12/15/22 Two weeks to go. Yes of course a major winter storm, make that 2, lets you know who's boss. The fact that I gambled by not putting the logging chains on the rear wheels, nor even the snow blower on the tractor PTO, makes it just that much more stressful. How did I think I could get outta Dodge without a snowstorm hitting first? Twenty-one inches of heavy wet snow predicted will require three sorties (AM, PM, AM) to clear it. This stuff is gonna be the concrete type snow that eats shear pins on the driveshaft and clogs the chute. I am only asking that it doesn't also put rain in the mix. The snow blower was lubed and put on, the tractor relocated to by the house and tarp-ed. The Engine block heater plugged into a 50 ft extension and the Carhart one piece snowmobile suit hangs by the stove. I gotta a feeling I'll regret not putting those tire logging chains on... logging chains weigh 75 lbs a wheel, a pita.
The kitchen table and an additional 6 ft table have been designated as the drop for all things that the list says we need. One section for dog, one for food, one for gear, 6 soccer balls for kids en-route, beer, like provisions on a boat gotta all fit in their camper's dedicated spot. Six quarts special engine oil and filter for a change mid trip, same with diesel fuel filters. The clothes have been laid out upstairs ready for the stuff sack bags. The house propane was filed yesterday (on a fill-dongle tank gauge installed so to monitor the fuel level while on the road). Town hall notified about taxes paid while gone, banks and credit card companies notified we will be traveling. Post office notified that the mail delivery will stop. Checking out the dog radio collar works, (Timer lights, security cameras, thermostats set to the house network allows real time monitoring and adjusting. The person to come and plow the driveway open only when it gets too deep (so the propane truck or fire dept. could get up to the house) set up. A fire needing to be set unlit in the wood stove so that when notified that the electricity (hence heat) is out a friend can come into the house and light the wood stove (and help themselves to the whiskey supply) keeping the water pipes from freezing and hoping they don't screw up and burn the house down due to whiskey. This is almost as challenging as organizing Middle school field trips with 120 students and 5 parents who don't want any actual duties as a chaperone; 28 years of that can cause brain damage.
I wake at night thinking of things missed on the list or what to do when something's happened... yup Virgo. Can't help it without therapy and Irish don't do therapy, it's documented. So I wake at night thinking lists. Going down them while asleep something hits a bell saying "hold on there...what about"... the list for Mexico. As we are going to Baja there is less work and worry. Baja is like the hill-towns of western Mass compared to inside the route 128 metro area. It is easier in lots of ways but as it is rural, it requires foreknowledge. There are also the documents needed at the border. Three hard copies of everything and also kept on a phone file as well. There is the required Mexican vehicle insurance (as most US companies won't insure you anyway and it is mandatory) and the FMM which is a long form required so that you don't "import" your vehicle (sell it while there). The the passports and medical ...that is why it is good to get advice. We did and all is as it should be.
One extra note out of nowhere. Something I never thought about as I traveled for 3 months in South America or same in Asia: being in contact. There was none. If I needed to contact home in the states I had to get to a Western Union in a large city to send a telegram. Did so twice. Once when I got caught in a coup in Bolivia and the other when the Sandinistas blew up Samosa in Paraguay where i was working. Otherwise one just went about their trip and took photos which one developed 3 months later and maybe made a few copies to mail (taking a few months to arrive, maybe). One would "tell all about your trip" at a quick get together where you had to sum up a huge life experience in a paragraph before moving on to the equally weighty description of their day at the mall. But now we have instantaneous experiences. I will do my best not to do. Just musings about the day or rather what they made me think about. Gawd help you.
And so there is this 'journal' a way I can remember what happened when and also keep contact with folks interested in where we are. I can't do individual stuff as I am busy with the dog chasing a coyote or the two methods of dealing with "the loo" functioning. Busy campers. I am chronologize-ing and in so doing whinging.... but I am excited... it doesn't come through but it's is there. This is so because I am too in the prep stage to remember I am actually going somewhere. When I get in the truck and say sayonara Buckland.... it will hit me and the excitement will surface.
Yes, chains on the tractor when blowing snow. Listening to the diesel hum at the proper rpm and watching the stream of snow out the chute, that's my therapy time and when I go over lists in my mind. You are excited. We can tell.
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