Husband has spent the last week and a half with cold - which we are guessing he caught from me. I had been feeling fine and was doing things he would normally do concerning food - such as when we went to Wendys for lunch I would order, pay and pickup the food instead of him - this intended to keep me from catching back the cold. Well, it worked for a while.
I had planned to be telling you about our being in our little RV and dealing with the problems of organizing it for the trip. We had planned on leaving this past Monday and coming home on Friday as the weather was suppose to be nice there all week. As the trip date came closer, Monday and Tuesday were to have RAIN there. Wednesday would be okay there, but there might be some rain on the drive down. Since one cannot cancel RV park reservations this close to a trip, we waited to make same.
Our idea was that we wake early (for us) today and call and make reservations. During the night I started having cold symptoms again - bad and heavy ones. I had trouble sleeping. When we woke earlier than the alarm, husband was concerned about reaching the RV park to make the reservations as the office opens at 9 am, but it is hard to speak to someone before 11 am usually and we had to be on the road by 9 am to try to avoid the dreaded Belt Parkway and the construction along the entire length. I was trying to breathe. We sadly decided to not go today.
As we thought about this during the day - and I started to feel a bit better (amazing what 2 little aspirins can do in getting rid of a headache) and able to breathe again. We decided that I would call the RV park and make reservations for tomorrow night and Friday night and have a 3 day trip. We tend try not to be in Lancaster, PA on Saturdays - especially in summer - as there are too many tourists. (Yes, I know we are tourists also, but we are polite ones who try to blend in, not act rudely as many of our fellow New Yorkers and those from New Jersey do. We go there not for the novelty of the visit, but because it feels like a second home to us.) I was only able to get a reservation in a space that we know (and know it will be level) for tomorrow night, so we are going for just 2 days - and will hope that along the way there will a space we like for Friday night also. Oddly the 6 spaces that they had available for the 2 nights in the section we like, were all ones we have had problems with in the past - maybe others know that they are not level? (For those who have never stayed in an RV or trailer, if the RV or trailer is not level one feels off - walking uphill and down, the cabinet doors either swing shut or swing open, most of the refrigerators for same need to be level to work, etc. Most units have automatic levelers; ours does not. So we will go and see what happens as to how long we will stay.
Yesterday I packed the RV. As I have mentioned before, we keep basic items in it so we don’t need to remember or pack them - toothpaste, soap, dish soap, shampoo, an electric razor for husband, cleaning supplies, office supplies (pens, pencils, paper, stamps, clear tape, stapler...), dishes, pots, tableware, blankets & bedding (bed is still made up from last time as we only used it two nights then - covered the pillows on the bed with the blankets), towels - hand & dish, flashlights, sun hats, rain gear and the like. It is much easier to buy extras of these items than to have to remember to bring them each time - and then remember to put them away when we get home. We filled the water tanks on Monday - this gives us 25 gallons of water for drinking, cleaning, flushing, etc. Yesterday I packed clothing for us for 4 days (we always bring an extra days clothing on a short trip, 2 days worth on a longer one) into the shelves in the RV “closet” (a small cabinet). I packed snacks for us into plastic boxes which snap lock closed and put them into one of the “kitchen cabinets” - two thin shelves one about a foot long and the other about 18 inches long which have doors that snap closed. When we first got the RV we would fill both of these cabinets. Now I use only one for food as we have learned that we do not need as much as thought we did. (Heck, there are supermarkets and farmers’ markets everywhere there - including 24 hour Walmarts.) The other cabinet gets used to hold items such as plastic shopping bags, sweaters, whatever. The refrigerator gets soda - a big bottle to use at night and some cans in case we have lunch at a farmer’s market - which is common - or such, we will not have to buy something to drink.
Shoes were brought in and stored - I bring or wear sneakers and bring leather shoes in case of rain. We keep slippers in the RV. I have a pair of slip on sneakers that I keep in it - in colder weather I might be wearing shoe boots and if I need to run outside, it is easier to slip on these sneakers. We also each keep shower slippers in the RV.
I put the batteries in the thermometer for the fridge - better to find out I need new batteries then, rather than find out when we are leaving. I also put the toll reader into place in the front window. I bring in the store coupons from our car.
How do I keep track of all of this - what needs to be put in the RV when. I have a list of course. I have it memorized in my computer in a spreadsheet. I have a “Do Ahead” section - put water in the tanks, fill bottles of water to bring in the fridge, fill our travel medication boxes and such. I also have a “Check Ahead” section - this is for items which get used up on trips - paper plates, cups, bathroom cups, napkins (well, okay generally these don’t run out as we end up picking up some at different places as we travel) is there enough paper towels, toilet paper and tissues; soaps and related items; did the towels go back in after laundering after the last trip; and such.
I then have categories of what to pack -
What clothing items we need; what snack/food items we need/want.
Items to take from our car and bring - sunglasses, glasses.
Electronics - you know, tablets, laptops, extra or old cell phones as backups (we would not forget our current ones of course), camera if it is touring trip.
Household items - laundry bags (we bring our clothes into the RV in 2 laundry bags to unpack them. One is stored away until the end of the trip and is used to take unworn clothing back into the house. The other is used as a - well - laundry bag and then the dirty clothing goes back into house in it and tossed down the stairs to the basement.
I have some coupons which were picked up on earlier trips or came in the mail related to where we are going and I keep them in an envelope that I bring (it’s on the list of course). Also for our regular main trips (well they used to be regular and main) I have an envelope for each that labeled on the outside on a edge with the name and approximate date of the trip. For example - Labor Day trip- September, Fourth of July trip, etc. I keep them in date order with the next trip in the front of the stack in the same 3 section holder on the wall next to my desk as I keep our unpaid bills (the travel coupon holder is mixed in the same section as these envelopes. If say we pick up coupons for the Kutztown festival in advance - they are put in the envelope for same and will be there when we need them. I also have backpack
Things to do - magazines, my embroidery, etc. Generally they are not touched while we are away, but I always bring them. Husband gives me whatever he wants of same.
Finally, our “last minute bag”. This contains items we might need at home until the moment we leave. I have 3 plastic boxes in the bag. One has OTC medications - if we our stomachs feel bad at home, we take the pill out of the box. If ditto while on a trip, well, ditto. I don’t like to buy these items special for the RV as we use them so rarely, that even the one bottle is not used up by any stretch of when the expiration date is or beyond that seems safe. One has a bit more of same and our thermometer - one can get ill even on a trip and again, we did not want to buy 2 of them. The last box has items we will need on the trip - prescription medications for example - and will taken out of the bag the first night of our trip and stored in the cubby that has our personal items needed for the evening and the morning. We add other items as we use them for the final time at home before the trip. Much of what is in the bag will stay in the bag for the trip and it is stored where it can be more or less easily accessed.
The list also has a section for what we need to on our return to make sure that everything that needs to be is out of the RV and back into the house - and there are always items that we bought on the trip in addition to what we brought. I have a pattern for taking everything out of the RV - but don’t worry I am not going into that now. The list for our return reminds me of what needs to come out and that we need to shut off the refrigerator, air conditioning, inside light, and the RV battery - and put a towel into the refrigerator in case there is any leaking from the small freezer section. (There is a quick version of what absolutely has to come out/be done in case it is raining.
So, everything but the last minute bag, this laptop, and the rain jackets we might have needed for the trip is packed in our RV. Tomorrow we will bring these items, turn on the RV batteries, start the refrigerator in the RV, back out of our driveway and be on our way.
Oh, that sounds so easy. To back out into 2 lanes of traffic on our side of the road involves me standing in the road with a walkie talkie and telling him when he can pull out - talk about needing planning and organization!
I also have a short list, kept on a little clipboard that we use to check off each day of the trip that we have done everything we need to do before pulling out. We would not want to forget to unplug the RV from the electricity so the system is not broken or to lock a cabinet or the refrigerator door and have everything in it go flying when we drive. A common thing that we husband forgets is after we disconnect from the camp’s sources he needs to open the curtain at the back of the RV so he can see out same - good thing it is on my list and I turn around see that it is open and if not send him to open it. Even odd things are on my list. We have an outside light next to the side door. (Same as the light next to your front/back door at home.) We don’t turn it on. One day after driving around much of the day I realized it was on - it must have gotten turned on by accident the night before - I turned it off of course and I added it to the check off list. This short list has several columns so that on a trip up to 4 days can be marked off on the same form.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
If you do something that has many steps or many parts as a repeated thing, make up a list on your computer for what you need to do. Print it out each time you are doing to do the task and actually cross the items off the list. If needed I list the items that are going to be done at the last minute on the side as I see them - and circle them on the list. If I find that there is something that I need to add - I list it on the back of the page and add it when we return home.
Showing posts with label packing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label packing. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Thursday, July 5, 2018
NOT IN PENNSYLVANIA
Remember over the past few weeks before I told you that we were going away this week and the work involved in preparing our RV for the trip? Well, we’re home - not away. Why?
I printed out my list of what has to be done to set up and pack the RV. We put the mattresses (actually pieces of the mattresses as each half of the mattress is made up of 3 pieces) in the RV. I pulled out stuff that was in the RV for the winter that is needed to pack it - food storage boxes, fabric shopping bags to carry stuff out to and back from the RV, and so on. I also have some stuff to do because it has not been used since last year - such as change the refrigerator baking powder holder (to keep it from smelling - same as a box of same in one’s home fridge - but I get the one that goes on inside the fridge with a suction cup as the box would probably fall over as we traveled around and make a mess). I checked that we had hand and dish soap and shampoo. You know -the sort of stuff you have at home and never think about needing on a trip - unless you have an RV.
Last Thursday we plugged the RV into the house electricity to make sure the batteries were fully charged. They are old and we should have replaced them, but that has not been in the budget, so we have to make sure they are charged, so that the fridge in it will keep working when the car engine is off when we are parked somewhere. (It does also recharge while we are driving and while it is plugged in at night in the RV park.)
On Friday I suggested to husband that I would makeup the bed while the RV was plugged in so I could run the air conditioner as it was soooo hot out - and inside is like being in a car that has not had ac on and even hotter. He reminded me that it could not be put on if the ac was plugged in at the house as the amperage was not enough, but - he had wanted to turn on the generator and make sure it was working.
So we turned on the generator - horrors, it turned on fine - but the microwave clock did not come on. You may be thinking - who cares about the microwave clock of all things. There are two things that will not work in the RV unless it is plugged in at full amperage - the ac and the, yes, the microwave. If the microwave light was not on - the generator was not transferring electricity to the RV. We turned the generator off and husband climbed under - again - and found that the fellow who worked on it had turned and left the connection switch off. We turned on the generator and this time the it was connected and working. I started making up the bed - a 45 minute minimum process as I have described before and husband walked out to let me work.
He was back shortly. There was oil coming out of the generator. Whether something was broken, or the plug was loose, or the fact that too much oil had been put in it - something was wrong. He ran inside and called the shop that had changed the oil. Well, 4:30 pm Friday - they would be glad to help on - Monday morning, when we scheduled to be on our trip. Husband made the appointment.
I suggested that we could set up the RV except for the last minute things, take the RV to the shop, come home, add the list minute things (or we would have to wake up even earlier to put them in and secure them in place) and go on our trip. Husband was not happy with this idea, as it is very hard to back the darn thing off our driveway - I have to stand in traffic and tell him when to back out and he has to do it quickly - and he did not want to do it twice in one day. I went back in the RV and did a quick set up of the bed as the generator was running and oil was still coming out of it. I only did the mattress set up, then we stopped the generator - I brought the pillows into the house to deal with them. It will be a lumpy set up in mattress as I was not able to smooth out the sheets properly - I will deal with it when we travel in it.
The more husband thought about it, the more he did not want to leave after going to the shop again. But - if we cancel the reservation we have to pay for it any way. In addition as the weekend went along, the weather became extremely hot and thunderstorms while we would be there. He panicked even more.
I decided to suggest that we go one day during the week - whichever day seemed to be the best weather - for us to go to the annual folk festival (crafts) that we want to go to (we can go there and home the same day, we have done so in the past) and try to move the reservations to next week. He agreed.
As I was about to do so I realized that there was problem with going next week - we had money coming in this week and it had to be transferred to checking to pay our “big” credit card bill which has to be mailed out the 10th. Darn!!!!!
I then suggested the week after - which seemed okay all around - we have a reenactment the weekend after it, but would be home Friday night and the reenactment is Sunday.
So this past Saturday I telephoned the RV park and explained that we had a reservation for Monday and we have had a problem with the RV and it could not be worked on until Monday. Could we please change the reservation to 2 weeks later - and I was told it was okay - the same space was even available. Now, I may find that they are not applying our deposit to the changed trip, but if so, well that is how it is. Hopefully we will get credit for the deposit.
So now we are home for July 4th. Something which I do not think has happened since we were married - and maybe before. With nothing to do. For “excitement” we went to Barnes and Nobles today.
Earlier in the week I was trying to think how to make today more July 4th ish. He has hot dogs for dinner around once a week so I moved them to today. We don’t have an outdoor grill. I have not been able to eat hot dogs for a few years, so I figured I would make my Thursday night turkey burger in an elongated shape so it would fit in the brat rolls we had in the house and I figured he would use for the hot dogs. We had some frozen fries I would make for him. When I went to make dinner I suggested that I use a cast iron pan with a grill that I had not used in awhile to cook my burger and his hot dogs to make them more like being grilled outside. (Normally he has me boil his hot dogs.) He told me to do one that way to try it.
I put the grill pan on the stove to heat up. I started making (canned) soup. I checked how much fries there were. Suddenly the kitchen was full of smoke and the smoke detector was going off. The grill pan - with no food added - was burning whatever was on it and the smoke was heading through the house. I turned off the burner, opened the back door (next to the stove) and fanned the smoke a bit with the door - this usually will direct smoke out the door if something like this happens. I turned off the ceiling fan - same. I turned off the soup. The alarm kept going off. I would push the button, it would stop, and then start again. I am 5'1" and have to stand on my toes on a chair to reach the button. I stayed up there pushing the button over and over. In between I would jump off the chair and try putting the ceiling fan on or off. After 10 minutes of this I texted husband upstairs for help. Between his hearing not being what it was and the fact that he was in a room on the other side of the house - which is not that far as the house is small, but he had the air conditioner on and the room door closed so he did not hear the alarm going off.
He came down and took over the spot on the chair, pushing the button over and over. We could not clear the smoke from the air. This is one of the new alarms with a permanent battery, so we could not pull the battery or the alarm would have to be thrown away. We tried covering it with a shower cap. (The RV is small and if one cooks in it the smoke alarm goes off and people put a shower cap over it to keep the smoke out of it when cooking - and it works, as cooked in it after a couple of hurricanes when we had no electricity in the house for the electric stove there.)
Finally about 45 minutes later the alarm stopped. The house still reeked of smoke. The pan was on the floor in the porch. Dinner should have been cooked and ready.
I turned the soup back on. I boiled his hot dogs. The fried potatoes had been cooking during all this in the toaster oven. But what about my dinner? I was not going to try to cook my burger in any of my pans and add more smoke to the house. I ended up cooking frozen vegetables for me for dinner - vegan for tonight. My burger is wrapped in plastic wrap for dinner tomorrow night. I have the grill pan soaking water to try to clean it.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
No matter what one’s plans are they may go awry. One just has to be able to think and deal with the problems so that they are in some manner resolved.
We will go on the trip later than we figured - but this will probably be good as it will not be as crowded then - and husband hates crowds. Hopefully we will have a day that is nice to go for the one day trip - and as husband scowled over the cost of the tolls - I reminded him that when we go that way the tolls are much, much lower as we are going to a different area - maybe 1/3 of when we go to where we usually go.
Dinner was late (and we missed the start of the PBS “Capitol Fourth” on TV), but we had dinner and the show was rerun after its showing so we saw the start afterwards.
None of this is earth shattering - just an annoyance - and I had two stories about trying to be organized to tell you this week.
I printed out my list of what has to be done to set up and pack the RV. We put the mattresses (actually pieces of the mattresses as each half of the mattress is made up of 3 pieces) in the RV. I pulled out stuff that was in the RV for the winter that is needed to pack it - food storage boxes, fabric shopping bags to carry stuff out to and back from the RV, and so on. I also have some stuff to do because it has not been used since last year - such as change the refrigerator baking powder holder (to keep it from smelling - same as a box of same in one’s home fridge - but I get the one that goes on inside the fridge with a suction cup as the box would probably fall over as we traveled around and make a mess). I checked that we had hand and dish soap and shampoo. You know -the sort of stuff you have at home and never think about needing on a trip - unless you have an RV.
Last Thursday we plugged the RV into the house electricity to make sure the batteries were fully charged. They are old and we should have replaced them, but that has not been in the budget, so we have to make sure they are charged, so that the fridge in it will keep working when the car engine is off when we are parked somewhere. (It does also recharge while we are driving and while it is plugged in at night in the RV park.)
On Friday I suggested to husband that I would makeup the bed while the RV was plugged in so I could run the air conditioner as it was soooo hot out - and inside is like being in a car that has not had ac on and even hotter. He reminded me that it could not be put on if the ac was plugged in at the house as the amperage was not enough, but - he had wanted to turn on the generator and make sure it was working.
So we turned on the generator - horrors, it turned on fine - but the microwave clock did not come on. You may be thinking - who cares about the microwave clock of all things. There are two things that will not work in the RV unless it is plugged in at full amperage - the ac and the, yes, the microwave. If the microwave light was not on - the generator was not transferring electricity to the RV. We turned the generator off and husband climbed under - again - and found that the fellow who worked on it had turned and left the connection switch off. We turned on the generator and this time the it was connected and working. I started making up the bed - a 45 minute minimum process as I have described before and husband walked out to let me work.
He was back shortly. There was oil coming out of the generator. Whether something was broken, or the plug was loose, or the fact that too much oil had been put in it - something was wrong. He ran inside and called the shop that had changed the oil. Well, 4:30 pm Friday - they would be glad to help on - Monday morning, when we scheduled to be on our trip. Husband made the appointment.
I suggested that we could set up the RV except for the last minute things, take the RV to the shop, come home, add the list minute things (or we would have to wake up even earlier to put them in and secure them in place) and go on our trip. Husband was not happy with this idea, as it is very hard to back the darn thing off our driveway - I have to stand in traffic and tell him when to back out and he has to do it quickly - and he did not want to do it twice in one day. I went back in the RV and did a quick set up of the bed as the generator was running and oil was still coming out of it. I only did the mattress set up, then we stopped the generator - I brought the pillows into the house to deal with them. It will be a lumpy set up in mattress as I was not able to smooth out the sheets properly - I will deal with it when we travel in it.
The more husband thought about it, the more he did not want to leave after going to the shop again. But - if we cancel the reservation we have to pay for it any way. In addition as the weekend went along, the weather became extremely hot and thunderstorms while we would be there. He panicked even more.
I decided to suggest that we go one day during the week - whichever day seemed to be the best weather - for us to go to the annual folk festival (crafts) that we want to go to (we can go there and home the same day, we have done so in the past) and try to move the reservations to next week. He agreed.
As I was about to do so I realized that there was problem with going next week - we had money coming in this week and it had to be transferred to checking to pay our “big” credit card bill which has to be mailed out the 10th. Darn!!!!!
I then suggested the week after - which seemed okay all around - we have a reenactment the weekend after it, but would be home Friday night and the reenactment is Sunday.
So this past Saturday I telephoned the RV park and explained that we had a reservation for Monday and we have had a problem with the RV and it could not be worked on until Monday. Could we please change the reservation to 2 weeks later - and I was told it was okay - the same space was even available. Now, I may find that they are not applying our deposit to the changed trip, but if so, well that is how it is. Hopefully we will get credit for the deposit.
So now we are home for July 4th. Something which I do not think has happened since we were married - and maybe before. With nothing to do. For “excitement” we went to Barnes and Nobles today.
Earlier in the week I was trying to think how to make today more July 4th ish. He has hot dogs for dinner around once a week so I moved them to today. We don’t have an outdoor grill. I have not been able to eat hot dogs for a few years, so I figured I would make my Thursday night turkey burger in an elongated shape so it would fit in the brat rolls we had in the house and I figured he would use for the hot dogs. We had some frozen fries I would make for him. When I went to make dinner I suggested that I use a cast iron pan with a grill that I had not used in awhile to cook my burger and his hot dogs to make them more like being grilled outside. (Normally he has me boil his hot dogs.) He told me to do one that way to try it.
I put the grill pan on the stove to heat up. I started making (canned) soup. I checked how much fries there were. Suddenly the kitchen was full of smoke and the smoke detector was going off. The grill pan - with no food added - was burning whatever was on it and the smoke was heading through the house. I turned off the burner, opened the back door (next to the stove) and fanned the smoke a bit with the door - this usually will direct smoke out the door if something like this happens. I turned off the ceiling fan - same. I turned off the soup. The alarm kept going off. I would push the button, it would stop, and then start again. I am 5'1" and have to stand on my toes on a chair to reach the button. I stayed up there pushing the button over and over. In between I would jump off the chair and try putting the ceiling fan on or off. After 10 minutes of this I texted husband upstairs for help. Between his hearing not being what it was and the fact that he was in a room on the other side of the house - which is not that far as the house is small, but he had the air conditioner on and the room door closed so he did not hear the alarm going off.
He came down and took over the spot on the chair, pushing the button over and over. We could not clear the smoke from the air. This is one of the new alarms with a permanent battery, so we could not pull the battery or the alarm would have to be thrown away. We tried covering it with a shower cap. (The RV is small and if one cooks in it the smoke alarm goes off and people put a shower cap over it to keep the smoke out of it when cooking - and it works, as cooked in it after a couple of hurricanes when we had no electricity in the house for the electric stove there.)
Finally about 45 minutes later the alarm stopped. The house still reeked of smoke. The pan was on the floor in the porch. Dinner should have been cooked and ready.
I turned the soup back on. I boiled his hot dogs. The fried potatoes had been cooking during all this in the toaster oven. But what about my dinner? I was not going to try to cook my burger in any of my pans and add more smoke to the house. I ended up cooking frozen vegetables for me for dinner - vegan for tonight. My burger is wrapped in plastic wrap for dinner tomorrow night. I have the grill pan soaking water to try to clean it.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
No matter what one’s plans are they may go awry. One just has to be able to think and deal with the problems so that they are in some manner resolved.
We will go on the trip later than we figured - but this will probably be good as it will not be as crowded then - and husband hates crowds. Hopefully we will have a day that is nice to go for the one day trip - and as husband scowled over the cost of the tolls - I reminded him that when we go that way the tolls are much, much lower as we are going to a different area - maybe 1/3 of when we go to where we usually go.
Dinner was late (and we missed the start of the PBS “Capitol Fourth” on TV), but we had dinner and the show was rerun after its showing so we saw the start afterwards.
None of this is earth shattering - just an annoyance - and I had two stories about trying to be organized to tell you this week.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
STARTING TO SEE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
Since I “spoke” to all of you last I have actually made progress catching up what fell behind the last couple of months.
I have all the bank recs done. I have posted all the checks I had written before. Papers are filed away. The leak under the kitchen sink has not returned - even when husband used it to wash his hair again.
Today we installed the new propane monitor. It involved screwing a piece of wood over the hold the old one left and then drilling a hole for the wires for the new monitor and installing it. It works correctly. The old one must be returned to the manufacturer - at our postage cost - but since we don’t trust it, we are just glad to return it. The carbon monoxide monitor is still not replaced, but we have replaced that one before and the new one is a duplicate of the old ones.
Today I just finished backing up my computers - a monthly backup and a quarterly backup since no monthly backup was made last month. This computer which I am working on was the last to be done. It is the least important and is very slow and needs a good deal of time to backup.
We managed to find a new insurance policy for our reenactment unit - almost all the board agreed and today the application and check were mailed out.
I did get pushed back a bit today and ended up putting some items into the folder that had held the unfinished items for lack of time today. I hope to be done with them by Monday.
My embroidery chapter has to send the dues collected from members to our region and our national by the end of the month - and I am sure that you can guess who does this - yes, me. I will have it done in time. I also have the June newsletter for the chapter due out next Wednesday. Thanks to a reminder in my computer calendar, an email went out today to the rest of the board to see what they want to include. Since we are having our annual end of program year meeting of a luncheon, I specifically asked the member in charge of the luncheon to let me know what people promised to bring so I could list same in the newsletter. One slight problem I might have is that we have been planning on and off to go away next week for a delayed Memorial Day trip (if we go on the actual holiday the areas which is heavily tourist based, is just too busy for us, if we go during the week before or after - it is much nicer) and I will need to send the newsletter out in the middle of the week. My plan is to write it before I leave and copy the membership’s addresses before I go away - or if I have all the info I need, it will go out early.
Tomorrow I am going to my client for my monthly trip there. I have paid the bills to be mailed out on Friday so if I get home late tomorrow it they are ready to go. It was good that I asked to come on tomorrow (Thursday) as today in the President is in this area - and a relatively short distance away our state Democratic party is having their convention - with the losing Presidental candidate from our last election as their speaker. All of the roads into and out of New York City in all directions were backed up this afternoon. Tomorrow should be (at least a little bit) a better drive. My client does not use the Internet or a computer. Last month her business telephone company installed a router for her. I read up on the default passwords during the month as I want to change them for her for general security purposes. I have an email address which I set up to use for her for assorted business matters. Since I could not use at her business I never set it up in my business laptop. I went to do so today. I have no problem signing in on my home computer - but the sign in screen on my laptop keeps coming up with new problems so I may not be able to use it to sign in on my computer at her place until next month. My attempts to get the email address set up on the laptop took about 45 minutes of wasted time.
But, I feel as if I am getting back to normal for me. Little step by little step - or sometimes big jump by big jump I am catching up.
If we do go away next week, there will be a good deal of preparation of the RV before we go away. The RV will need to have the bed made up - as I have mentioned before this is about an hour’s process as the bed goes wall to wall sideways and headboard to kitchen/toilet at the foot with only the head of the aisle at the foot of the bed (less than 2 feet wide) and one basically has to be in the bed to make it up. The usual fill the water tanks, pack snack foods, pack clothes and such - I will have to remember what packs where. It really is a lot more complicated than organizing a house - what is in your house does not have to be packed so as not to shift or bounce while moving - the “stuff” in the RV has to be. And remember, this is not a one of those huge RVs you see on TV (and the road) - it is a Chevy van converted to an RV - while the roof was lifted and part of the floor was dropped slightly, the square footage is the original van so there is rather limited storage.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Slow and steady wins the race. Working when one can on a back up of stuff to do will get it done. Maybe not as quickly as one would want, but eventually.
To those in the U.S .- a good Memorial Day.
I have all the bank recs done. I have posted all the checks I had written before. Papers are filed away. The leak under the kitchen sink has not returned - even when husband used it to wash his hair again.
Today we installed the new propane monitor. It involved screwing a piece of wood over the hold the old one left and then drilling a hole for the wires for the new monitor and installing it. It works correctly. The old one must be returned to the manufacturer - at our postage cost - but since we don’t trust it, we are just glad to return it. The carbon monoxide monitor is still not replaced, but we have replaced that one before and the new one is a duplicate of the old ones.
Today I just finished backing up my computers - a monthly backup and a quarterly backup since no monthly backup was made last month. This computer which I am working on was the last to be done. It is the least important and is very slow and needs a good deal of time to backup.
We managed to find a new insurance policy for our reenactment unit - almost all the board agreed and today the application and check were mailed out.
I did get pushed back a bit today and ended up putting some items into the folder that had held the unfinished items for lack of time today. I hope to be done with them by Monday.
My embroidery chapter has to send the dues collected from members to our region and our national by the end of the month - and I am sure that you can guess who does this - yes, me. I will have it done in time. I also have the June newsletter for the chapter due out next Wednesday. Thanks to a reminder in my computer calendar, an email went out today to the rest of the board to see what they want to include. Since we are having our annual end of program year meeting of a luncheon, I specifically asked the member in charge of the luncheon to let me know what people promised to bring so I could list same in the newsletter. One slight problem I might have is that we have been planning on and off to go away next week for a delayed Memorial Day trip (if we go on the actual holiday the areas which is heavily tourist based, is just too busy for us, if we go during the week before or after - it is much nicer) and I will need to send the newsletter out in the middle of the week. My plan is to write it before I leave and copy the membership’s addresses before I go away - or if I have all the info I need, it will go out early.
Tomorrow I am going to my client for my monthly trip there. I have paid the bills to be mailed out on Friday so if I get home late tomorrow it they are ready to go. It was good that I asked to come on tomorrow (Thursday) as today in the President is in this area - and a relatively short distance away our state Democratic party is having their convention - with the losing Presidental candidate from our last election as their speaker. All of the roads into and out of New York City in all directions were backed up this afternoon. Tomorrow should be (at least a little bit) a better drive. My client does not use the Internet or a computer. Last month her business telephone company installed a router for her. I read up on the default passwords during the month as I want to change them for her for general security purposes. I have an email address which I set up to use for her for assorted business matters. Since I could not use at her business I never set it up in my business laptop. I went to do so today. I have no problem signing in on my home computer - but the sign in screen on my laptop keeps coming up with new problems so I may not be able to use it to sign in on my computer at her place until next month. My attempts to get the email address set up on the laptop took about 45 minutes of wasted time.
But, I feel as if I am getting back to normal for me. Little step by little step - or sometimes big jump by big jump I am catching up.
If we do go away next week, there will be a good deal of preparation of the RV before we go away. The RV will need to have the bed made up - as I have mentioned before this is about an hour’s process as the bed goes wall to wall sideways and headboard to kitchen/toilet at the foot with only the head of the aisle at the foot of the bed (less than 2 feet wide) and one basically has to be in the bed to make it up. The usual fill the water tanks, pack snack foods, pack clothes and such - I will have to remember what packs where. It really is a lot more complicated than organizing a house - what is in your house does not have to be packed so as not to shift or bounce while moving - the “stuff” in the RV has to be. And remember, this is not a one of those huge RVs you see on TV (and the road) - it is a Chevy van converted to an RV - while the roof was lifted and part of the floor was dropped slightly, the square footage is the original van so there is rather limited storage.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Slow and steady wins the race. Working when one can on a back up of stuff to do will get it done. Maybe not as quickly as one would want, but eventually.
To those in the U.S .- a good Memorial Day.
Thursday, November 9, 2017
I HATE THE AFTERMATH OF TRIPS
Just in case anyone was wondering - after a week my head barely hurts if I touch where I hit it last week. ( I mean if I touch my head where it was hurt, not the board I hit it on.) My dad, a man of great wisdom, would say - “If your head hurts when you touch it, then don’t touch it.
The worst part of a trip, to me, is when I come home I have to do everything I didn’t do while away (and, of course, things I didn’t do before we went away). Husband never understands this idea.
We are pretty good at emptying out the RV when we return home - I have a system. There are two plans for emptying it, the regular plan and the “its raining and we can’t bring it all in plan”. In the normal plan, I start packing stuff and husband becomes a beast of burden running it all into the house. I am basically working in sections in a circle around where I am standing in the RV. First is the refrigerator, followed by food in plastic boxes in the cabinet. Husband will unpack the refrigerator items into the one in the house. I shut off the refrigerator in the RV and put a thick towel under the freezer section just in case any ice buildup melts and drips. (It does not have a separate freezer section, but a “cold” box as refrigerators did in “the olden days” - like the 1950s. Ice cream purchased in the evening will be soft ice cream when eaten at 2 am - cold soup beyond that. I take the batteries of the refrigerator thermometer and its remote read device.
The towels are added to the laundry bag of clothes and when the bag goes into the house it is tossed down the stairs to the basement. I pack the clean clothes (we always over pack - doesn’t everyone) and bring an extra day or two of clothes in case something happens to something we are wearing while away and we need to change clothes unexpectedly, they go into the other laundry bag and go by the stairs in the house so they go up the same night. Jackets, sweatshirts and such are taken in loose. Shoes are put into supermarket/Walmart shopping bags to be taken in.
Husband will take various laptops and other devices into the house in a couple of trips. Similarly he will take in my embroidery holder. The “last minute bag” is pulled out from under the bed and the items removed from it go back into it. This trip we also pulled toothpaste and such as we don’t want to leave them in all winter - we did that the first year and they did not survive well.
Any items we purchased while away and stored inside the main part of the TV are brought into the house and left on the table to be sorted and stored. (Hey, I just noticed that sorted and stored are anagrams - the same letters rearranged - is why they go together so well?)
On the “third seat” (seat behind the front passenger seat) we have a pocket with a folder in it which holds papers we pick up during the trip - tourist handouts, maps, local tourist magazines, and such, as well as magazines we brought from home to read - they go in similar bag to the shoes.
Assorted spare eyeglasses (reading, sun, etc.) that are needed and/or kept elsewhere are removed from the glove compartment as are the snacks I keep in the front door map pocket in case of a glucose low for either of us while in transit. In there is also the coupon holder from our car (if I need, for example, tissues while away, why shouldn’t I have the coupon with me to use) and the travel related coupons we brought with us. My old Palm and Blackberry cell phones which come along for the trip for other features of the phones have to be removed also. The EZ Pass (to pay tolls electronically) is removed from the windshield and stored away.
The various curtains in the RV are closed. The lights are shut off and the RV battery is shut off.
Between trips with items I had for him, husband has removing items we purchased and stored in he back of the RV (technically under the head of the bed) and adding them to what is on the kitchen table in the house.
I stop and get the mail from our mailbox on the way in. If it is a short trip and we did not stop the newspaper (yes, I still get and read a newspaper) I will bring them in also.
If it is raining - the food and stuff in the last minute bag go in and not much else unless it is needed.
Now I enter the house kitchen . I have to sort what has come in - food which does not need to be in the refrigerator goes on the counter. Food that goes in the refrigerator should already have been put there by Robert. Clean clothes, laptops & similar, mail, shoes, and such are put on the stairs or adjacent to them to be taken upstairs. Jackets and such are put in the front closet - or at least over the post at the foot of the stairs in the front hall. And the pile of stuff on the table.
The stuff on the table has to be sorted - stuff to go upstairs, stuff to stay in the kitchen/dinning room, stuff for the basement, stuff for our studio - or the garage workshop. I sort them into shopping bags and try to at least get them into the room they belong in - or hang them on the door knob to outside if the item goes outside.
But of course this is just the first step. The next day I will have to go through the mail- shred the junk mail, pull out and check bills, collect bank statements (if any) to reconcile, magazines to where they will be read, and so on. We will also go to the Post Office and pick up the mail which has accumulated in our box there, which also has to be sorted.
Food in boxes will have to be stored - I tend to do it slowly and use what is in the boxes. They are basically snacks so I use the cereal which was not used on the trip instead of storing it away, use the tea bag from the ones I brought with us, etc.
Since this was our last trip of the year that we will make with running water in the RV, I said to husband that I presume we will winterize the RV this week - he said we could wait. For those who might not understand this, in areas like this where it can get close to freezing and below it, the water pipes and valves might freeze and break. So we have to run a non-toxic anti freeze, made for this purpose for RVs and boats, through the water system. This keeps it all from freezing, but also means that we cannot use the system as that would be adding water which could freeze back in the system. Well, the not so cold weather we were having and were to have is to change by this weekend. So the winterizing must be done this week.
In addition, we needed a small closet type shed to keep our snowblower in by our side door. (It is currently in the garage workshop and not only does it take up room, but if it snow we have to shovel our way to the garage and clear a path in front of the garage door so a shed near the door would be very good to have.) Last year we waited too long to buy one - they have to be assembled above a certain temperature so that plastic gives and bends and does not break in the assembling. Husband kept forgetting to order one from a well known home store and finally decided this was it. We wanted to order one to pick up at the store. The program would not let us as it said the store already had “one”. So we went to the store. It took about an hour and a half for them to find the shed, get someone to take it down from the top shelf (maybe 20 feet or more up), us to take it to the register and pay for it (well, husband did while I got the van), have no one come to help us load it, realize the box inside the sealed plastic was soaked, find the assistant manager again, get the other one (yes, per the computer they had one, but actually they had two), and get someone to help us load it. It then sat in our van on the driveway until we could assemble it.
Monday was too cold, Tuesday it rained. (And of course we went and voted Tuesday.)So today we assembled it - mostly. We had to get the huge box out of our van - we managed to push it so it was in the rear of the van (behind the back seat) and on a work stand and unloaded. Today was already getting colder so we took all the pieces into the garage and turned on the hanging space heaters to keep the plastic pieces warm and pliable. We moved our car to the curved part of our driveway, then backed the RV to the spot the car normally is so we would have room to work. Somehow we were able to assemble most of the shed. Husband then got ill from bending over, as he does, and had to go in and go to sleep for awhile. I finished getting the roof ready to go on - screwing parts onto the inside of the room, putting things into the body of the shed to hold the roof in place, putting the handles on the doors. (The doors were about the worse part of the assembly except...) When it was all done, I went and woke husband who after about a half hour more, was able to come out and we put the roof on - yay! The last thing which had to be done and is a problem is two metal bars have to be slid into the roof and across into the sides to hold the front end of the roof on - we got one in, then gave up and will try again tomorrow as it was getting colder and dark.
Remember he said that we don’t have to winterize this week when I said I assumed we were going to? Tomorrow we will be winterizing the RV.
Luckily when he said that we would be doing these “little chores” today and tomorrow, I managed to write checks for all bills due out on Friday and figure out how much we have to transfer into checking to cover them - it is all finished and sitting in my “out” box for Friday.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - When going on a trip - even a short, relatively local one as we take - try to be as caught up as possible before the trip. Try to plan when you will catch up on bills, other paperwork, unpacking, laundry (I am doing a week and a half’s laundry tonight and tomorrow night), and such, when you return.
For those who are Veterans or who are still on active service, Friday is Veteran’s Day here in the U.S. and is a holiday for many of those who live in the World War II allies countries (Armistice Day, Remembrance Day...) as Saturday is November 11, I thank you all for your service to your country - whether the U.S. or other. For those of you still on active service, I wish you a safe tour and return home.
The worst part of a trip, to me, is when I come home I have to do everything I didn’t do while away (and, of course, things I didn’t do before we went away). Husband never understands this idea.
We are pretty good at emptying out the RV when we return home - I have a system. There are two plans for emptying it, the regular plan and the “its raining and we can’t bring it all in plan”. In the normal plan, I start packing stuff and husband becomes a beast of burden running it all into the house. I am basically working in sections in a circle around where I am standing in the RV. First is the refrigerator, followed by food in plastic boxes in the cabinet. Husband will unpack the refrigerator items into the one in the house. I shut off the refrigerator in the RV and put a thick towel under the freezer section just in case any ice buildup melts and drips. (It does not have a separate freezer section, but a “cold” box as refrigerators did in “the olden days” - like the 1950s. Ice cream purchased in the evening will be soft ice cream when eaten at 2 am - cold soup beyond that. I take the batteries of the refrigerator thermometer and its remote read device.
The towels are added to the laundry bag of clothes and when the bag goes into the house it is tossed down the stairs to the basement. I pack the clean clothes (we always over pack - doesn’t everyone) and bring an extra day or two of clothes in case something happens to something we are wearing while away and we need to change clothes unexpectedly, they go into the other laundry bag and go by the stairs in the house so they go up the same night. Jackets, sweatshirts and such are taken in loose. Shoes are put into supermarket/Walmart shopping bags to be taken in.
Husband will take various laptops and other devices into the house in a couple of trips. Similarly he will take in my embroidery holder. The “last minute bag” is pulled out from under the bed and the items removed from it go back into it. This trip we also pulled toothpaste and such as we don’t want to leave them in all winter - we did that the first year and they did not survive well.
Any items we purchased while away and stored inside the main part of the TV are brought into the house and left on the table to be sorted and stored. (Hey, I just noticed that sorted and stored are anagrams - the same letters rearranged - is why they go together so well?)
On the “third seat” (seat behind the front passenger seat) we have a pocket with a folder in it which holds papers we pick up during the trip - tourist handouts, maps, local tourist magazines, and such, as well as magazines we brought from home to read - they go in similar bag to the shoes.
Assorted spare eyeglasses (reading, sun, etc.) that are needed and/or kept elsewhere are removed from the glove compartment as are the snacks I keep in the front door map pocket in case of a glucose low for either of us while in transit. In there is also the coupon holder from our car (if I need, for example, tissues while away, why shouldn’t I have the coupon with me to use) and the travel related coupons we brought with us. My old Palm and Blackberry cell phones which come along for the trip for other features of the phones have to be removed also. The EZ Pass (to pay tolls electronically) is removed from the windshield and stored away.
The various curtains in the RV are closed. The lights are shut off and the RV battery is shut off.
Between trips with items I had for him, husband has removing items we purchased and stored in he back of the RV (technically under the head of the bed) and adding them to what is on the kitchen table in the house.
I stop and get the mail from our mailbox on the way in. If it is a short trip and we did not stop the newspaper (yes, I still get and read a newspaper) I will bring them in also.
If it is raining - the food and stuff in the last minute bag go in and not much else unless it is needed.
Now I enter the house kitchen . I have to sort what has come in - food which does not need to be in the refrigerator goes on the counter. Food that goes in the refrigerator should already have been put there by Robert. Clean clothes, laptops & similar, mail, shoes, and such are put on the stairs or adjacent to them to be taken upstairs. Jackets and such are put in the front closet - or at least over the post at the foot of the stairs in the front hall. And the pile of stuff on the table.
The stuff on the table has to be sorted - stuff to go upstairs, stuff to stay in the kitchen/dinning room, stuff for the basement, stuff for our studio - or the garage workshop. I sort them into shopping bags and try to at least get them into the room they belong in - or hang them on the door knob to outside if the item goes outside.
But of course this is just the first step. The next day I will have to go through the mail- shred the junk mail, pull out and check bills, collect bank statements (if any) to reconcile, magazines to where they will be read, and so on. We will also go to the Post Office and pick up the mail which has accumulated in our box there, which also has to be sorted.
Food in boxes will have to be stored - I tend to do it slowly and use what is in the boxes. They are basically snacks so I use the cereal which was not used on the trip instead of storing it away, use the tea bag from the ones I brought with us, etc.
Since this was our last trip of the year that we will make with running water in the RV, I said to husband that I presume we will winterize the RV this week - he said we could wait. For those who might not understand this, in areas like this where it can get close to freezing and below it, the water pipes and valves might freeze and break. So we have to run a non-toxic anti freeze, made for this purpose for RVs and boats, through the water system. This keeps it all from freezing, but also means that we cannot use the system as that would be adding water which could freeze back in the system. Well, the not so cold weather we were having and were to have is to change by this weekend. So the winterizing must be done this week.
In addition, we needed a small closet type shed to keep our snowblower in by our side door. (It is currently in the garage workshop and not only does it take up room, but if it snow we have to shovel our way to the garage and clear a path in front of the garage door so a shed near the door would be very good to have.) Last year we waited too long to buy one - they have to be assembled above a certain temperature so that plastic gives and bends and does not break in the assembling. Husband kept forgetting to order one from a well known home store and finally decided this was it. We wanted to order one to pick up at the store. The program would not let us as it said the store already had “one”. So we went to the store. It took about an hour and a half for them to find the shed, get someone to take it down from the top shelf (maybe 20 feet or more up), us to take it to the register and pay for it (well, husband did while I got the van), have no one come to help us load it, realize the box inside the sealed plastic was soaked, find the assistant manager again, get the other one (yes, per the computer they had one, but actually they had two), and get someone to help us load it. It then sat in our van on the driveway until we could assemble it.
Monday was too cold, Tuesday it rained. (And of course we went and voted Tuesday.)So today we assembled it - mostly. We had to get the huge box out of our van - we managed to push it so it was in the rear of the van (behind the back seat) and on a work stand and unloaded. Today was already getting colder so we took all the pieces into the garage and turned on the hanging space heaters to keep the plastic pieces warm and pliable. We moved our car to the curved part of our driveway, then backed the RV to the spot the car normally is so we would have room to work. Somehow we were able to assemble most of the shed. Husband then got ill from bending over, as he does, and had to go in and go to sleep for awhile. I finished getting the roof ready to go on - screwing parts onto the inside of the room, putting things into the body of the shed to hold the roof in place, putting the handles on the doors. (The doors were about the worse part of the assembly except...) When it was all done, I went and woke husband who after about a half hour more, was able to come out and we put the roof on - yay! The last thing which had to be done and is a problem is two metal bars have to be slid into the roof and across into the sides to hold the front end of the roof on - we got one in, then gave up and will try again tomorrow as it was getting colder and dark.
Remember he said that we don’t have to winterize this week when I said I assumed we were going to? Tomorrow we will be winterizing the RV.
Luckily when he said that we would be doing these “little chores” today and tomorrow, I managed to write checks for all bills due out on Friday and figure out how much we have to transfer into checking to cover them - it is all finished and sitting in my “out” box for Friday.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - When going on a trip - even a short, relatively local one as we take - try to be as caught up as possible before the trip. Try to plan when you will catch up on bills, other paperwork, unpacking, laundry (I am doing a week and a half’s laundry tonight and tomorrow night), and such, when you return.
For those who are Veterans or who are still on active service, Friday is Veteran’s Day here in the U.S. and is a holiday for many of those who live in the World War II allies countries (Armistice Day, Remembrance Day...) as Saturday is November 11, I thank you all for your service to your country - whether the U.S. or other. For those of you still on active service, I wish you a safe tour and return home.
Thursday, November 2, 2017
TRIP WENT AWRY - AGAIN
We have not been on a trip really this year as each time we planned one, something happened. We traditionally go away for my birthday and planned to be away for 5 days for it. We were to leave on Monday and return home overnight Friday to Saturday. Once again our plans went awry. A huge nor’easter (for those not from the U.S. this is a MAJOR wind and rain storm and is considered a winter storm, even though it does not involve snow) was to hit us Sunday through Monday. Luckily we had not made reservations at the RV park in advance - this time of year the parks are usually not anywhere near full here in the northeast U.S. and since we go midweek - we avoid the possibility of the park filling with weekend guests - as well as avoiding the crowds that come to the Pennsylvania Dutch country.
When we going on Monday we planned to start packing the RV on Sunday night with plenty of time on Monday to finish doing so as we would not be in a rush. I made up the bed in the RV last week to have it done in advance - I pull the blanket and sheets over the pillows to keep them free of dust.
I have a checkoff sheet that I keep in the computer and print out each trip to make sure we don’t forget anything. The check off sheet includes a section on things to be done in advance - making the bed, filling the water tanks, checking supplies such as toilet paper, tissues, paper goods, soaps & paper towels, and so on. Then there is a section on personal items - clothes, shoes, jackets, my embroidery - I don’t list the clothing items individually as we know what we need in clothes. I have a food section as we bring items for snack - soda, cracker, water, cereal - and on longer trips I will bring soup, peanut butter and bread - just in case. We have never used the latter, although one lunch time in a bad rain storm we came close. There is a section of electronics to come - laptops and such. There is a section of paper items to bring - coupon holders, directions, reservations (I actually keep an envelope for each of our regular trips for reservations, coupons and other papers I want to bring). There is also a section of what to do before we leave - unplug the washer, turn off the dryer and stove breakers, take out the garbage when we leave. And, lastly, there is a section of what needs to be done when we return - what not to forget in the RV when it is unpacked, turn off the refrigerator, lights and RV battery, and related matters. Very organized -right?
We were planning to go to a farmers’ market on Tuesday so we had to be out and on the way early (for us). I packed the RV Monday night except for our “last minute bag” which has things we need the night before so they cannot be prepacked and my laptop computer. Our plan was for me to call and make a reservation Tuesday morning just after 9 am as the RV park office opens at same. I called. I got a message telling me the office opens at 9 am - at 9:10 am. I left a message to call me back and we kept going. Husband was upset about what would happen if there was no RV space available. I pointed out that he keeps telling me the RV need to be driven; he was looking forward to going to the farmers’market, and I wanted to be away for my birthday (if you have not calculated - this is Halloween - there is much less of same where we were going than at home). I told him that at worst we would have had a day trip and accomplished all 3 things and would come home that night. We left. When we leave I direct him to back out of our driveway using walkie talkies. We also use these for me to direct him into the space at the RV park. Since it was Halloween we wanted to make sure that the house did not look too different as if we were away, so when he was out of the driveway, I drove one of our other cars into where the RV usually sits - and then ran and got into the RV and we were off.
Along the way - around 11 am - I finally was able to make reservations, although not for any of the spaces we prefer - and so far this trip 2 of the 3 spaces we prefer have remained empty and the 3rd was empty tonight. The trip down was actually better than most - much less traffic. When we got to the farmers’ market it was freezing - or at least it felt so to me. I had on 2 sweatshirts and wished I had brought gloves. I had thought of treating myself to ice cream
for lunch for my birthday - there is a stand at the market (actually they are at both markets we go to) that always has a crowd and the ice cream looks yummy, so I thought I would go off my diet and have it for lunch - I planned this last year and the stand was closed. This year it was open, but I was so cold, I could not imagine doing so. We went around at the market and then had dinner (mine was free as it was my birthday) took a walk around Walmart (as we normally do) and went to the RV park.
Being level is very important in an RV - or doors will not open or will fall open and one is uncomfortable. One problem, while driving today on the trip here, I realized that we only had one walkie talkie - the other one I had left in the car at home when I moved it! I waited until we were in Walmart to mention it to husband and quickly suggested alternatives - including buying a pair of walkie talkies in Walmart (which is why I told him then). We decided we would deal with it by using our cell phones. The only level spot we could find in this space was on an odd angle - which we would have to duplicate the next two nights when we came back at the end of the day. We then settled in for the night.
I checked email on my (this laptop) and unpacked the last minute bag. Then we went to get ready for bed. The bed in the RV consists of two bench seats which face each other and two pieces of wood which slide between them and then the bench seat cushions are rearranged into the bed. I was kneeling down to store the laptop and some other items under the bed (the center which would be the aisle between the bench seats is used for storage) and as I bent down towards the bed - WHACK!!! I slammed my head into one of the insert wood pieces. I figured out that I had not pushed it all the way into position between the beds, so where I thought was an open space or wood covered with cushion - was the wood. Owwwww! We checked and there is no bump or bruise. I checked for signs of concussions - none - I made sure to stay awake for several hours to make sure. Tonight, 24 hours later my forehead still hurts if I move the muscles in my face a certain way or if I (or husband who of course does so often to make sure I am okay) touch it.
It was so cold that we had turn on the propane to run the propane furnace in the RV. We had to be very careful and many things could not go where they normally go at night and that nothing flammable was near the furnace. We made it through and should not need the furnace tonight (there is alternate heat down to 40F from a heat sink in the air conditioner).
I then took our medications to take and to replace in our pocket pill boxes to take today. I forgot the over the counter vitamins and such that the doctor has I take - they are either sitting on our kitchen table or my dresser at home. Oh well, at least we have the prescription medications.
Unfortunately all of this mess is becoming more and more common when we take trips. No matter how organized and prepared we think we are - we are not. Well, somehow we always deal with what needs to be dealt with.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Mistakes happen. There is nothing to do but go ahead as well as possible. No matter how much I try to figure out in advance what can happen and what to do - something else will happen and will need to be dealt with all one can do is one’s best.
When we going on Monday we planned to start packing the RV on Sunday night with plenty of time on Monday to finish doing so as we would not be in a rush. I made up the bed in the RV last week to have it done in advance - I pull the blanket and sheets over the pillows to keep them free of dust.
I have a checkoff sheet that I keep in the computer and print out each trip to make sure we don’t forget anything. The check off sheet includes a section on things to be done in advance - making the bed, filling the water tanks, checking supplies such as toilet paper, tissues, paper goods, soaps & paper towels, and so on. Then there is a section on personal items - clothes, shoes, jackets, my embroidery - I don’t list the clothing items individually as we know what we need in clothes. I have a food section as we bring items for snack - soda, cracker, water, cereal - and on longer trips I will bring soup, peanut butter and bread - just in case. We have never used the latter, although one lunch time in a bad rain storm we came close. There is a section of electronics to come - laptops and such. There is a section of paper items to bring - coupon holders, directions, reservations (I actually keep an envelope for each of our regular trips for reservations, coupons and other papers I want to bring). There is also a section of what to do before we leave - unplug the washer, turn off the dryer and stove breakers, take out the garbage when we leave. And, lastly, there is a section of what needs to be done when we return - what not to forget in the RV when it is unpacked, turn off the refrigerator, lights and RV battery, and related matters. Very organized -right?
We were planning to go to a farmers’ market on Tuesday so we had to be out and on the way early (for us). I packed the RV Monday night except for our “last minute bag” which has things we need the night before so they cannot be prepacked and my laptop computer. Our plan was for me to call and make a reservation Tuesday morning just after 9 am as the RV park office opens at same. I called. I got a message telling me the office opens at 9 am - at 9:10 am. I left a message to call me back and we kept going. Husband was upset about what would happen if there was no RV space available. I pointed out that he keeps telling me the RV need to be driven; he was looking forward to going to the farmers’market, and I wanted to be away for my birthday (if you have not calculated - this is Halloween - there is much less of same where we were going than at home). I told him that at worst we would have had a day trip and accomplished all 3 things and would come home that night. We left. When we leave I direct him to back out of our driveway using walkie talkies. We also use these for me to direct him into the space at the RV park. Since it was Halloween we wanted to make sure that the house did not look too different as if we were away, so when he was out of the driveway, I drove one of our other cars into where the RV usually sits - and then ran and got into the RV and we were off.
Along the way - around 11 am - I finally was able to make reservations, although not for any of the spaces we prefer - and so far this trip 2 of the 3 spaces we prefer have remained empty and the 3rd was empty tonight. The trip down was actually better than most - much less traffic. When we got to the farmers’ market it was freezing - or at least it felt so to me. I had on 2 sweatshirts and wished I had brought gloves. I had thought of treating myself to ice cream
for lunch for my birthday - there is a stand at the market (actually they are at both markets we go to) that always has a crowd and the ice cream looks yummy, so I thought I would go off my diet and have it for lunch - I planned this last year and the stand was closed. This year it was open, but I was so cold, I could not imagine doing so. We went around at the market and then had dinner (mine was free as it was my birthday) took a walk around Walmart (as we normally do) and went to the RV park.
Being level is very important in an RV - or doors will not open or will fall open and one is uncomfortable. One problem, while driving today on the trip here, I realized that we only had one walkie talkie - the other one I had left in the car at home when I moved it! I waited until we were in Walmart to mention it to husband and quickly suggested alternatives - including buying a pair of walkie talkies in Walmart (which is why I told him then). We decided we would deal with it by using our cell phones. The only level spot we could find in this space was on an odd angle - which we would have to duplicate the next two nights when we came back at the end of the day. We then settled in for the night.
I checked email on my (this laptop) and unpacked the last minute bag. Then we went to get ready for bed. The bed in the RV consists of two bench seats which face each other and two pieces of wood which slide between them and then the bench seat cushions are rearranged into the bed. I was kneeling down to store the laptop and some other items under the bed (the center which would be the aisle between the bench seats is used for storage) and as I bent down towards the bed - WHACK!!! I slammed my head into one of the insert wood pieces. I figured out that I had not pushed it all the way into position between the beds, so where I thought was an open space or wood covered with cushion - was the wood. Owwwww! We checked and there is no bump or bruise. I checked for signs of concussions - none - I made sure to stay awake for several hours to make sure. Tonight, 24 hours later my forehead still hurts if I move the muscles in my face a certain way or if I (or husband who of course does so often to make sure I am okay) touch it.
It was so cold that we had turn on the propane to run the propane furnace in the RV. We had to be very careful and many things could not go where they normally go at night and that nothing flammable was near the furnace. We made it through and should not need the furnace tonight (there is alternate heat down to 40F from a heat sink in the air conditioner).
I then took our medications to take and to replace in our pocket pill boxes to take today. I forgot the over the counter vitamins and such that the doctor has I take - they are either sitting on our kitchen table or my dresser at home. Oh well, at least we have the prescription medications.
Unfortunately all of this mess is becoming more and more common when we take trips. No matter how organized and prepared we think we are - we are not. Well, somehow we always deal with what needs to be dealt with.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Mistakes happen. There is nothing to do but go ahead as well as possible. No matter how much I try to figure out in advance what can happen and what to do - something else will happen and will need to be dealt with all one can do is one’s best.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
A QUICK TRIP AND I CAUGHT UP ON MY PILE OF STUFF TO DO
Well, I had a bit of a chance to catch up this past week. The pile on top of my desk which has to be done before I get to the folder of things to do, is down to scanning in articles from various issues of a magazine related to reenacting that I convinced my husband that we don’t need to keep in full. Much of these magazines are ads for items related to “the hobby”. There seems to be 3-5 articles of varying length that he wants to keep. He has gone through the magazines and circled in the table of contents those articles he wants. I am scanning in the articles here and there as I get a chance - luckily they are not in color so they scan a lot faster.
We did go away for the day last Saturday to the state sheep and wool festival. We have never been there before. It went as our trips go. The ride there was suppose to be 2 hours. Husband printed the directions from Googlemaps. He also turned on the GPS app in his cell phone. They did not always agree. The road both sent us on for most of the trip is a picturesque limited access road that curves around and through mountains. It was so curvy that husband was getting motion sickness, even though he was driving. We were pretty sure we could not go home the same way as he could not deal with the curves again - especially in the dark with no street lights. When we were towards the end of the trip there the two sets of directions varied from each other. The Googlemaps version had us get off the main road sooner than the GPS. We decided to go with the GPS and stayed on the road. All of a sudden the GPS froze. (We eventually figured out that there was no cell service there!) Now we had a problem. As we kept driving and tried to remember where the GPS said to get off the road, I saw a sign to the fairgrounds we had to go to and we exited the road. 10 miles to the fairgrounds and no further signs appeared. I had out the Googlemaps directions and kept looking for roads that were listed on it. We were approaching one and I had to calculate quickly - turn right or left? Luckily I guessed correctly and we turned right and not much further on came to the road the fairgrounds were on. Fair was okay - not a worth a trip back in the future. (Very limited weaving related items - other than wool, of course, which we could not afford - and weaving items were why husband wanted to go.) Talk about disorganized - I noticed that people had a small booklet with map and vendors in it. I walked back to the gate and asked for one - I was told that they hard run out “3 hours ago”. This means that 3 hours into the first of two days of the event (which ran 9 hours the first day) they were out of their handouts - not good planning to me. After we drove to a, yes, another Golden Corral about an hour from the fairgrounds and vaguely on the way home. Dinner was another bust and I will not bother you with the details unless someone writes and asks. Now we had to get home. I looked at the (paper) map and found that an Interstate road near the restaurant headed in the general direction of home, that connected to another major road and that just left figuring out how to get to one of 3 bridges after those two roads to get us home. I have a mapping/GPS program in my other laptop (the good one) which I had brought with me (I generally take it on trips for something just like this) and I am able to find a place by looking at and moving the map and then adding a start, end, or via point there. I did that with several points so that the route would stay where I wanted it and it had no problem getting us home. It was much a quicker trip home than the one getting to the area and straight road - no curve after curve.
Just for fun - and my luck, I did get a mailing from Equifax that I am, of course, included in their latest security breach. I tried to find out how to do all the things I need to do with them as a result, by mail as I will not put my information online and don’t trust doing it by phone. I sort of got an answer from their recorded info phone line and have sent in to them about this. Now I will also send in a request for husband as our credit info is mostly joint. Then I will be calling Trans Union and Experian to do the same with them. And I have such a unique name that I have been sure that I am the only one with it in the world - now there may be many of me if my identity is being used by others. What will happen to my 843-850 (it varies some months) credit rating now?
I wrote the newsletter for my embroidery chapter in only one afternoon - first time since we changed to this new format I was able to do so, it was common before. One member’s email is suddenly bouncing back and she did not return my phone message, so I mailed her a printed copy and asked for her new email.
I am packed, my laptop is charging, and I am going to a client tomorrow. I have written checks for bills to go out in the mail on Friday. I have calculated how much I need to transfer from savings to checking to pay the bills and have cash for a trip next week (we hope). The needed papers are in my “Friday errands” envelope. I have a deposit slip with these papers as I am due to get a check from my client tomorrow and will deposit it Friday also.
Laundry is in washer. First load about to go to the dryer when my cell phone alarm rings that it is time to go down again.
I did so well that rather than take a shower tonight in a rush at the last minute and go to bed with wet hair, I was able to take a leisurely shower before dinner. Ahhhh.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Work at what is piled up little by little, try to keep more from being added and there will be less left in your “pile” of todos.
I know my stack of todos will be piled up again soon - especially if we take a short trip next week - but sooner or later it is gone again.
Don’t eat all the Halloween candy - and check what your children eat before they do. Have a safe Halloween.
We did go away for the day last Saturday to the state sheep and wool festival. We have never been there before. It went as our trips go. The ride there was suppose to be 2 hours. Husband printed the directions from Googlemaps. He also turned on the GPS app in his cell phone. They did not always agree. The road both sent us on for most of the trip is a picturesque limited access road that curves around and through mountains. It was so curvy that husband was getting motion sickness, even though he was driving. We were pretty sure we could not go home the same way as he could not deal with the curves again - especially in the dark with no street lights. When we were towards the end of the trip there the two sets of directions varied from each other. The Googlemaps version had us get off the main road sooner than the GPS. We decided to go with the GPS and stayed on the road. All of a sudden the GPS froze. (We eventually figured out that there was no cell service there!) Now we had a problem. As we kept driving and tried to remember where the GPS said to get off the road, I saw a sign to the fairgrounds we had to go to and we exited the road. 10 miles to the fairgrounds and no further signs appeared. I had out the Googlemaps directions and kept looking for roads that were listed on it. We were approaching one and I had to calculate quickly - turn right or left? Luckily I guessed correctly and we turned right and not much further on came to the road the fairgrounds were on. Fair was okay - not a worth a trip back in the future. (Very limited weaving related items - other than wool, of course, which we could not afford - and weaving items were why husband wanted to go.) Talk about disorganized - I noticed that people had a small booklet with map and vendors in it. I walked back to the gate and asked for one - I was told that they hard run out “3 hours ago”. This means that 3 hours into the first of two days of the event (which ran 9 hours the first day) they were out of their handouts - not good planning to me. After we drove to a, yes, another Golden Corral about an hour from the fairgrounds and vaguely on the way home. Dinner was another bust and I will not bother you with the details unless someone writes and asks. Now we had to get home. I looked at the (paper) map and found that an Interstate road near the restaurant headed in the general direction of home, that connected to another major road and that just left figuring out how to get to one of 3 bridges after those two roads to get us home. I have a mapping/GPS program in my other laptop (the good one) which I had brought with me (I generally take it on trips for something just like this) and I am able to find a place by looking at and moving the map and then adding a start, end, or via point there. I did that with several points so that the route would stay where I wanted it and it had no problem getting us home. It was much a quicker trip home than the one getting to the area and straight road - no curve after curve.
Just for fun - and my luck, I did get a mailing from Equifax that I am, of course, included in their latest security breach. I tried to find out how to do all the things I need to do with them as a result, by mail as I will not put my information online and don’t trust doing it by phone. I sort of got an answer from their recorded info phone line and have sent in to them about this. Now I will also send in a request for husband as our credit info is mostly joint. Then I will be calling Trans Union and Experian to do the same with them. And I have such a unique name that I have been sure that I am the only one with it in the world - now there may be many of me if my identity is being used by others. What will happen to my 843-850 (it varies some months) credit rating now?
I wrote the newsletter for my embroidery chapter in only one afternoon - first time since we changed to this new format I was able to do so, it was common before. One member’s email is suddenly bouncing back and she did not return my phone message, so I mailed her a printed copy and asked for her new email.
I am packed, my laptop is charging, and I am going to a client tomorrow. I have written checks for bills to go out in the mail on Friday. I have calculated how much I need to transfer from savings to checking to pay the bills and have cash for a trip next week (we hope). The needed papers are in my “Friday errands” envelope. I have a deposit slip with these papers as I am due to get a check from my client tomorrow and will deposit it Friday also.
Laundry is in washer. First load about to go to the dryer when my cell phone alarm rings that it is time to go down again.
I did so well that rather than take a shower tonight in a rush at the last minute and go to bed with wet hair, I was able to take a leisurely shower before dinner. Ahhhh.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Work at what is piled up little by little, try to keep more from being added and there will be less left in your “pile” of todos.
I know my stack of todos will be piled up again soon - especially if we take a short trip next week - but sooner or later it is gone again.
Don’t eat all the Halloween candy - and check what your children eat before they do. Have a safe Halloween.
Thursday, August 31, 2017
PLANNING A TRIP WHEN ONE DOES NOT WHEN ONE WILL GO OR FOR HOW LONG
First, if any readers are in the area hit by Hurricane Harvey - I am so sorry for you and the others hit by the storm. I live in the area hit by Hurricane Sandy - just out of the heavily damaged areas, but my mom was in the area where she had extensive water damage to our family home - and know how bad that was - and you are in a much worse situation. I hope that all are safe and well. It will take a long time, but life more normal will return.
In the old days when we went to hotels when we traveled - like normal people - we would take several short weekend trips during the year to the Lancaster, PA area and a longer vacation during which we went to Washington, DC for a weekend, then Charlottesville, VA, then someplace different each year (although the place might repeat every few years) and then to the various historic areas near Williamsburgh, VA, two days in Lancaster and then home. It was so much the same that we would take out the prior year’s schedule and change the date - change the few days that varied and book the same hotels. We had it worked out that we stayed in each area when the hotel price was the cheapest - DC on the weekend, Lancaster midweek, etc.
Since the bedbugs and the switch to our tiny RV this has changed. We go away for shorter times, fewer times during the year. Our trip is also much more weather based - why go to some place outside if it will rain and we will not be able to go. We have also changed what used to be weekend trips to Lancaster to midweek trips - it is easier to get last minute reservations at campgrounds and we avoid weekend tourists plus on Sundays most activities and restaurants are closed, so when we went there Friday to Monday - one day there was little to do.
So this year we have only traveled for multiple days once - just before July 4th weekend. The weather has been wrong or something has been happening to cause us not to go away. We have taken a couple of one day trips as a result of this. So we were all ready for a nice week to 10 day trip like we used to take (although back then generally 2 and a half weeks).
We were going back to the Williamsburg, VA area, a place that as lovers of our country’s early history find so many places to go and learn something new each time. Then the trouble in Charlottesville occurred and we decided that we were uncomfortable traveling down there as we were concerned about similar problems arising there among the American Revolutionary and Civil War battle fields and historic sites.
So we were looking elsewhere - meaning Pennsylvania - for a longer trip. Two separate people - in totally unrelated circumstances - told us to go to a textile museum in PA. I took this as a sign that we were intended to go there this summer. We started planning a 5 day trip which would involve our normal Lancaster places plus this museum and a couple of other places.
We were to leave this past Monday and stay through Saturday. Then we found out about our dentist retiring and I have to get my new upper dental plate done before he does. I got a telephone call last Friday that they needed an extra appointment - Tuesday (yesterday). So the trip was postponed and shortened to today (Wednesday through Friday). The museum is out.
Have you ever tried to make arrangements for and around a trip when you don’t know when the trip will be? Oh boy - that takes odd organizing!
So last Thursday I paid and mailed out last Friday all of the bills due until next Monday and transferred money into our checking account for cash for the trip and if any additional bills popped up.
I normally would email out the monthly newsletter of my embroidery chapter tonight. I sent it out a day early so I would not have to do it while away - easier to do it from my desktop computer.
I have a check list that I print out each time we go on a trip. It lists all the things we need to do for the trip by category. I cross out anything that does not apply to a trip and then cross out each thing as I do it. Whatever needs to be done at the last minute is circled and also listed on the side of the paper and crossed off when done.
I normally will do laundry the night of two days before we go on a trip - so the next day (the day before we leave) we can put the clothes and we need in the RV for the trip. I also normally pack snacks that we bring and assorted other needed items. If the bed in the RV is not made up - I make it up. In this case since we had not been away a full week and the next planned trip had been for maybe 3 days, I left the bed made up and covered it over.
I was not really able to do any of the normal things to get ready. In the pouring rain yesterday we did fill the water tanks. If stuck we can fill them at the RV park, but it is easier to fill them at home. I did the laundry last night - filled the laundry bag we use to bring our clothes to the RV (who needs luggage - laundry bag in, put clothes on hanging shelves in “closet”. Use laundry bag for dirty laundry and carry it back into the house in same.
Last night I used a table in the dining room to line up what needed to go out today. Laundry bag of clothes. Cloth tote bag with stuff that goes in the “car” part of the RV - spare eyeglasses, coupons etc. Cloth tote bag with general items to go into the RV - spare paper cups, paper towels, etc. Two cloth tote bags with food related stuff. One, which is the only one with a blue handle, had the stuff for the refrigerator. Soda, juice (in case of a Diabetes low), home bottled water (the water gets rather warm sitting in the tanks on a hot day and such. The last tote bag had the non-refrigerator snacks. Although, since the fridge bag is the heaviest (by far), I did put the 2 liter bottle of soda in the other food bag. All of the snacks which are not in the fridge travel in plastic boxes which seal close to prevent animals smelling the food and getting in to visit. Laptops/tablet were charged overnight and on the kitchen table to go. Spare shoes were in plastic shopping bags to go out. EZPass for tolls was put on the windshield. Bag of last minute stuff to Ready to go!
The weather still seemed to be holding as nice, so this morning I called the RV park and was able to get a reservation for 2 nights - tonight and tomorrow night - for the space next to the one we usually get - so now we know about another spot level enough for us to use.
So we took about 4 trips of stuff out to the RV this morning - I had figured out where to store the various packed bags so that other than the fridge stuff, it did not have to be unpacked until we were in the RV tonight. I have told husband that we could do this and now we have.
So we are finally on a short trip again this summer. So far, so good.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Being able to plan for something that is fluid takes a bit more work, but it can be done. If you do something on a regular or semi-regular basis - make up a checklist and keep it in your computer and print it out each time - and use it. It makes rushing through getting ready so much easier.
In the old days when we went to hotels when we traveled - like normal people - we would take several short weekend trips during the year to the Lancaster, PA area and a longer vacation during which we went to Washington, DC for a weekend, then Charlottesville, VA, then someplace different each year (although the place might repeat every few years) and then to the various historic areas near Williamsburgh, VA, two days in Lancaster and then home. It was so much the same that we would take out the prior year’s schedule and change the date - change the few days that varied and book the same hotels. We had it worked out that we stayed in each area when the hotel price was the cheapest - DC on the weekend, Lancaster midweek, etc.
Since the bedbugs and the switch to our tiny RV this has changed. We go away for shorter times, fewer times during the year. Our trip is also much more weather based - why go to some place outside if it will rain and we will not be able to go. We have also changed what used to be weekend trips to Lancaster to midweek trips - it is easier to get last minute reservations at campgrounds and we avoid weekend tourists plus on Sundays most activities and restaurants are closed, so when we went there Friday to Monday - one day there was little to do.
So this year we have only traveled for multiple days once - just before July 4th weekend. The weather has been wrong or something has been happening to cause us not to go away. We have taken a couple of one day trips as a result of this. So we were all ready for a nice week to 10 day trip like we used to take (although back then generally 2 and a half weeks).
We were going back to the Williamsburg, VA area, a place that as lovers of our country’s early history find so many places to go and learn something new each time. Then the trouble in Charlottesville occurred and we decided that we were uncomfortable traveling down there as we were concerned about similar problems arising there among the American Revolutionary and Civil War battle fields and historic sites.
So we were looking elsewhere - meaning Pennsylvania - for a longer trip. Two separate people - in totally unrelated circumstances - told us to go to a textile museum in PA. I took this as a sign that we were intended to go there this summer. We started planning a 5 day trip which would involve our normal Lancaster places plus this museum and a couple of other places.
We were to leave this past Monday and stay through Saturday. Then we found out about our dentist retiring and I have to get my new upper dental plate done before he does. I got a telephone call last Friday that they needed an extra appointment - Tuesday (yesterday). So the trip was postponed and shortened to today (Wednesday through Friday). The museum is out.
Have you ever tried to make arrangements for and around a trip when you don’t know when the trip will be? Oh boy - that takes odd organizing!
So last Thursday I paid and mailed out last Friday all of the bills due until next Monday and transferred money into our checking account for cash for the trip and if any additional bills popped up.
I normally would email out the monthly newsletter of my embroidery chapter tonight. I sent it out a day early so I would not have to do it while away - easier to do it from my desktop computer.
I have a check list that I print out each time we go on a trip. It lists all the things we need to do for the trip by category. I cross out anything that does not apply to a trip and then cross out each thing as I do it. Whatever needs to be done at the last minute is circled and also listed on the side of the paper and crossed off when done.
I normally will do laundry the night of two days before we go on a trip - so the next day (the day before we leave) we can put the clothes and we need in the RV for the trip. I also normally pack snacks that we bring and assorted other needed items. If the bed in the RV is not made up - I make it up. In this case since we had not been away a full week and the next planned trip had been for maybe 3 days, I left the bed made up and covered it over.
I was not really able to do any of the normal things to get ready. In the pouring rain yesterday we did fill the water tanks. If stuck we can fill them at the RV park, but it is easier to fill them at home. I did the laundry last night - filled the laundry bag we use to bring our clothes to the RV (who needs luggage - laundry bag in, put clothes on hanging shelves in “closet”. Use laundry bag for dirty laundry and carry it back into the house in same.
Last night I used a table in the dining room to line up what needed to go out today. Laundry bag of clothes. Cloth tote bag with stuff that goes in the “car” part of the RV - spare eyeglasses, coupons etc. Cloth tote bag with general items to go into the RV - spare paper cups, paper towels, etc. Two cloth tote bags with food related stuff. One, which is the only one with a blue handle, had the stuff for the refrigerator. Soda, juice (in case of a Diabetes low), home bottled water (the water gets rather warm sitting in the tanks on a hot day and such. The last tote bag had the non-refrigerator snacks. Although, since the fridge bag is the heaviest (by far), I did put the 2 liter bottle of soda in the other food bag. All of the snacks which are not in the fridge travel in plastic boxes which seal close to prevent animals smelling the food and getting in to visit. Laptops/tablet were charged overnight and on the kitchen table to go. Spare shoes were in plastic shopping bags to go out. EZPass for tolls was put on the windshield. Bag of last minute stuff to Ready to go!
The weather still seemed to be holding as nice, so this morning I called the RV park and was able to get a reservation for 2 nights - tonight and tomorrow night - for the space next to the one we usually get - so now we know about another spot level enough for us to use.
So we took about 4 trips of stuff out to the RV this morning - I had figured out where to store the various packed bags so that other than the fridge stuff, it did not have to be unpacked until we were in the RV tonight. I have told husband that we could do this and now we have.
So we are finally on a short trip again this summer. So far, so good.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Being able to plan for something that is fluid takes a bit more work, but it can be done. If you do something on a regular or semi-regular basis - make up a checklist and keep it in your computer and print it out each time - and use it. It makes rushing through getting ready so much easier.
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