PREPARATIONS
Getting ready for a trip requires numerous preparations and in our case, this upcoming adventure is a road trip in our RV, conspicuously named SUGAR 8. We are anticipating a long trip, close to 9,000 miles and a return by the end of August.
That’s for SUsie and GARy in our 8th RV. I listed the previous 7 elsewhere for those interested: They are in the 3rd paragraph on this old blog:
When we are preparing our house on wheels (1-ton Mercedes chassis, 6 cyl diesel) there are a plethora of items on our checklist. They include, and are not limited to, the engine, tires, wheels, lights, brakes, etc. along with the components for the RV – bathroom, kitchen, stove, refrigerator/freezer, AC, electronics, generator, holding tanks, accessories, satellite dish and wifi extender, plus tools and supplies. We then add personal items of food and drink, clothes, toiletries, our own electronics and a whole lot of miscellaneous stored in outside compartments – chairs, grill, outdoor rug, hoses and cords. SUGAR 8 is a 2019 Leisure Travel Van, Unity MB (Murphy Bed) 25′.
We recommend having advance reservations during peak travel seasons although we often start without any, look ahead to see what campgrounds or sites might be near where we anticipate being later on and call ahead. We have several resources for where to stay including www.camplife.com among others. We use paper maps to plot a course and then either WAYZ or a Garmin GPS to take us where we want to go. Our 25 years of RV camping experience serves us well.
Charting a course on land is similar to filing a flight plan or a sailing trip with obvious differences. The similarities are adjusting according to conditions and using electronics to know things like distance, locations, weather, and traffic. The differences are that we are on solid ground and not as subject to wind, tides and current although wind can affect an RV because of its height. We can also choose to alter a course because we see something somewhere off our route that piques our interest or we may hear of something interesting along the way from fellow travelers. We have a variety of interests and are the curious types. Some of those places may appear here later on.
Our intention is to share some of our travel experience with others who might want to follow along. We are independent, unfunded and have no proprietary interests in anything we mention such as a product or service. We will try to keep these travel blogs fairly brief, include some photos, maybe an interview or podcast, who knows what we’ll come up with next? I see down below that I am already at 448 words so I’ll sign off for now and see you later, down the road.