Just About Packed and Ready

Well, well, well. Finally about to hit the road. Where 'about' means tomorrow morning. Yippee!

The Eurovan is pretty much packed with the essentials.

The top two pictures show the kitchen drawer and kitchen cabinet, respectively, which now contain all of the items listed in the Camp Kitchen section of the Expedition Manifest (which follows at the end of this post.) We still have two small storage cabinets to the rear of the kitchen drawer (where the goddess is perched) that are empty as yet. We will probably use them for dry goods food and long term bathroom and kitchen supplies. The blue rectangle in the top picture is our portable screen house. It's big, bulky, and pretty heavy. I was going to strap in into the storage bin over the cab, but there was no good way to lock it up there, so we decided to lay it on the floor behind the front seat. I took the mattresses off of the upper sleeping berth (which we will not need) and laid the unrolled sleeping bags, sheets, and wool blanket flat up there.

The bottom picture shows the bikes and chairs swung away from the tailgate on a Yakima Swing Daddy hitch-mounted bike rack. At the center above the rear bumper is a storage nook that is packed with camping gear that we won't need to get to while driving. There's another storage area immediately to its right that is accessible from the top deck as well as a storage bin beneath the rear seat. The sliding door up and to the left is the wardrobe which has towels and a couple backpacks in it.

Our clothes duffel bags we plan on strapping to the rear seat. My guitar will lay on the rear storage deck and the other backpacks will go either in the wardrobe or on the floor. Otis will ride in his pet carrier facing forward just behind the front seats. His pen, which folds like an accordion, I will strap in with the table which is stored behind the driver's seat. The Eurovan has two tables which clip into the edge of the kitchen deck and have a single leg that swings down for support. The table can be mounted anywhere along the kitchen deck so you can use it from the rear seat or from the front seats (which swivel to face backwards). We decided to leave one table behind so that Otis's pen can be stored unobtrusively. That should be fine unless we get on each others' nerves to the point where we are forced to dine separately. Four feet apart.

I tested the propane burners and they fired right up and burned clean (Yeah GoWesty!). The Eurovan has a propane furnace with a thermostat but my travel plans do not include going anywhere near where I am going to need that. The fridge runs on AC, DC, and propane. I will start that up tomorrow to keep our yogurt and beverages cool while traveling using DC. I emptied the wastewater and will not fill the clean water until we get to a camp-site to cut down on travel weight.

We are heading due south in the morning, probably just over-nighting at motels and/or Walmart's (there is free over-night RV parking at every Walmart in the United States) until we get somewhere where it's warm enough to camp. We're going to bump around Florida for a bit, hit Everglades National Park and then head west when we get around to it.

Now, the moment you've all be waiting for............

Expedition Manifest:

• LL Bean King Pine 6 Dome Tent and footprint
• SwissGear 10' by 10' portable screen house
• 12' ratcheting tie-downs
• Coleman Montauk 10/30 sleeping bags
• Woolrich wool blanket
• 2 pillows
• 2 Full Flat Sheets
• 1 Beach Blanket
• 2 Beach Towels
• 2 Body Towels
• 2 Hand Towels
• Igloo 17qt. cooler
• Cannondale Bad Boy Ultra retrofitted with DT Swiss 26" wheelset
• Trek WSD 6 series MTB
• 2 Faulkner Mesh Gravity Recliners
• Washburn Rover travel guitar (blue)
• Hohner Piedmont Blues Harmonicas (D,G,B-flat,E,F,A,C)
• Hohner Special 20 Marine Band (A,C,E,D,G)
• Coleman LED Quad Lantern
• Vanguard Alta Pro 254ct camera tripod
• Blackburn AirTower1 bicycle pump

• WorkForce 16" tool box:

1. electrical tape
2. assorted phillips- and flat-head screwdrivers
3. standard pliers
4. needlenose pliers
5. medium vise grips
6. tape measure
7. duct tape
8. pruning shears
9. kitchen shears
10. box cutter
11. hatchet
12. ball peen hammer

• 17" Macbook Pro
• Droid 2 (Verizon)
• 120GB iPod
• Bose rechargeable iPod player
• 350GB Passport external drive
• 500GB Passport external drive

• Rear Storage Nooks:

1. 2 Addidas Aluminium cycling water bottles
2. Northface fanny pack:
3. 26" MTB tube (presta valve)
4. CO2 tire inflater
5. 9 CO2 cartridges
6. Multi-size allen wrench set
7. Tube patch kit
8. Swiss Army Knife
9. 4 Tire Levers
10. 1 Panaracer Fire XCPro folding tires (26")
11. 4 toe clip straps
12. 2 26" MTB tubes (presta valve)
13. Hohner Special 20 Marine Band (Keys: C, D, E, F, G, A, B-flat)
14. Motorola Walkie-Talkies w/charging base
15. Bell MTB Helmet
16. Giro LiveStrong MTB Helmet
17. 2 pair Pearl Izumi fingerless cycling gloves
18. Bolle prescription cycling glasses
19. Swift binoculars Plover #7028 8x,40

• Northface Jester Backpack (green & grey)

1. Tire pressure gauge
2. 4 H. Upmann Corona Majors
3. Bjarne tobacco pipe + 4oz. Cherry Bomb pipe tobacco
4. Acoustic Guitar Complete Lesson Series
5. Guitar Fretboard Workbook
6. Guide to Playing Harmonica (for Wailin' Wendy Weigands)
7. Howl - Ginsberg (Pocket Poets Edition)
8. Remembrance of Things Past (Moncrieff 2 volumes)
9. Borges - Collected Fictions
10. National Audubon Field Guide to North American Birds
11. National Audubon Field Guide to North American Reptiles & Amphibians
12. National Audubon Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders
13. National Audubon Field Guide to North American Mammals (Bears!)

• High Sierra Backpack (black, corporate swag branded Celgene):

1. Dell Latitude D530 laptop and power supply
2. 2GB thumbdrive
3. Logitech M305 wireless mouse
4. Sony MDR-642 headphones
5. TI-1706SV solar powered calculator
6. Checkbook
7. Moleskin 4"x6" notebook
8. 4 blank journals
9. 2 fountain pens
10. 1 bottle ink
11. 5 Pilot G2 gel pens (assorted colors)
12. 1 Pentel mechanical pencil
13. Samsung N150 Netbook (2G RAM) and power supply
14. 1 book blank checks
15. 1 box envelopes

• Camp Kitchen (in Eurovan Cabinets):

1. Le Creuset 2.75qt Dutch Oven
2. Stansport Enamel Tableware (4 plates, 4 bowls, 4 cups)
3. Wooden salad bowl
4. Tea Kettle
5. Tea pot
6. GSI 32oz French Coffee Press
7. 4 anodized aluminium drinking glasses
8. Rubbermaid 1 gallon cold beverage jug
9. 8"x12" plastic cutting board
10. OXO 12" tongs
11. Grill basket
12. Vegetable steamer
13. Whisk
14. Kitchen Shears
15. Vegetable peeler
16. 2 Steak knives
17. 12" Henkel Chef's knife
18. Henkel paring knife
19. Bamboo skewers
20. 4qt Stockpot w/lid
21. 3 mixing bowls
22. 10" Cast Iron Skillet
23. Dishwashing Liquid
24. 1 Sponge

• Gerry's Duffle Bag:

1. 3 pairs Cargo Shorts
2. 2 long sleeve Addidas shirts
3. 1 pair Levis Jeans
4. 1 pair Columbia camp pants
5. 6 pairs Body Glove briefs
6. 2 pairs swimming trunks
7. 1 pair Oakley flip-flops
8. 1 pair Merrel Gore-tex trail shoes
9. 1 pair Hi-Tech hiking boots
10. 4 colored T-Shirts
11. 1 NorthFace fleece Jacket
12. 1 Marmot hooded rain-jacket
13. 1 Under Amour scully cap
14. 1 Painter Lizard baseball cap
15. 5 pairs Under Armour short socks
16. 1 pair long rag socks
17. 1 Patagonia polypro long sleeve shirt
18. 1 blue denim workshirt
19. 1 pair Descente cycling shorts
20. 1 pair Pearl Izumi cycling tights
21. 1 Cannodale sleeveless cycling jersey
22. 1 Troy Lewis long sleeve cycling jersey

• Gerry's Toilet Kit (dark blue Northface Jester Backpack):

1. 5 disposable razors
2. 1 Tube shaving cream
3. 1 Mennen Speed Stick
4. 1 British Sterling aftershave
5. 1 tube topical cortisone
6. 1 battery operated electric tooth brush
7. 1 Conair electric hair clippers
8. 1 tube Tom's of Maine toothpaster

• Otis's Corner:

1. 1 16" x 9" Pet Carrier (aka Otis's Rockin' Road Hutch)
2. Timothy Grass w/Marigold
3. Bedding
4. Carrier Liners
5. Folding Metal Small Animal Pen
6. Kibble

• Wendy's Duffle Bag:

1. NorthFace fleece jacket
2. Denim Jacket
3. 2 cycling shorts
4. 1 long cycling tights
5. 3 sleeveless cycling jerseys
6. 3 long sleeve cycling jerseys
7. 3 pairs shorts
8. 3 sleeveless tops
9. 3 T-shirts
10. 1 Sweatshirt
11. 1 Cotton skirt
12. 1 silk robe
13. 1 dressy top
14. 5 pairs socks
15. 8 sets of unmentionables
16. 1 pair flip-flops
17. 2 pairs sandals
18. 2 pairs sneakers
19. Hiking Boots

• Wendy's extras:

1. Tarot Cards
2. Journal
3. Runes, Candles. Goblet. Magick Tools
4. Dragon Tapestry
5. Babe
6. Dags
7. Crayons, Colored Pencils, Drawing Paper
8. Frisbee
9. Prayer Beads
10. Magic Stone

• Wendy's Toiletry Bag:

1. FaceWash
2. Shampoo/Bodywash
3. Moisturizer
4. Masacra, Lipstick
5. Eye Shadow
6. Sunblock
7. Razors, Shaving cream
8. Nail Clippers
9. Nail Polish
10. Nail Polish Remover
11. Q-tips
12. Deodorant