Departure Day!

Off we go on our second Snowbird journey. It's been a few months since we've gone anywhere in the Queen Mary, so we're getting settled back in, remembering the methods we developed last year, stowing stuff in the same--or better places. Considering whether we remembered to pack just the right stuff, too much stuff, or forgot some things we might have wanted with us. It's an ever-evolving thing to be more efficient, get more from less stuff, and yet be able to do all that we want to do.

I'm so excited to be back on the road. I love this lifestyle and have become increasingly discontent with living where we are. I'm not sure I want to be full time, but I definitely want someplace different. We still don't know what or where or even when, but we are not in a hurry and I'm sure our ideas will change and morph over time.

With the overcast and rainy skies, we haven't been able to get much of a charge on our solar panels, so I'm glad we have a generator. Very handy for taking the chill off as well and charging up the batteries for my night time CPAP use. We are using power sparingly until we get into the sunshine, and my kombucha jars are feeling a bit cold without running the heater all of the time.

This year we decided to leave right after Thanksgiving instead of waiting until after Christmas. We had a great Thanksgiving with family, and between getting loaded up and watching the weather, we left December 1st, a day after our original target date. We decided it would be worth it to have the night time temps above freezing! Our first stop over: Albany, OR, at my sister's house. We are parking across from her house in front of her neighbor's house since there is more room for our 38' motorhome plus the truck we tow behind. We would prefer to not have to unhitch while in 'travel' mode.

I am bringing my computer to my brother-in-law who fixes them. I am hoping he can figure out a fix, since it is stuck in some kind of weird loop and won't boot up properly. I've been too busy to use it much, but I will need it soon. I'm so glad I finally got a SmartPhone. It makes it much easier to do without my computer. But then there are those files I need, and did I back them up recently enough?

A Rainy send-off from the great Northwest!