Six Weeks and Counting

These are the days that try our mettle: Pre-trip preparation days. After  months of planning, plotting, making lists and checking them more times then we can count, we have arrived at the point where we must know if all of this planning is going to pay off, or if we're just dreaming. So one recent Saturday  we pulled our little tow-about trailer to the garage and lined it up next to all the things Keith had collected over the months since January. These are the have-to-takes, the probably-can't-live-without, the essentials of travel and camping (except food and clothing). Would it all fit? How were we going to make it fit? What could we possibly do without?

The only way to know was to grab an article and put it in the trailer, one piece at a time. The secret was to pack the non-essential essentials and put them on the bottom. Most important was to pack the screen tent (to go over the table) and the sleeping tent at the very last. They were to be the first two items unpacked and set up before anything else is to be unloaded. Something we read regarding camp essentials and being able to survive black flies (if they were in season) and mosquitos (which are always in season).

Below are a few photos of us loading all the pieces of the puzzle into the trailer and the back of Einstein  (the Smart car). Buddy, our yellow lab, had a few suggestions, too. Mostly, he wants to go for a ride. Any open car door, he believes, is his invitation to go along to anywhere.

Sorry, Bud, there just isn't room for your food dish.

Please, mommy, can I go? I'll love you forever. 

And, we can still get our toothbrushes in here. PERFECT!

Yes, there are 2 spare tires, 2 sleeping bags, 2 suitcases, and a cooler in here.
And we still have plenty of room in the front seats.

Food? Did someone ask about food for the journey? What we will carry will be sufficient for one day at a time and will go in a small cooler that is secured to the tongue of the trailer. The in-car cooler will hold water & pop . . . no more than six total. 

The dreams lives!!!