So we have started our final check list for the madien voyage of the Catalina. This will be the longest trip it has ever been on. The 600 miles from Florida was the Catalina's first real road experience. Now we are taking her on a 2,000 plus mile trip to Michigan and then east through Pennsylvania to Gettysburg then Philadelphia. But first the checklist has to be completed:
1. Weigh the WHOLE unit--truck and 5er. The local landfill said they can weigh it if I bring it by. Hoping it comes in under 20K lbs. The truck is titles at 5,800 lbs and the Catalina is supposed to be right around 12K lbs before we load out stuff. With a 3400 lbs cargo capacity, 20K would be good.
2. Organize our stuff that is going and get it in the Catalina.
3. Organize the things we "need" for the trip. That means clothes, toiletries, kitchen utensils (that means CAN OPENER!!) and the infamous garlic press. Years ago when I particpated in a leadership class through BikeCentennial, I met a guy named Miles who rode his bike EVERYWHERE everyday. He rode from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Mansfield, Ohio where the classes were being held in early April. When he left Michigan it was snowing...Anyway he said that he would NEVER travel without a garlic press, so since that day I have always had a garlic press in my travel kit...
4. Organize and check out the camera equipment. Mary has taken possession of the Canon G2 and I am using the D30. Both use the same battery (BP-511) which is very convenient. There are some batteries that are DOA. Which is understandable given they are 14 years old!!
5. I am taking a replacement wire harness for the Dodge--just in case the electrical shorts prove to be unstoppable..
6. SNACKS for the drive. We love to have our munchies when we are on the road. HOWEVER, we are dumping the chocolate and going green. Almonds, chex, and sunflower seeds supplemented with cranberries / raisins.
7. Organize our doggie supplies..water dish, water, and collars. We had a very terrifying moment when we were moving here in 2009. We had stopped at a rest area just south of Charleston WV on I-77. It was late, we were tired and probably stayed 45-60 minutes longer on the road than we should have. The rest area was jammed. I put the collar on Lola The Plott Hound and fooliskly let her out the driverside. The 18 wheelers were all running and Lola panicked. She tried pulling away and the collar slipped off and she just missed the front wheels of a Frieghtliner by a matter of centimeters...since then we are obsessed with having the Martingale Collars for both our hounds. It tightens and they pull and there is no way they will slip out of this collar.
8. Change the oil in the Dodge. I have to find a dealer that sells the Fleet Guard filters in the area. I was picking the filters up in Kenly, but now we are 45-50 miles from there.
9. Head out on the highway on JUne 13, 2011. We will be leaving here around 3:00 pm for our fist stop in Wytheville, Virginia.
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