Gurnee to Missoula
Six driving days and 1630 miles ...we're here. We had pretty decent weather all the way. We joked that we went from summer to fall in one day. Tonight in Missoula it's supposed to be about 50 degrees.
It was another good travel day although we still had a few "chirps" from the transmission pump alarm in the car. We were on the road by 9:15 and arrived here at 2:30.
So what's a typical travel day like? Up at 7 AM with no time for showers. That gets relegated to the night before and actually is a good relaxation after a day of travel. Jim prepares our herbal tea while I "put my face on." We have a light breakfast, check email and the news then shut down the computers. Mr. Moto goes down and we are into packing. The key to packing up is to put the TV on the bed first. So Jim does that then he gets his turn at "prettying up.'
I do most of the inside packing. Computer monitors join the TV. Then lamps, paper shredder, space heater and little office storage stand all move into the bedroom. Secure the front curtains, close all cupboards, turn around the front chairs, secure the lounge chairs, roll up the rugs and put in the bedroom. All this takes abou 20 minutes.
While I do that Jim is doing the outside stuff...packing in the water, sewer and electric. He starts the car to warm up the oil pump and empties the garbage. We get done about the same time and then pull in the slide and raise the jacks. If we've unhitched the car we hook it up then do our exterior light checks using walkie-talkies.
After a final walk around and check inside we are ready to go. Closet doors tight, pantry door shut, water pump off, water heater and furnace off, TV antenna down, vents closed? Check. We're ready to roll. We can do all this in 2 hours easily.
We average about 50 mph and stop every hour or so. Usually we take about half an hour for lunch and maybe even a nap. Jim does most of the driving while I use my Next Exit book and maps to navigate. I probably do 5% of the driving. This works well because I keep my hand on the wheel but we each are doing what we're best at.
At the end of the travel day we reverse the process in about 30 minutes. We always hook up electricity but only need to hook up water and sewer every four to five days. This whole thing is our process when we are going from point A to point B which has been our mode for the last few years. One of these days we'll get into "serious moseying."
We'll be here in Missoula for a week visiting Laura and Steve. Maybe I'll find time to fit in some touristy stuff, get a haircut and visit my fave clothing store :).
On this particular travel day we took time to honor the memory of those who died in the attack of September 11, 2001. We will never forget.