This week has been a tad chaotic. I always get a little antsy before long trips leaving work unattended for that long gets me anxious. My wife automatically steps up for me and it stays in my head that while I’m out having some fun she’s back at home taking on additional responsibilities and stress. It sticks with me not because she holds it over my head she doesn’t do things like that I just feel like I’m dumping my everything in her lap. Add that I work very loosely nowadays I’m no longer much of an organizer.

My extra employee “what’s the potato salad recipe?” Me- “potato’s and salad.”

I’m loose about work until I’m not obviously I put a lot of attention and love into my food just not the structure anymore. My wife, being my business partner, does the things I hate and I do the physical labor. I’m extremely appreciative of her support.

Got my camper 6 days before departure and had my awning re-fabricated and installed at 9pm last night. My fab guy got my plans Tuesday afternoon and made some bars for my camper top. I told him I had to leave Saturday morning and he spent his evening making my bars.

Solid guy. He helped with my bus I turned into a camper, has done several personal mods for me, pannier racks for my trailer, brackets for awnings and several other things. Appalachian Outfitters in TR. Look him up if you have an old 4WD you want to revive. Good dude. I’ve thrown him some doozies.

Packing adds to the antsy we aren’t going to the beach and a hotel we are driving the hotel and all its amenities. Towels, furniture, water, light source, bedding, toiletries, room service, cuck chair (just seeing if you’re paying attention). You don’t remember what you forgot until you need it and usually it’s too late or you have to pack up all your shit to go get it and come back. I did this with water one time in Sedona. I had everything in my camp except for the one thing I need to keep me alive. It’s funny how some of the things we take for granted are the things we can’t do without. The tent was set up on the truck, awning was up, chairs waited to be sat in. We called an uber to take us into town to buy some water. The places Shane and I are going to in Utah won’t have Uber and even if they did we don’t have cell service to call. Keep five gallons of water with you if you’re off grid camping. Not talking to your backpackers out there just the car campers. You use a lot more water than you think you walking data centers.

Awning is up. My truck is officially 9 inches wider can’t wait to snag a Starbucks drive through canopy. Also I’m aware my gas mileage for my truck is complete garbage now but life’s short folks.

We depart Greenville at 10am and have no intention of stopping until we get to stop one- Moab. That’s the ideal time and place if there’s even an 1% chance of drowsiness we pull over to get some rest. Shane works all different shifts his sleeping patterns aren’t like mine I turn into a real bitch after 9:30-10 just ask my family who hung out with me until 10:30 last night.

Full blown diva

Spending a couple of hours at work this morning to install a few more fire extinguishers while I’m gone..

If I had one gripe it would be that I haven’t tested my camper in any environment as of yet. It’s going up space mountain on its first adventure. That’s a Ric Flair reference we aren’t going to space mountain although the terrain will say otherwise.

My truck springs are sitting under some fat you think South Carolina has a pothole problem go drive around on desert roads out west. We may be in for some bumpy rides. I’ll have to deal with my suspension after we return.

Last year’s trip we encountered some fun flooding and tornado warnings on the way out. Pitch dark, midnight Kentucky shit storms. My gps was fickle and we zigzagged for about two hours. We didn’t hit smooth sailing until we passed Kansas City. Ever driven through Kansas? I’ve harped on this before. Anyone that has driven west to Colorado will all tell you the same thing. The drive through Kansas is the most underwhelming experience of your life. 400 miles straight across the heart of the country. 6 trees, 39844738282 tumble weeds and a decent gas station every 60 miles or so. It seems much longer than that because the first two hundred miles of eastern Colorado is exactly the same. Eastern Colorado is just western Kansas. Oklahoma is just southern Kansas. Throw in northern Texas too. Bring a book with you while you drive across the state. I’ve cycled across Kansas I can say whatever I want about it. Ever rode your bike into a head wind for 2 days in 90° weather?

Builds character. I think either an astronaut or a president was born there. Eisenhower’s childhood home- Abilene. He wasn’t even born there. The only guy to have dropped the big one. Drop one of those bombs in the middle of Kansas and no one would even notice.

Where were we? I don’t even know anymore.

I should finish packing.

Kyrie Eleison