Prep Pictures

Yes folks this is in fact Miriam, I'm still alive and posting at last!

It's been so long and there's so much to write about that it's overwhelming.  In these situations  it's generally best to take Lewis Carroll's advice and "begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop."  So with that in mind I will begin, not just at the beginning but also with the pictures we have been promising you.

So, way back in the middle of May we set up my tent and tested the solar powered battery and inverter set-up Rob ingeniously put together that we were going to use to power the mini shop-vac-on-a-bucket to blow up the air mattress.

Practicing setting up the tent and air mattress

Battery box and inverter

As you can see it worked great! Just about a minute to inflate the mattress, which fit in the tent perfectly.

Unfortunately once we assembled the rest of our equipment and started packing we decided that the battery box and solar array were to large and heavy to justify bring.  Still, pretty awesome huh?

Diesel enjoying a bone

That day we (mostly Rob) also devised a clever awning we could attach to the car to provide some shelter.  The canvas is Rob's old pup-tent and the bamboo poles we picked up at Job Lot.

Pup-tent and bamboo awning.

Adding some privacy and shade.

Changing Room!

Aside from all of the work Rob has done on the mechanics of the car he also did a really nice job getting it spiffed up inside pre-trip.  Here's a shot of the back, before we started filling it.

So Large...So Clean!

Here's a shot of the gauges Rob put in (the round things on the wheel and by where the driver's knee would be) and the new radios, the fancy one to use with the i-pod in the normal radio spot and the CB radio right above the gauges on the floor.  The black case in the passenger footwell has 3 extra cigarette chargers wired into the car, so we can be fully charged!

Custom Gages, New Radio and CB Radio, Charging Case...spiffy!

Here's Moby, washed and waxed, ready for action!

Shiny!

The view from the front seats (pre-stuff).

Think we'll need an intercom system?

The small solar panel we decided to bring mounts nicely on one of the back windows.

Small Solar Array

The first thing we got packed was the luggage rack. You can see our water jug, the cooler, two spare tires underneath and Rob's bike.  The spare gas can is hidden on the other side of the cooler.

Luggage rack all packed up

This tilty picture is the spare tire well that Rob had to rebuild.

Because still shots get boring here's something more fun!

Action photo!

This is what the awning looks like all bundled up.

Awning all packed up

And then we were close we were sooo close...

Day before departure

and the sink broke...so with that fixed we tried again...

The big day!

Kiss for good luck!

And were on our way! Here's the view from the front seats as we headed out for the first time.

Yup, that's the same view from the front, think we packed enough?