It’s about six o’clock in the morning and I hear a neighbor start a load of laundry. Another tenant fires up her Harley for a quick commute to work across town. It’s official, my night’s sleep is over!.
That’s how we’ve started our day for about the last 6 months. I’m a bit of a night owl and don’t need a whole lot of sleep. But lately, I’ve been getting less and less. Though I am grateful for a place to lay my head, I am even more grateful that we finally have a date as to when we take delivery of our new Tiger Adventure vehicle! Alas, not a moment too soon!
November 14th is the magic delivery day! On the 12th of November, we will be traveling by train to South Carolina with about 150 pounds of luggage; camera equipment, the usual toiletries, and a basic clothing inventory will be part of our "Bag Drag". Other items such as bed linens, kitchen supplies and other personal notions are getting mailed ahead of time in a few recycled boxes that will hopefully get to our destination before we do. Insurance, registration, banking, and coordinating where our future mail will go, are just some of the other tasks that keep us busy between now and the big day. We are both nervous, excited and most of all, exhausted.
When we decided to do this, there was no manual or checklist to beg or borrow to help us make this process go smoothly. Every single day we accomplish tasks and find experience a learning curve offset and fueled by a somewhat focused timeline. Sometimes the timeline itself and knowing what it will be is a process! I am still finding myself sifting and sorting through personal items that I discussed in my last bog post “Letting Go”. Before, I had the luxury of walking away for a time when things became to “difficult”. Now, its, “Buck up butter cup” and just push through it. In the end, you do what’s necessary.
Once in South Carolina on the 14th, we will have an in depth walk-around of our new rig in the morning. On the same day, we load up everything, and head to the nearest supermarket for food and some other tidbits. Then it's off to find a place to camp, probably within a few hours drive of our departure point, just in case. After a nights rest in our new “home”, we plan on taking our time driving back to Massachusetts. This will allow us time everyday to learn and operate the various systems of the vehicle. Among other things, we will be keeping track of the fickle November weather. My mind is still fresh with the calamity we all endured a few years ago before Halloween.
By the 20th, we should be back in Amherst and finishing up any last minute preparations before hooking up to the trailer and making our final departure to…well, I suppose that sort of depends on the weather doesn’t it? Chances are we’ll head south for while, then west. Because we are leaving later than expected, I need to winterize the trailer to keep it’s pipes, water heater and pump from freezing. Not a huge task, but just one more thing to think about, write down, then accomplish. Item number 165 perhaps, I've lost count.
Finally, I want to thank all of you. For a number of reasons but first and foremost for your incredible support. You getting excited about our adventure helps keep us focused on the big picture and helps push us along even on the days when things just don’t go right no matter what we try. The next post you’ll see should be our first encounter with our new Tiger!