Crunch time!

 It has always been Larry's and my plan to buy a small travel trailer and set off around the U.S.  seeing it all at a leisurely pace.  We had finally decided that now was the time to take action and had been trailer hunting in California while we were assisting our kids with the first two weeks of back to school stress.  We actually found one that suited our needs perfectly.  It had a full bathroom (great for late night visits) a short queen bed that did not have to be folded up each morning, a well designed kitchen and a bump out for a couch/seating area.  So we kept the brochure, came home to Colorado and promised ourselves next spring we would begin this new version of travel.  After all, we still had our trip to Argentina and Chile ahead of us to keep us busy this fall.

But then I decided to browse through Craig's List.  Lo and behold, there was a trailer with almost the exact same floor plan as the one we fell in love with.  It was two years old, never used, and it was $10,000 less. So we called the seller, checked it out, and of course we bought Serendipity.

The trailer had a sad story behind it.  The previous owner and his wife, like us, had planned to travel the country in their retirement, leisurely checking out our wonderful country.  But then his wife died suddenly.  So in his grief he decided to fulfill their plan.  But no sooner did he get Serendipity home than he had a heart attack and was unable to use her - even once.  The kids were now selling the trailer as part of his estate. We think they were happy that a couple close to their parents age were going to use it finally, and we promised to use Serendipity faithfully and well.

So now we are in the process of equipping a "brand new" trailer for a shake down run 31 days before we leave for South America.  The shake down run will be 5 days, but we first have to de-winterize the trailer, fill the tanks (propane and water), stock the trailer with all the amenities needed to live for 5 days, including the 1 time items one usually adds.... sheets that fit a short queen bed, racks to hold things, bins to keep stuff from running amok during travel, towels, dishes, etc. etc. etc. Then re-winterize the trailer before we take Serendipity to her winter home.

In the meantime we have the trip to Argentina and Peru to finalize.  Yes, we have the flights booked, the cars booked, the first night or 2 after each landing booked, and a basic itinerary in mind.  There are after all the must sees to plot on the map. We have bought books on the history of each country, and books by Isabel Allende, as well as books by others on their travels so we can be well informed when we get there.  I'm a fast reader, but that's still a lot to get through in... did I say 31 days?


But have I mentioned before that Larry is a Libra?  In his world, we cannot leave without a complete day to day itinerary in place, even though we never get 4 days into an itinerary without being 5 days behind because what you find on the ground seldom matches what you planned.  There's bound to be a festival in one town, a farmer's market in another, a waterfall never mentioned in the guide books that the locals say is spectacular or .....

So now we are in crunch time, the story of our life.  Blogs?  I'll get them up in between all the other stuff going on,  I hope!