Preparations

In five days we will bring her home! 


Over the weekend Craig and I trimmed lots of low branches in "Merikay's Woods".

I went around with a big measuring stick. The stick itself is 10' 9" and is our "Official Christmas Tree Measuring Stick".  We have taken it along to the tree farms to measure trees so we don't cut one that is either too tall or too short!  I added an extension onto it so it would be 14' (a good clearance for our 13'1" Alfa).


On Wednesday a crew from a tree service company spent several hours cutting out high dead wood and branches that could fall onto her in a storm.
  

I didn't think to take an overhead before picture, but this is the "after" view of the sky above.

The slab she will be resting on is from the shed I had torn down last year.  It was the first big thing I did to start us on this path! 


Little did I know that the foundation of that rat infested, leaky building would be the new resting place for our RV!


Speaking of rats and mice, we are hoping that the descendants of the critters that called the shed home have happily set up nesting in the forest where they belong.  But to try to discourage them from coming onboard, I have bought a couple of boxes of moth balls, and some Bounce dryer sheets.  I read that you if you put  moth balls in a Tupperware type container, punch holes in it, and place several under your RV the mice "might" not come in.


I also read that Bounce dryer sheets discourage mice, so I'm going to put some in all the basement bays.


Craig doesn't like the smell of Bounce so I won't put any inside.


I read that pepermint oil is also a deterrent, and I will probably get some of that for the cupboards if needed.


I also plan on keeping a sharp look out for any "signs."  


We simply are not thinking beyond driving it home and parking it.  Trip planning can start next week!  


Poor Craig was not a "happy camper" this morning.  He hurt his back  when working outside over the weekend.  He rarely has problems with sore muscles, and when he does he usually gets over them quickly. So when he was still in pain this morning I was a bit concerned.


One of the byproducts of having the trees worked on was a couple of large piles of future firewood. It has to be split and seasoned, but at least we don't have to drag it out of the forest.  


I would like to get as much of it down from the parking pad to the wood storage area by the house as I can.  We have a power wagon, so the actual moving is not difficult.  Yesterday I brought down much of what I could lift into the wagon easily. 


Realizing Craig will not be able to help this weekend, I started working on those rounds that were a bit bigger, but still with in my ability to lift.  


The really big ones can just stay up there until Craig's back is better.  Two of us with sore backs won't do!


I took care of all the "business" stuff earlier this week.  extended warranty, emergency road service, and regular insurance on the motorhome.  All expensive but necessary.  At least with the warranty I don't have to think about it for another four years, and three for Coachnet. 


Craig on the other hand has been busy buying a camcorder. I said I wanted to video record our walk thru so we could remember all the "how to" dos and "what to" dos.  I've read about people doing that, and it really seems like a good idea. My little point and shoot camera is also a video camera and would have been just fine for the job, but Craig wanted something a little better. 

Not just for the walk thru, but to record our future adventures. He wants to shoot a video of Old Faithful!


I'll be walking around it.


I've told him he should start his own blog so he could post them and share them with others.  But I have a feeling  his videos will be an added feature of my blog in the future. 


 That's OK!  As long as we go together.


Post script:  Craig says his back is fine tonight and he will be able to help me this weekend.