Shakedown Cruise Tomorrow

It’s been 14 months since we have used the Airstream so it’s no wonder that I have been dealing with glitch after glitch with the rig and our gear.  I got the furniture and the systems running and about everything inside cleaned up.  There was a lot of grime from the polishing of the aluminum and the floor was filthy from all the traveling in and out with work boots.

It just takes patience.  I found some gas pipes hanging a little loose underneath, and then noticed a nut missing off a bolt holding a pad on to its leg.

When I got our gear ready, my bike was in need of a little TLC and lubrication.  The tires were low and when I found my good bike pump, the hole had been plugged with a mud dauber — no big deal.  The fancy security cable for the kayaks had apparently been run over at some point – so kiss that baby goodbye.

I got hitched up this evening and tested the lights again (we just did it several weeks ago) and one turn signal was dead.  I changed the bulb — same thing.  A little scraping of the contacts got it going fine.

So, we will attend church tomorrow — it is the last Sunday this Spring for formal choir — and finish heading out mid-day tomorrow.  We have reservations at Ricker Pond State Park — a very small park with just a few RV sites — about an hour and a half away in Groton.  Thunderstorms are predicted so it may be an interesting journey — but we have plenty of time and no schedule.  It will be nice to get the boats out and do some paddling although I did get out yesterday for some birding by kayak.

There’s definitely no wifi and likely no 4G signal but we’ll survive.  Mary has downloaded two new books for her Kindle and I am bringing a thick book that I picked up at the library.  A real book – what a concept.  We’ll let you know how we did when we return next week.

Just a about ready to go.  Can you see the two or three items not ready for the road?  (The roof vents are open, the step is down, and the radio antenna, which you can barely see, needs to be stowed.)