The last day before the trip starts is the hardest.
First, it simultaneously feels like we're never going to leave AND like the trip has come far too soon. I both want to leave immediately and wait a couple of days. But the time will come in the wee hours tomorrow and it will be fine.
Also, something always goes akimbo right before we leave. One year, a kid inexplicably overflowed a bathroom sink to the point water was dripping to the floor below. Another year one of the dogs had to have stitches after the two ding dongs fought over some bird food. I thought we covered this year's hiccup earlier in the week when the garage door was broken. But no. That would be too easy. Last night we discovered that the air conditioner isn't working properly. Then I didn't realize that it wasn't working again all day (even though I thought it was awfully warm). And now we'll have to wait until Monday to have somebody come fix it because it's Friday night and an uncomfortably warm house is not an emergency. I do not enjoy arranging these things from the road. But I will and it will be fine.
Finally, I perpetually feel like I'm forgetting at least 23 major things. I never do. In fact, I always take WAY too much. Also, literally everything is replaceable from stores on the trip. Or the things are utterly unnecessary. Either way, I need to drop kick the worry to the side. But I won't and it will be fine.
Well, Jason, eyes fixed with a thousand-yard stare, and in between stuffing frozen pizza down his yell hole, just mumbled to no one in particular, "I'm going to be up all night." Yep. You sure will be because it is the last day before the trip starts and that's what you do. But then he'll pop out of bed long before dawn and be excited to leave like always. Everything will be fine and we'll have the time of our lives!
Friday, May 31, 2019
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Paper house gets a facelift
I've gotten a few requests to try some video on the blog. So to try it out here's a video of our upgrades that we made this year to the camper.
Here are some photos of the changes.
I'M SO EXCITED I CAN'T SLEEP.
I mean, let's not mess around, of course I'm still sleeping-but only two more sleeps until the trip starts! Can you believe it?
After finishing up my long-term subbing a couple of weeks ago, I went full tilt on giving the paper house a little update. I painted out some cabinetry, spray painted a bunch of yellow plastic do-dads to their former white, replaced countertops with the gracious help of Mr. Stamp (who always offers to help once I'm mid-way through a project I don't fully understand and get stuck, with say, a sink suspended in a camper by a couple of bungee cords and a neon orange shoelace), got the bathroom door to actually close (I'm really psyched about this one!), hand reupholstered all of the mauve right out of there, put up some new curtains, and stuck up a new backsplash in the kitchen. I still don't have the feeling back on the tip of my right index finger from all of the hand sewing, but it was so worth it to rid the world of mauve! Gah!
When we started all of this five years ago, Samus was the same age as Marcus is now and Marcus was a tiny little person still able to ride on Jason's shoulders. Next year, Samus starts high school and Marcus is officially done with grade-school. In 2015, I couldn't possibly fathom the magnitude of what we were about to do. That first trip was so over-planned with daily meal plans, pre-scoped out laundry mats and assigned laundry days, and an entire binder detailing the trip day by day, paper maps and all (in case we didn't have cell service or we got lost). Since then, we've learned a lot. For instance, people eat whether there's a meal plan or not and the binder is now a two-sheeter. Also, there are no more paper maps and only one app is allowed for navigation, because as Jason likes to say, "a man with two watches never truly knows the time." Trust me, it applies to navigation apps too.
Thankfully, no longer is each day planned to a T. Entertainment reservations are made only where necessary, otherwise, we have only a vague idea of what the days will bring. I mean sometimes it rains the whole time you're in Myrtle Beach and you don't actually get to swim in the ocean or you accidentally ride the train one hour in the wrong direction in San Francisco and miss your boat to Alcatraz. These things happen. Crying doesn't fix it (we've come to this conclusion having explored it as a solution multiple times). Flexibility is key. Also, snacks are key. Munschs get hangry!
This trip's highlights include: New York City and all it has to offer, Boston, where my parents will meet us, Acadia National Park and sea kayaking, and stops in Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Illinois (in no particular order). Stay tuned for more details as I intend on blogging the whole trip. Oh, and to add to the blogging experience, Jason has been advised by his work colleagues/media consultants that we need to throw in some vlogging too. We'll see how that goes because let's be real--noboby likes the sound of their own voice on camera.
Tonight we will go to bed much too late and wake cranky in the morning for a full day of last-minute panic packing and preparation during which very little will actually be accomplished.
After finishing up my long-term subbing a couple of weeks ago, I went full tilt on giving the paper house a little update. I painted out some cabinetry, spray painted a bunch of yellow plastic do-dads to their former white, replaced countertops with the gracious help of Mr. Stamp (who always offers to help once I'm mid-way through a project I don't fully understand and get stuck, with say, a sink suspended in a camper by a couple of bungee cords and a neon orange shoelace), got the bathroom door to actually close (I'm really psyched about this one!), hand reupholstered all of the mauve right out of there, put up some new curtains, and stuck up a new backsplash in the kitchen. I still don't have the feeling back on the tip of my right index finger from all of the hand sewing, but it was so worth it to rid the world of mauve! Gah!
When we started all of this five years ago, Samus was the same age as Marcus is now and Marcus was a tiny little person still able to ride on Jason's shoulders. Next year, Samus starts high school and Marcus is officially done with grade-school. In 2015, I couldn't possibly fathom the magnitude of what we were about to do. That first trip was so over-planned with daily meal plans, pre-scoped out laundry mats and assigned laundry days, and an entire binder detailing the trip day by day, paper maps and all (in case we didn't have cell service or we got lost). Since then, we've learned a lot. For instance, people eat whether there's a meal plan or not and the binder is now a two-sheeter. Also, there are no more paper maps and only one app is allowed for navigation, because as Jason likes to say, "a man with two watches never truly knows the time." Trust me, it applies to navigation apps too.
Thankfully, no longer is each day planned to a T. Entertainment reservations are made only where necessary, otherwise, we have only a vague idea of what the days will bring. I mean sometimes it rains the whole time you're in Myrtle Beach and you don't actually get to swim in the ocean or you accidentally ride the train one hour in the wrong direction in San Francisco and miss your boat to Alcatraz. These things happen. Crying doesn't fix it (we've come to this conclusion having explored it as a solution multiple times). Flexibility is key. Also, snacks are key. Munschs get hangry!
This trip's highlights include: New York City and all it has to offer, Boston, where my parents will meet us, Acadia National Park and sea kayaking, and stops in Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Illinois (in no particular order). Stay tuned for more details as I intend on blogging the whole trip. Oh, and to add to the blogging experience, Jason has been advised by his work colleagues/media consultants that we need to throw in some vlogging too. We'll see how that goes because let's be real--noboby likes the sound of their own voice on camera.
Tonight we will go to bed much too late and wake cranky in the morning for a full day of last-minute panic packing and preparation during which very little will actually be accomplished.
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