Part of taking a long road trip is the preparation. We may spend six or seven weeks on the road but that time doesn’t start when we start the engine. The preparation has been in progress for several weeks already. One of the big challenges is getting several weeks of supplies into a 24-foot RV. That vehicle may look rather large sitting in the driveway, but it gets smaller and smaller the more we try to stuff into it.
In the winter, one of the challenges is winter clothing. Coats and hats and gloves are bulky items that need to be minimized while still planning for the weather. And since we’re heading south, we’ll need a bunch of warmer weather gear and work clothes. So we layer as much as possible. Lighter coats over a hoodie over a long-sleeve shirt, for example. Because all this stuff has to go into a closet that is 18 inches wide. That closet also contains our portable electric heater, our ladder, our broom and dust pan, trekking poles, and laundry bag.
Food is another challenge. Particularly stuff that has to be refrigerated. One thing we do is set aside leftovers for a few weeks before the trip, freezing them in ZipLoc bags or space-efficient containers. These make excellent meals on the road. A couple minutes in the microwave and a meal is on the table.
The weather is always a challenge in the winter. Right now it is 18 degrees out and we had several inches of snow yesterday. We can’t load any liquids or foods that will freeze until just before we leave. All the back-and-forth when loading the other stuff tracks in a lot snow, making for messy floors. And keeping the windows clear and the area around the RV clear of snow has been a job since we have had quite a bit of snow already this year.
Filling the tank with water will present its own challenge. Last year, when we left for Florida, I filled the tank in 11-degree weather. A leaky faucet on the house left a sheet of ice on the driveway and it took a bit of coaxing to get the water into the tank because of residual ice in the lines. And it was several hundred miles before we could actually use the water because of more residual ice in the lines. It’s a little warmer this year so it will hopefully be a bit easier.
Another thing we have going is sickness. Seems like something has been going around and many people have it, including me. I came down with some sort of respiratory illness a week ago and the cough is still lingering on. Deb so far has escaped it.
So today is fill-the-RV day. Some stuff is already in there, but we have a bunch of stuff queued up in the family room which will be put in today. Dry foods. Linens. Towels. Maps. Camera. All the miscellaneous wires and stuff needed to keep computers and tablets and phones charged. Tools. Laundry pods. About a gazillion things that we normally don’t have to think about because they are already somewhere in the house. Sure, we can buy a lot of this stuff on the road but that involves extra trips to the store and it’s usually quite a bit more expensive.
We’re not taking kayaks this year because we won’t be near much water except for the Gulf of Mexico/America. So we’ll reduce the height and weight but also reduce storage. We’ve been known to throw stuff in the kayaks, just for a place to put it. In their place will be some small totes with supplies. Anything to increase outside storage.
We will hit the road on Monday. The weather forecast looks like we may actually be driving in above-freezing temperatures. We’ll take it. Perhaps we’ll even have a working water system without waiting for things to thaw.
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