Getting Ready for the Road
Rosie and I are getting ready for the road. If your image of this adventure is me trekking along, backpack and bedroll on my shoulders, loyal dog gently jogging alongside, hit delete. Rosie and I travel in style – a new Airstream Interstate 19x – Mercedes Sprinter chassis, with an Airstream body. Bath, induction cooktop, indoor and outdoor showers, battery backup good for days, power awning, sound system and 4WD – the definition of glamping (glamourous camping). Big enough to fit all that stuff and our stuff, but small enough to park in town.
In February, when Rosie and I spent 30 days roaming through the American South, I did learn one important lesson. Don’t bring too much stuff. Clothing for every possible weather contingency is not necessary – if it gets cold buy a hoodie. Clothes for every possible social encounter are not necessary – one pair of jeans covers 99% of all occasions. Pack light, add as necessary, ship excess home. My sister is travelling in the UK right now. For whatever reason their bags did not connect with them. They are fine. Roll with it. Besides, the great thing about travelling with a dog – she always smells worse than you.
Rosie. I found her at a shelter in the Poconos run by a marvelous woman who saves dogs from slaughter in the South. It was love at first sight. She is about 3 years old. DNA tests revealed an interesting pedigree – 42% German Shepherd, and the balance is 13 other breeds. 50 pounds, gentle, loving, and obedient. Other than Egg McMuffins, however, feeding her on the road is a bit of a challenge. She is smart enough to convince me that she should eat The Farmers Dog – the frozen, human grade, air shipped, ridiculously expensive dog food. Problem is the freezer in the van is small and I can only fit 14 days of food. On the southern trip, I tried to transition her to regular commercial food, with disastrous digestive developments (a little alliteration there). For 3 days she woke me up 5 times a night – kind of her as an accident in close quarters would have been unpleasant. This trip, I will cook a Farmers Dog proxy when I am cooking for myself.
Then there is all the hobby gear. I’ve dreamt for a long time about being able to see and photograph stars in a truly dark sky. I will have ample opportunities on this trip, so I am bringing along my Unistellar Equinox 2, a unique sort of telescope. It can find deep sky objects using software driven by GPS, a common feature on modern telescopes. Once on a target, however, the image is communicated directly to my tablet, where it can be viewed and saved. No eyepiece to squint through, and a great record of what you have seen. Add to this all the standard camera gear and hiking equipment, storage space dwindles quickly. And let’s not forget books. I always bring too many and compound the problem with purchases on the road. For this trip I packed a book about 4 major Catholic literary figures of the 20th century – Percy, O’Connor, Merton and Day – and the major work of each. And one more, always, Leaves of Grass.
The last thing to pack is my bag of emotions. If I were flying, this bag would have gotten one of those overweight stickers. I planned this trip for September – one year since my wife’s passing and what would have been our 46th wedding anniversary. When I planned the trip, I was emotionally down, and I thought getting on the road for a period of quiet contemplation would be helpful. But between the planning and the leaving my life has taken an unexpected turn to the upside. I am feeling happy again – and more than a bit guilty about it. Reopen the emotion bag and squeeze that one in too.
