I have finished about all I planned to accomplish prior to departure. The lists really worked. Most every thing left to do is a just-before-departure activity; loading the Dish Network receiver, DVD player, food, phone, etc.

Did you miss me? Sorry to keep you waiting… I had to go for my reading glasses!

I have gone through the exercise of transferring about one hour of files from my desktop to the laptop onboard Barth.

Dog’s food is already onboard. Water tank is sterilized and full. I was going to sort through clothing to see what still fits, but said the heck with it – just take it all (or most of it), sort as I wear it. A benefit of traveling alone is having twice as much storage area for my stuff!

I will probably depart Tuesday, or even Monday, since I will probably only travel to Poncho Villa, NM. From there, perhaps toward the TX coast.

I did finally identify the wire that is causing Jeep to cut out. I replaced one connector with a hard splice, but that connector must have been good, as the splice did not fix the problem. I discovered that if I tie the wire up with a little tension on both ends, the problem appears to go away. So there is a connector problem on one end. Unfortunately I cannot get to the ends conveniently, so I will try to find a cheap mechanic to do that for me. At least I feel there is a 90% chance that I finally found the culprit wire.

I have been busily been knocking off items on my lists. Busily means maybe 4-5 hours a day working on them.

Major items are the house cleaning, about 1/2 complete. Also, Jeep has started cutting out again. I don’t know how much more I can squeeze out of her. She still runs ok, except when cutting out. I keep trying to isolate the source of the problem, which I believe is a wiring harness problem. To my chagrin, the book I have with the wiring harness diagram only contains diagrams for such things as lighting, but does not cover engine component wiring diagrams – bummer!

I may make my first stop at Poncho Villa State Park in NM, a relatively short drive from here, to get back in the practice of rv-ing!

Two days ago I decided that I would never be ready to leave for the summer if I did not make some lists. I am a ‘list’ person, you see.

So I made two lists, things to load and prepare Barth for the departure, and things to do around the house before I leave. Unfortunately, they were so long that it was kind of depressing.

Yesterday I passed over the lists and made one more change to Barth, not on the list, naturally. Since my new communications hardware eliminated the need for one computer, I had removed it. However, that also removed the computer that I used with my printer. And then the second computer (now the only computer) in Barth was a Barth-length from the printer/scanner. Also, the printer was on a shelf so high that I could not read the controls.

So yesterday my task became to install a slide-out shelf in a cabinet up front, beside my work desk. There the printer is convenient to the desk, and can be plugged directly into my current computer. And I can read the controls!

That was an all-day effort, necessitating a trip to town for the slides, a trip to town to get a hardwood veneer plywood for the shelf, and a trip to town to get the shelf re-cut because of mis-measurements. I bought a large panel to cut the door from, never mind the large-enough piece that has been riding in the back of Jeep for a week, forgotten. Three trips to town equal about a half tank of gas.

But it was worth it. The shelf:

RV travel is always easier if there are one or two, possibly three target destinations, but never more. This gives real milestones with which to pace oneself.

The milestone target for this summer’s trip is to be in Pigeon Forge, TN, around 1 Aug. That week my brother, his wife, my niece from Spain and my nephew from CA, both with babies in tow, will be there for a reunion of my sister-in-law’s family. So that is my mid-point target, but I am not yet sure about attending the actual reunion.

That is if I have enough money to get there. It used to be “…if the creeks don’t rise,” now it is “…if the diesel doesn’t rise too much.”

Everything is ready to roll, almost. I have one more Barth-related task, and a general (superficial) cleaning of my house to complete, then it is time to hit the road.

The remaining task is an update of my communications hardware on board Barth. I am upgrading my satellite internet system to the latest upgrade. This does a couple of things for me: faster connection, lower monthly cost, less drain on my battery, simpler operation (if it works!) and less physical space (more storage room!). I can operate with one computer instead of two. Also, the legacy equipment I am using has exceeded it’s lifetime, and will eventually be made unusable by the satellite folks.

The equipment should arrive by Monday or Tuesday, and I will immediately start the installation. Then there are no more excuses to delay departure, yet.