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.

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.

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.