Traveling with pooch

Hey, yeah we’ve been super busy.

Packing, storing, recovering, and organizing for living on the road takes a lot of energy.

I’ve been reading other folks’ blogs to get an idea of the weather and crowds in different parts of the country at different times of the year. Unfortunately it seems like everyone wants to be where the weather is perfect and the crowds are small. Hmm. I wonder why? Wherever you go, there you are…and so are others.  Well people, make room for our LWV, cuz we’ll be joining you.

Our main priorities when we leave are to go slow, relax, and keep Pia comfortable. Fred and I can handle the hot weather most of the time, but our “P-girl” has long black hair all over her body, so we will be focusing on keeping her cool, as she is 12 years old. (That’s like 84 in people years)

We recently had all the windows tinted on the van to help keep her and us cool inside and also to add an element of privacy without having to pull all the shades and curtains constantly. We’re really happy with the results. In addition to the tinting, I’ve adapted a pair of light blocking curtains to hang across the middle of the van. I’m still playing with those to make them look a bit more exciting, but they are really nicely lined and insulated. I’m adding another layer to the back, so the stark white lining doesn’t show from either side.

The plan is to mostly camp in places where dogs are welcome. Although I have a personal goal of visiting as many National Parks as possible, they are not always very dog friendly. Why go there, when the pooch can’t hike around with us?  Even though she is a great traveling doggie, and always content to go anywhere, we will not be locking her up in the van for the amount of time it takes to go on a nice hike. There are plenty of other campgrounds near lakes and rivers we can play at. So, for the time being, we’ll concentrate on those more pet happy areas, and just do some scenic drives through the National Parks we cross through.

Organizing Strategies

There is none.

I think I’ve re-organized the van on every trip we’ve taken and can conclude that there is no “perfect” way to organize it. That being said, every trip does get easier. And every trip is different, requiring a different game plan. So why not just add and subtract as we go along, which is part of the fun of traveling anyway. I know from experience that we will take things we don’t need, and need things we don’t take, so I’m not expending a ton of energy on this right now.

Still, I did buy two new little plastic organizing drawers. Mostly because they were this beautiful turquoise color, I was unable to resist!  I knew they they would fit perfectly in a couple of closets, and that the toilet paper and paper towels would fit majestically on top of and beside one of them fabulously.

There you have it!

We will have food, clothes, a warm place to sleep, reading materials, a cozy little roof over our head, and two turquoise organizing drawer units.

Isn’t life simple?

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