The leaves!

Going on the road again requires a bit of work on the home front. My fenced in patio seems to be the main collection point for all winter leaves from LVW.  The leaves love to congregate in the enclosed space tucked away under a gigantic oak tree.  I ventured out onto my patio the other day and realized that these nice dry leaves were ripe for collection and disposal.  And in order to keep them dry they needed to be dealt with post haste. I have a Toro leaf tool. It has a bag for collection and a blower. But the blower/sucker-upper thing has to be switched around for each chore. They sucker-upper does a good job of picking up, grinding and depositing into a cloth bag. But as it collects the leaves, the bag gets heavier and heavier. Said bag drapes over the shoulder. I didn't feel like dragging the bag around, depositing the grinds into a garbage bag and then dragging that bag around the house to the curb. Since I had never done leaf blowing I would need the directions on how to convert to that mode. Oh no! Who knows where the directions are hiding? So I opted to rake, kick and drag the leaves out of my patio area, down the moss to the sidewalk, across a 30 ft mossy area and into woods.  After an afternoon of practice I found I had developed a new form of dance. It is called the 'leaf raking shuffle.' You accumulate a large pile of leaves, put the rake between your legs and shuffle forward bringing a huge glom of leaves toward the desired destination. Get as far as you can with the load, go back, rake the pile again, do the shuffle. The benefit is you get to use a full range of body muscles not just your arm, back and hands. Why didn't I leave the leaves until I return in June? It rains all spring. These leaves will become a huge soggy, heavy mass that can not be raked, sucked up or ground up.

My 'to do' list keeps growing instead of shrinking. But the current list is getting more detailed with last minute things such as filling prescriptions, getting quarters for laundry and withdrawing cash.  Today I finished making bug nets for all of the windows. They are custom fit to the shape of my windows. Also custom fit are the privacy cardboard cut outs I have made for my windows. Nothing is square on a Prius, and in fact every window has curved corners. One more delicate process requires leveling my car so that I can paste on small levels.  I need two, one for the for-aft angle of parking and the other for side to side. I had these in my RV which made my bed level for the night. Tomorrow the last construction project will be to add screw off legs to a plywood board I will use as a table. It will have only two legs because the other end will sit on the back deck. The back deck happens to be the same height as a normal 28 inch table. I also want to thank the anonymous neighbor on Winchester who flagged me down to give me a full set of WeatherTech floor liners!

In order to simplify and reduce my equipment I will be going green on this trip.  No paper plates, cups or plastic utensils. How much trouble can it be to do the dishes at dinner? When I went to Costa Rica in December I attempted to go cold turkey from Facebook and the news. I didn't last more than a few days. We will see how long I stay going 'green.' I also bought reusable straws.

Tonight I finalized my itinerary and added one last element to the excitement. I will be taking a full day raft trip down the Upper Colorado River leaving from Moab, UT.  I have already done the Grand Canyon by raft. The rapids on that trip were really impressive but for this trip out of Moab I am looking forward to a lovely leisurely trip through the red rocks.

This trip is also different because I will be staying at Airbnb's in three locations. I have never used their service before. I have picked places with advertised rates similar to a Motel 6 but they come out more expensive when you add the service and cleaning fees which are tacked on. I certainly hope they will be more comfortable than a Motel 6.  Taking these kinds of trips has taught me a few things. Never use a Super 8 as they are nasty. Motel 6's are clean, basic with internet and no shaggy rugs. The other thing I have learned is to avoid staying at locations near prisons!

As I did research for this trip I hit upon some interesting places to visit.  Outside of Huntsville, AL is the Unclaimed Baggage Center. All of the lost luggage which has not been retrieved,  goes to this center where contents are sold.  Natchez, MS will be having their Spring Pilgrimage where I can visit some of the wonderful historic mansions built along the bluffs above the Mississippi. At one point in our history, Natchez was the third largest city in the US. Outside of Big Bend National Park is an outfitter who leads a combination trail ride in the morning and a Rio Grande canoe trip in the afternoon. I found a tiny place south of Tucson called Tubac which is an art colony. On the road between Tucson and Tubac, very close to the Mexican border, is a Titan Missile site. The decommissioned missile without its nuclear warhead is still in the silo. Why we had a Titan Missile on the Mexican border is an interesting question. I intend to drive something called the Mogi Dugway in Utah.  This dirt road climbs the side of a steep cliff with no guard rails. The videos I have seem look awesome.

Speaking of videos, I have been watching YouTube videos about camping in a Prius. Go ahead, type 'camping in a Prius' into the YouTube search bar. Up pops a plethora of content with lots of good and some bad advice. I followed a frequent YouTuber called Rusty 78609. From him I got the idea to get a 12 volt cooler. I can run the cooler via the 12 volt battery in my car. My car has two batteries and they are both in the rear of the car. The 12 volt is in the trunk space and the hybrid battery is sunk deep within the center back somewhere. I watched another segment of Rusty 78609 to find out I could use an adapter to run the cooler right off the 12 volt battery and not have the car running all the time. So I bought an adapter. Then I watched Rusty 78609 again only to discover that he had returned his 12 volt cooler because some truckers had told him not to run his cooler directly off that battery.  I didn't listen to the reason why! I had already torn up the shipping box for my cooler so I decided I would run it when the car was on and also carry ice. I think the ice will keep longer that way. Ice is a big bugaboo on a trip like this. It takes a lot of maintenance and some crafty tricks to keep food from floating in water all of the time! Not to mention the cost of ice over 10 weeks!

For those of you worrying I always wear a dog tag with my name on it, license plate #, and my son's name and number. See, doesn't that make me safe?

Because my car is a hybrid I can run the heater and/or air conditioning all night. The car cycles on and off once in awhile but does not use more than a thimble of gasoline. (The car is so silent I have been known to leave the car running all night.) I think I have a method perfected to turn on the ignition so that I can then turn on the heater or the AC.  I will use my hiking poles. While still lying in bed, I will use one pole to reach forward to push on the brake pedal and the other to hit the heater button. Right! but at least I will have a full length bed. By moving the front passenger seat all the way forward and filling in the space behind, a full size, 4 inch thick foam cot mattress will fit perfectly.

The excitement for me is building daily. Stay tuned for more On the Road Again.

In the Beginning....

On The Road Again is my new blog about my upcoming trip across the US. This trip will focus on heading south in order to visit Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Then it will focus on visiting 8 national parks in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado.  For this, as with my past trips, I will be driving my Prius and camping. This trip is different, however, because I will be sleeping in my car. I will not be pitching a tent but using what I refer to as a 'tentlet'. My tentlet is made by TailVeil and fits on the raised back hatch of the Prius. The tentlet slips over the hatch and fits snugly around the rear area of the car, excluding the tailpipe. It has bug netting, zippered doors and a rainfly. Because I will be sleeping in my car I will make cardboard cutouts to block all of the windows to give me privacy and also sew bug netting covers for my windows. The Prius has two batteries because it is a hybrid which enables me to run the A/C or heater all night. The 12 volt battery is in the rear so I can tap into that to run my 12 volt cooler. The rear seat on a Prius divides so I can fold one side. By moving the front seat all the way forward and filling in the gap behind, I can have a full 75 inch long mat laid out. The mattress I am using is a tri-fold design 75 by 27 inches; narrower than a single bed but just as long for my tootsies.

My tent let

I have read the process of planning a trip is actually the best part of a trip. I am not sure I agree with that but planning this trip took a great deal of work but was so exciting. My home grown library includes a number of resources I used to research and write my itinerary. I used Google and Google maps as well as AAA maps and tour books. Another invaluable resource was a publication called "Next Exit."  It lists all of the services located at every exit on the entire interstate system.  I also used "1000 Places to See in the US Before You Die," "Scenic Byways," "Atlas Obscura," a national parks guide, state parks guide and a camping guide. Particularly important was to study each destination in order to determine the number of days necessary to adequately cover the highlights.  I also wanted to limit the amount of driving I did in any given day. Google Maps was invaluable in determining that.

Kick off day is April 1, with an arrival home on June 8th. Between now and April 1st, I have check lists galore to finish in preparation. There are myriad things that need to be done in order to leave my house and cat with a kind friend who will house and cat sit. Then there is construction of the window covers, bug netting and table as well as things such as updating my GPS units. I travel with my car GPS to see the whole picture but also use a Garmin for driving directions. My goal is to travel light and simply. I want to cut down on what I bring and simplify my daily routine. Some of the national parks are very remote with services and appropriate camping locations scarce. Some parks do not take reservations and some are already reserved. I am hoping with my current set up I will be extremely flexible because my bed is already laid out in my car!

To be continued.