside garment bags.  We want to be able to get to the tool containers, the toiletry tub, the embroidery tub, the kitchen tub, the electronics tub, the spice box (a plastic shoe boxed size container with a handle on top), the bike bag, the ironing board and iron (which has its own train case), the ‘files’, the office/stationery tub, and the exercise bag all of which will be inside the trailer with the bikes and clothes.
 

I don’t expect to need my linens until Colorado.  Just in case, I’m packing a ‘mattress topper’ and some soft sheets – nothing worse than a really bad bed.  I also have an egg crate box of books and another one of rags.  You’d be surprised how often you need rags when you travel as well as a few other odds and ends – like my mega light floor lamp.  Drake, the packing genius, is going to have to work out a new packing strategy for maximum efficiency.

We have ‘tasks’ broken down between Drake and I as we get ready to head out of Arizona.  My responsibilities are to figure out WHAT we are taking – except for tools and electronics – and then get it efficiently packed.  I’m an expert at 14/18 gallon Rubbermaid tub packing.  I’ve already packed the non-necessities this past week.  Another one of my jobs is to dwindle the food, especially the cold food.  We call this eating down the fridge.  In less than all modesty, I’m pretty good at this.  Drake gets the ‘rig’ ready to go, and he also packs the stuff he uses on the road.  It all sounds so simple if you are organizational freaks. (Guilty as charged.)

Surprisingly, the tough pack are the clothes.  We contend with multiple seasons, and those ‘bridge’ seasons can sometimes be unseasonably cold.  In Fraser, Colorado, for instance, we could easily see an early snow.  It won’t last, but it will be cold while it does.  It can easily take half a day to figure out how to take as few clothes as possible while covering the bases.  PLUS, we have ‘graduation’ clothes this time – not as bad as ‘wedding’ clothes, but close. 

Then, there are the specialty items.  We are bringing lots of bottles of wine to share with our friends and family as we celebrate our way to Connecticut.  And, don’t forget the graduation gifts and cards which will be wrapped and ready for presentation.  There have also been all types of hoops to jump through to go out of the country - passport renewals, signing up for Medicare, getting 'vacation' supplies of medications, ferry reservations, and making a bazillion housing reservations as we trek across Canada.  I haven't even begun to talk about 'closing' the Arizona house - which actually seems simple after the organization to get ready to LEAVE.  It does take half a day, however.  

Is this all worth it?  Definitely.  I need to get out of the Sun City routine.  I need to get out of the desert because I miss green plants and large green trees, and I don't want to do 115 degrees.  My favorite thing about traveling is not just about seeing all the new stuff and meeting new people.   It is just as much about getting up to a unique day almost every day.  Every day is an adventure, well, not on the scale of canoeing the Amazon, but pretty adventurous all the same. I also guarantee that my blog will be reinvigorated.  This is going to be a great trip.  Get ready, Canada, here we come.