Ready to go!

April 21, 2008
Peoria, AZ

We’ve been extremely productive over the last few days, and we’re ready to hit the road!

Over the last few years, we’ve developed a couple of to-do lists to help us get ready to head out for the summer. I think we’ve got it down. The final positive aspect was when we realized that there’s nothing wrong with parking the coach in front of the house overnight. Initially, we really tried to avoid that, but we’ve gotten over it. The HOA rules allow overnight parking while loading, so we’ve really reduced our stress level by loading today and leaving tomorrow.

On Saturday, we staged things that needed to go in the coach, and finished up the yard preparation. It’s not like we worry about much in the yard, but it’s the brutal heat and sun that causes problems. Accordingly, most of the stuff from the yard goes in the shed. The patio table went in the garage; we’d hate to come home and find that the glass table was tossed about during the summer storms, when winds can exceed 70 MPH.

Saturday night, we went over to Ana & Larry’s for dinner. A good time was had by all, and we capped off the evening with a surprise showing of a video of their wedding, almost 30 years ago. I didn’t even know it was taped, as the technology was pretty new in 1978. At least we could recognize ourselves!

Yesterday, we finished up the departure preparation and relaxed a bit in the afternoon. This morning, we got the coach from storage early and had everything loaded by early afternoon. I flushed the water tank and changed the water filters (there are 2 – a sediment filter and a carbon block .5 micron one). I put in about 35 gallons of water, since that’s all we need to get to our first stop in Memphis. We’ve got everything except the last of the refrigerator stuff loaded, and we’ll be in fine shape in the morning. I’ll reset the air conditioning, turn off the gas and water, and lock everything up and we’ll be on our way!

Our planned route has us heading north on I-17 to I-40 in Flagstaff. We’ll follow I-40 all the way to Memphis, with overnight stops in Albuquerque and Arkansas en route. We should roll into Memphis Thursday afternoon. On Friday, we’ll catch up with our friends Wayne and Eva, as they’ll be there attending a grandchild’s sporting events over the weekend (they’re flying, not taking their coach). From Memphis, we’ll catch up with Linda and Wendell at their lake place before heading to Albertville to see Mom and Rick/Annette/Erik.

We’re ready to go!