Does that make me a "prepper"... as in: "I'm a prepper, he's a prepper, she's a prepper, wouldn't you like to be a prepper, too?" Hmmm - isn't that from the Dr Pepper commercial? Close, but no cigar.
Today, we are "prepping" to get out of here. We brought the RoadTrek in from storage; put the Stowaway2 cargo carrier on it before bringing it in. We are looking to do a "short-ish" outing to see how Stella does as a travel cat. We know Murphy settles in after a couple hours from initial departure. The RT is now in the driveway, so I plan to introduce Stella to it in stages...
That may be easier said than done; Stella has no interest in being outside. She isn't a fan of being on a leash. But, she has been adaptable for other things; so, that's the hope.
Out at the storage slip, we grabbed a few things out of the cargo trailer and put them into the Stowaway2; after attaching it to the hitch on the van. And once we got home, the first thing we did was take the Stowaway2 off the van and roll it into the garage... we need to see what will go in there and how we will load it. That cargo carrier looks huge on the back of the van. Putting a few things into it at storage made it feel like it was filling right up. The plan: put stuff in there that we will use when staying in an RV park; 30 amp electric cord, fresh water hose, water pressure reducer, water filter, cable (when a park has cable TV), leveling ramps, patio chairs, patio mat - these are all things that we store inside the van. Moving that stuff to the cargo carrier will give us that extra space inside for clothes and stuff. And, with 2 cats, we are going to need space for more "cat stuff" inside.
Before we left this morning, we moved bikes and stuff around inside the garage to make room for the cargo pod...
That's the cargo carrier in the foreground. It needed to come off the RoadTrek while it is in the driveway - the van just fits for length. We'll have the next few days to decide what goes with us, what will be in the van, and what will go in the cargo carrier.
2 comments:
You are lucky that your cats won't try escaping from the RV. Our cat Chip, since the day we got him from the shelter at 8 weeks old, has only had one thing on his mind: how to get outside. Our thoughts were that if we didn't take him outside, he would be happy inside the RV. Nope, all he wants to do is get out. In the beginning, this was a huge problem because once out, he wanted to stay out. People in the RV park would try to "help" by trying to catch him, but that only drove him further from the RV. He is now 13 years old, and he still escapes. Only now he wants back in after a reasonable amount of time. When we were traveling, we were extremely afraid he would climb into somebody's compartment, and then they would leave the RV park on their travels. One person actually brought Chip to us, saying he had entered their motorhome and had explored their bathroom. His favorite trick was to escape when we were leaving to dine out. When we came home, he was sitting right on the steps, wanting back in. And when it came to his escapes, he was as fast as grease lighting.
One time, when we got to the new RV park, we could not find Chip. Our thought was that he got out at the last RV park while we were packing up. We called the RV park (which was 250 miles away), and they said they had not seen him. We started getting ready to get in the truck and drive back to the RV park to look for him. I looked out our back window of the HitchHiker, and I saw a black cat walking around. Yes, it was Chip. Evidently, when we got there, he escaped as soon as we opened the door, and neither of us saw him do it. How can I tell you how fast he is on his escapes? He actually escaped with both of us opening the door, looking to grab him. Our routine was to put him in a crate while we set up, as that entailed many times entering and leaving the trailer.
Now that we are back in our house, we don't have too many problems. If he gets out, we just leave the door open, and he comes back in after about 20 minutes. But we are getting ready to go to our place in Montana, and that is going to be a huge problem. It is two days by car. Just getting fuel, rest stops, and a hotel. It is a huge problem. We are hoping he will either lie in Susan's lap or in his crate, making it easier for us to lock him in the crate when we have to get out of the car.
Good to hear from you, Jeff! Sounds like Chip has kept you on your toes the last 13 years. We have been fortunate that our feline family members have been good with going out on a leash. Stella is now the wild card - she has been with us just over 5 months... she does NOT want to go outside. Since she had lived the first five months of her life in a parking lot, I think she *really* appreciates the good life she has in our house. It remains to be seen how she will do in the RoadTrek.
No one in our family is a fan of motels/hotels. Murphy and Stella have never been in one. Izzy was the last of our feline family to have to do an occasional motel (when going from Texas to the Pacific Northwest to get back to our boat) - she did not like it one bit. She was happy as could be in the boat or the RV (HitchHiker or the Aspect).
This upcoming outing is a preview to see how Stella handles the traveling. We are hopeful.
Wishing you safe travels to Montana!
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