We're off!

 6:27 am - Saturday - October 14th - Honey Lake Rest Area, CA - 48° F, humidity 56%, wind 2 mph out of the southwest......cloudy today with a forecast high of 69° F.  On this date in 2021 TLE, the Newell, and I were on the Clinton/Mulkiteo Ferry on the south end of Whidbey Island, WA heading south....↴

TLE and I were up around 6:30 am, not because we needed to be, but because we were awake, and both thinking about the myriad of tasks still left to accomplish before we could roll our wheels out of LPG&RVR.  There was no hurry as our destination for the day was just 77 miles away.  After enjoying a cup of joe, I headed out to the trailer to begin the final organization before we could drag the artificial turf into its interior.  I had to stow the Trailer Valet, fold and stow the wheel covers for the Newell and trailer, then move everything else to the front of the trailer just in front of the bicycles.  We seem to have a little more 'stuff' to stow every 6 months, and that is not a good trend....there is only so much room....lol!

While I was doing that TLE was organizing the Newell interior for travel.  That is strictly her domain, and she does a wonderful job of it.  Eventually she joined me outside for the first big event of the day......move/drag the artificial turn into the trailer.  Once that was done we were on the downhill side of the 'rolling our wheels' mountain.  I disconnected the city water, rolled up the hose, and stowed it, then we took down the last three strands of solar rope lights, stowed the portable step for entry into the Newell, then fired up the big Detroit Diesel 6v92. Once we had 'aired' up I went outside to disconnect our electrical umbilical cord. Before we could pull forward to the front of the trailer, we had to back off the leveling blocks under the passenger side wheels (steer and drive), then stow those blocks, and then, for the first time in exactly 6 months move in a forward direction.

.....TLE expertly guided me as I backed up the Newell to the trailer tongue for the first time in 6 months, and within minutes we had dropped the trailer on the hitch, and had inserted the VW inside.  It was about 1:30 pm, and time to roll our wheels.  We arrived here at LPG&RVR on April 12th, and 6 months and one day later we are leaving once again....

....after a quick stop at the Post Office to drop off some outgoing mail we were on our way southward on US-395!  When we haven't driven the Newell for a long period of time I always wonder if the first drive will be uneventful.  As we accelerated up to highway speed all my gauges were providing positive feedback.....good coolant temp, good oil temp, good air pressure, and good oil pressure.  The climb out of the Pitt River Valley begins immediately, and after 1,000 feet of elevation gain we passed over Sage Hen Summit, and within minutes the cruise control was set at 6o mph, and all that was left was to hold on to the steering wheel and glide southward to Honey Lake Rest Area where we spent the night....

Thanks for stopping by!