First Day – A Delay…

So, we were planning to get the van back from the shop – yes, the shop – this morning and head out before noon. It is almost 2:00 now. How did this happen?

Well, a couple of days ago I had the bright – albeit belated – idea to have the van “checked out” before we embarked on our cross-country trip. I should be happy I did, because it needed maintenance. They worked on it all day yesterday – filters, oil change, belts, two new tires. This morning they were going to rotate the tires and then it would be done.

This morning the tires got rotated. But they’d forgot to mention that there was one more thing – they needed to check out the Fresair. What, you ask, is a Fresair? It is basically a new fangled kind of swamp cooler that uses water to cool the air in place of a more energy-consuming air conditioner. The gigantic benefit of a Fresair is that it can be run on 12 volts, which means our solar panels can run it easily. The drawback is twofold – one, it doesn’t cool things down as much as an air conditioner, and two, it puts a bit of humidity into the air. But less than regular swamp coolers.

Anyway, literally as I was writing this, we just got a call – the van is done! I am going to go get it now! Let the trip begin!

Actually, let the packing begin. We have to, somehow, fit all this in the van (and all of our clothing, too, which is not pictured!):

The first picture above is all of the “RV-ish kind of stuff” we need – like pots and pans blankets and pillows, first aid kit, COFFEE MAKINGS, etc…

The second picture are some awesome curtains that allow us privacy at night and when we go to the bathroom (yes, we do have a toilet and portable shower!)

The third picture shows the things we need to put in the now infamous “7-inch step,” which is a storage box under our feet where the bed/dinette table is. It is infamous because I’ve kept saying “it will fit in the 7-inch step” to almost everything we need to pack in the van. Stuff like grey and fresh water hoses, electric cords, levelers, etc.

I guess we’ll find out in the next hour whether it’s all going to fit!

Last tag here: The green stuffed peapod in the first picture…I will explain later:)

Wish us luck!