Today was our last day on the road with Scoop and Molly
until October. Following our life re-org plan our travelling home will go into
storage in Reno while we fly back to Ohio and pack-up our worldly belongings
and put them into Pods for safe keeping until we figure out where we will
settle next. When the Ohio pack-out is
all done we will drive Tai Tai (my Mazda CX-5) back to Reno.
Today is also a significant one for us – our 35 year wedding
anniversary, or as Denis says, “our 350 year anniversary.” On this last day of
our journey we decided to stop in Lassen Volcanic National Park. On a whim we
pulled up to Manzanita Lake in the park and dropped in our kayaks for a paddle
around this pristine alpine lake. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our
anniversary.
It took quite a few phone calls to RV storage facilities in
Reno to find an opening. We really wanted something covered to protect Scoop
and Molly from the blistering Nevada sun, but all facilities were booked so had
to take an open spot. We countered by buying an RV cover for Scoop and prepped
for cover installation by watching YouTube how-to videos. Rule number one is:
do not try to put the cover on in the wind. Because we were flying to OH the
next day, we had no option but to try to get the 28-foot-long by 12-foot-tall
nylon cover over Scoop on a very windy desert day.
One of my kid’s favorite books when they were little was Up
Goes Mr. Downs about an elderly man selling balloons and they carry him away.
Now I’m not calling Denis an elderly man even though it is our 35th
anniversary, but I thought he was going to take off from Scoop’s roof while he
struggled to get the ballooning nylon cover around the trailer. I saved him
with my not-so-quick tie down skills. I wish we would have video taped our
process for the YouTube section on how NOT to do things. I do think our
ultimately successful management of the giant cover makes us a qualified crew
for the upcoming Reno Hot Air Balloon Races.
