Reservations create Chaos

Are you like us? You plan, organize and strategize for a future adventure only to be blind sided by the unknown variable. That is what this week has been for us.
First Hurricane Irene blows in and the trip to DC for the MLK memorial is cancelled. Then Iren blows out of town and the notion of spending Labor Day at the OBX and Cape Hatteras is scratched from the agenda. Today I read that tropical storm Katina, still west of Jamaica, will be a Hurricane by Saturday as it goes past Puerto Rico coming north...
Then this week, Mary is offered an opportunity to work with her sisters back in Michigan as a real estate appraiser. Becoming a licensed appraiser is a 2 year process. There are classes to take, an exam and an apprenticeship Mary will have to do before applying to take the exam for her license.
This is a great opportunity as it is extremely difficult to get a licensed appraiser to even work with a trainee. So our summers may be spent "on the road" in Michigan and our winters either in New Mexico or North Carolina.
Mary hasn't been to New Mexico and she keeps asking and wondering if she is going to "fall in love" with it once she sees the area. I tell her that no matter how beautiful an area is, the next one will be even better.
When I rode through the Rockies on a bicycle, it was so different from the car drive back in 1976 with my parents when the family went to Las Vegas in a travel trailer. The Rockies are majestic no matter what you see them from. But seeing them on a bicycle and actually riding up to the summit of Hoosier Pass is not to be compared to a car ride.
Perhaps the nice part of Mary going into appraisal, when we are traveling the off months (September / October through March) we will not be as focused on working. This will allow us to interact more with the communities we come to and seriously enjoy the road as opposed to squeezing in a dedicated 8 hour work day.

Above my desk I have a 12X8 inch wall plaque I had bought from a mail order catalogue from public broadcasting. In the center is a Chinese symbol for CHAOS. UNder that it reads---

WHERE BRILLIANT DREAMS ARE BORN---

Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos.
Before a brilliant person begins something great, they must look foolish to the crowd.

All summer North Carolina has temps at or just above 100 degrees. Not sure id the rain is really much needed relief or just weather that will keep us stationary.
We started organizing papers we have collected from our trips. Documents like maps, campground passes and tickets for attractions we have experienced.
This will inevitably become another cluster, but for now it makes a great scrapbook.
I took on this task after I found my scrapbook in the back of the closet. Way back in the EARLY 1980s, I bought a giant "scrapbook" on the local public television station in Detroit. I have never seen another like it since. It has the pictures from the TransAmerica bicycle tour, favorite news articles I have collected over the years and a great assortment of bumber stickers I collected during various bicycle tours.
The book weighs close to 25 pounds and probably won't find its way into the Coachmen as a permanent fixture.
Which gives rise to the notion of having a very good quality scanner. It would make sense to scan these teasures, there by allowing us to always have them with us. The actual books can be placed in the hand of our family members for safe keeping.

Everything has weight, and that must be a consideration when we finalize our manifest in 2013.

Looking forward to cooler weather---mid-80s.

Seems the fall might have arrived in our part of North Carolina. Mostly mid-80s during the day and low 70s at night.
We are straightening and cleaning as we anxiously await our next trip. Due to Hurricane Irene, the MLK dedication scheduled for August 28 has been rescheduled to September or October of this year.
I am always looking at what we need to organize and have in the Coachmen for our comfort. Other than the basic utensils and plates, what will we need to really enjoy being out on the road.
I have this Compass metal detector I bought back in 1983. It is a great machine and I would really like to include it as part of our gear. Other than being banned from many federal and state areas, I think it would be a worth while gadget to carry around.
I also want to add a three burner coleman stove to our kitchen. However, I am investigating the Rocket stove that has been engineered for use in Africa and other third world countries. It burns wood and other combustibles but is so effecient it uses hardly any wood.
We feel most of our cooking will be outdoors, on a stove or over an open fire when weather conditions permit.
I am still arguing with myself about the tools I think I need to carry. I am sure I have too many, but I am also obsessed with those what if scenarios. Maybe if I have a can of black paint and spary the handle of the tools I use over the next year and dump the ones that aren't painted?

I am also debatingthe 5th wheel hitch situation. We are currently using a goose-neck adapter to connect the Coachmen in the Dodge. Mostly beacuse I have the ball already welded to a humongous channel that in turn is welded to the truck frame. I just think that a traditional hitch will be easier to connect and disconnect, particularly whe the Dodge is angled differntly from the Coachmen. I have ONE rail and the 15K Reese hitch. I will probably have to buy a new set of rails and the installation brackets to mount the rails in the bed and to the frame.

Irene didn't keep us in all day....

We saw Iren come into the Fayetteville area around 7:00 A.M. Some rain and 20-30 mph winds. By noon, Mary and I were restless and wanting to get outside.
We headed out towards Fayetteville, as I was thinking about stopping at Weymouth Woods. BUT my directions were off. I had the correct address and stree--WRONG town. Weymouth Woods is in Southern Pines. Fortunately we were able to us the EVO to check the address on the web.
We were looking for Longleaf Pine needles. Though we have an abundance of Loblolly pines, their needles are 6-8 inches. Longleaf pines are minimum 8 inches and as long as 18--probably on a GIANT Longleaf. We didn't see any needles that long at Weymouth (which was closed due to Irene).
Mary is going to do some basket making with the Longleaf needles. Hopefully the needles will cooperate.
Located just south of Sanford, Southern Pines is a beautiful town. Nearly all the streets are lined with pines and hardwoods. Many of the homes (outside the downtown area of the city proper)sit on at least an 1/2 acre lot. Even in the downtown area it looks like they build around the trees.
Next week we will have a few more upgrades for the Dodge--weather being in agreement. We ordered the #10 fuel plate, so that means we will also be modifying the AFC and starwheel. If UPS is in sync with us we will also have the new lift pump and fuel pressure gauge this weekend as well.

Less than 1/2 inches of rain?

Is that ALL Irene is good for? OK, we will take it, but NOT one inch more.

Mary and I are discussing fit-it boxes. There is a company that sells Dodge Diesel parts (Geno's Garage) and the have a BOONIE BOX. Stuff that breaks when no o ne else is around and the nearest auto parts store is at least 25 miles back the other way.
Right now we are shopping for fishing tackle boxes. Plano makes a model that is soft sided and has removeable boxes. Inside the boxes you can move the dividers around to create different sized compartments.
We want to make one for the Coachmen to carry our screws, nuts and bolts. The ironic thing is, the fix-it box will probably be used for crafts and NOT repairs. I see us stuffing the box with crafty stuff, like string and small screws to attach pieces to other pieces.
We might find the duct tape useful one day. We might even have need for the 90° angle brackets to install something in the Coachmen. But the box will be most benificial as a craft supply box. At least that is my expectation.
We just have to decide on a color...

What hurricane?

SOOOOOOOOOOO Irene is going to pass us bye. She is heading for the OBX and might miss that as well...
There is still rain to deal with. They (weather forecasters) sa rain Saturday and sunshine Sunday.
Mary is finishing her online classes for grant writing and I am busy with copywriting and writing in general.
Today Amazon delivered a new book. Since we are here in north Carolina, and there are zillions of BIG pine trees, we are investigating pine needle art. Specifically, pine needle baskets. We have gone throug about 100 different ideas for creating income on the road. I suppose that is the real reason we started planning and preparing for full time in 2013. We need the time to organize our employment (though I am still planning on Amazon the fall of 2013) checkout the truck (because we ain't buying new) and finally to be familar with the Coachmen 5th wheel.
As soon as I can find one more rail I am going to install the traditional 5th wheel hitch. Mary has a hard time alighingthe gooseneck ball with the vertical coupler. I believe the 5th wheel hitch will be so much easier to align.
We are also assembling fix it boxes for the Doage and the Coachmen. The Dodge will contain extra oil and fuel filters, radiator hoses, serpentine belt, starter contacts, 5-40w oil, antifreeze, and other parts and pieces that can keep the Dodge running if we find ourselves in a stituation like Green Bay again. If I had the fix it box then, I could have just replaced the contacts and the solenoid in the starte and been road ready in 30 minutes.
The fix it box for the Coachmen will be a tackel box with removable drawers. In it we will keep a variety of screws, hooks, nuts, wiring, fuses and other pieces and parts we use to keep the Coachmen up and running.

Irene is heading this way

We are preparing for the possibility that Irene will make land somewhere between Charleston SC and Myrtle Beach. It could be in SC by Saturday. With that trajectory it is possible it will track very close to us here in the Fayetteville area. The standard joke is to stock up on Milk and bread or you could die. Actually, this far inland, the worse case scenario would be no electric for a week or two. Though the possibility of severe damage is a concern, so we are not thinking we are in the clear by any means.
We continue to map out NOLA for Christmas as the Category 2 (might be Cat 3 by landfall)storm hovers just south of Florida. Mary is also researching areas in southwest Michigan for a homebase / domicile.
We are watching the forecast and waiting.