Category Archives: Tow vehicle

Stuff-A-Truck

Knowing that Monday was the departure date, I started packing the truck three or four days in advance, starting with the trailer spare tire, generator, compressor, solar panel, and two bikes.  Right away, I knew I was in trouble, space-wise.

I had moved the Airstream to Massachusetts a few weeks back — a very smart move in retrospect given our snowstorms, then ice storms, and generally crappy weather.  However, we didn’t get a chance to load a lot of stuff we still needed at home, and could not leave food and other items in an unheated Airstream — so we had a lot of stuff to lug.

Mary had a Christmas Cactus and a Poinsettia in wastepaper baskets, plus two Red Hen pies, and dog biscuits next to her -- we used every bit of space.

Mary had a Christmas Cactus and a Poinsettia in wastepaper baskets, plus two Red Hen pies, and dog biscuits next to her — we used every bit of space.

I won’t bore you with the details but I started Sunday afternoon and began again early Monday, stashing stuff in ceiling-high layers in the truck cap.  I wore knee pads as I crawled in and hoisted items, fitting last-minute things in through the side windows.  Mary got very sick of me saying, “I have no idea where that is going to fit!”

Half of the space Penny normally has was filled with gear -- she just curled up and slept.

Half of the space Penny normally has was filled with gear — she just curled up and slept.

I jammed and stuffed and got the tailgate shut.  I had to try the back window a few times but got that closed and locked and we were good to go.  (I should have taken a picture – it was packed to the gills.)

We crept down our icy driveway — which was in fairly good shape after I scraped it with the Kubota Sunday and soon through Montpelier and on our way south.

It rained, with some freezing rain, the whole trip.  The temperature hovered around 32-33 and there were many warnings of freezing rain but no issues.  The truck seemed to run a bit rough in heavy rain — which I read is a problem with some F-150’s.  It was fine when the rain let up.

Unloading in cold rain was not much fun but we have a little heat in the Airstream, much of our gear is in there in boxes and bags, and we have several days to sort things out.  We’ll stay in Jen’s house given the cold temperatures, icy rain, and lack of electricity but we are launched.  I only had to leave one small toolbox behind — and our rusty old propane grill — so we’ll celebrate Christmas here in Merrimac and head westward, then southward, on Saturday.  Merry Christmas.

California, here we come

Our son Robb and his family recently moved to Del Mar, California. While it is still a long ways from Texas, I have been hoping that we could bird in Arizona this year so .. Why not? So yesterday, I booked the last shore side camping site available for school vacation next February at South Carlsbad State Park. It overlooks the Pacific and is not too far away from our gang. I’m already reading about birding hotspots – never having birded in the west, there’s a lot of potential life birds.

Another part of the preparation was to add a cap to the truck and two days ago, the one I had ordered arrived and was installed. This one, unlike our last one, has side windows that swing up so that you can access things in the front of the truck bed. I’ll miss hauling everything out to get at a toolbox. It is a custom Leer cap and looks great, as you can see below.

Lots of planning to do as we prepare for a late December launch. I got the shower working today and fixed a few loose items. Of course, the closer you look the more you see and I’m ordering small parts weekly. Also ordered a couple of California bird books. Westward ho – we hope.