Yep….singing along to, ‘Get Ready’. It was written and produced by Smokey Robinson in 1966 and performed by The Temptations. I personally like the version by the “white soul” group from Detroit, Rare Earth, who performed it live in 1970. The intro to their version is awesome and something I played over and over to my daughters …. It starts by asking the audience “Okay, how bout we get into about 20-30 minutes of Get Ready?”….

Get ready. That’s the theme for this week as we get ready for our big, long, cross-country trip….6800 miles over 70 days. That’s farther than Seattle to Paris! And its going to take longer than 20-30 minutes to get ready for this trip!

So, what are the keys to prepare for such a juggernaut? I break it into 3 key things.

First is obvious. Identifying what needs to happen, what needs to go, what needs to be purchased things not to forget. My wonderful wife prefers to make lists. Lots of lists. There are pages and pages of lists….shopping lists, warm weather clothing list , cold weather clothing list, food list, cleaning supply list, and on and on. I joke with her about my not needing all those lists, preferring to fly by the seat of my pants. Her response…. “that only works if you remember to pack those pants!”

Shhhh, don’t tell her but I do have lists… and lists within lists. But I secretly enter them all on my Notes app on my phone. That way its always nearby when I head to the store and need to “focus” on what I came here for….oh yeah, a lock for the new solar panel or a pack of fuses or white lithium grease for the hitch. As I read about some “don’t forget about this” item in the FB pages, I put it in my Notes list.

Another key to getting ready is to set aside enough time, and to separate, all the house prep activities from the trip packing activities. This is so you’re not jumping from one necessary task to another….and running out of time (or forgetting something which I always do). I reserved time to get firewood split/stacked, yard projects completed, winter-prep activities and trailer cleaning all done before ever starting on the actual packing. Now comes the week allocated for trip preparations.

We are traveling with good friends from Oregon. Last winter we began trip route planning by comparing notes on where we wanted to go, what to see, what to do. Our goal is a 28-day Kentucky caravan planned by the Airstream Club. Sounds like a blast as they plan everything for us. We just need to get there and back. I use RV Trip Wizard to map out our route and stays. It calculates gas usage and costs and I can share it with our friends so we can make changes or optional destinations. It allows me to set a daily distance limit (4 hours +/- for us) on the map and shows options for campgrounds and resorts. This has been a huge help.

I also read a lot of posts and comments on the AirForums and Airstream Addicts (on FB) to collect ideas and necessary objects to add to our never-ending collection of items “that simplify our travels”. I sold the Honda inverter in favor of 140W solar panels. I invested in good power surge protection. I upgraded our tires and bought new batteries. And the more I read or talk with people who have traveled far, I end up with more and more things to consider. Not sure there is an end to this.

With all that said, I don’t use a packing list, other than what I choose to remember and put on my phone. Each trip is different. For this trip we stripped the trailer bare. And each item we put back in fell under the scrutiny of “have we used it before, and will we use it on this trip”? I opted to keep a large plastic bin in the truck to pack those items we seldom use but may have a need. In the bin are extra tools, spare parts, additional supplies (toilet paper, paper towels, power cords, extra hoses, the big stuff).

Lastly, a key to get ready for such a long trip is to plan what we will be doing during the trip. There is the time we are driving. So we have downloaded audio books to listen to, saved playlists of songs to hear, update Spotify song lists, and bought snacks for the road. During the quiet times, however, there needs to be things to do. We will be busy seeing the country, visiting with people and enjoying the activities of the caravan. But there will be down time and reading goes just so far. My wife likes to keep her hands busy, so she is preparing quilt pieces to stitch. She can watch a movie and be busy stitching away. I decided to use the trip as an opportunity to learn a new skill. I bought a guitar and downloaded a lesson app on my phone. So I plan to ‘do-do’ quietly….but not during the movie.

New Portable Solar Panels Added

Hitch cleaned, painted and greased

New GY Endurance Tires – Pressure checked and torqued

I think we are almost ready!