We are ticking off the challenges one by one!
1. We are fully insured!! A last ditch call to Geico worked out well for us in the end.
2. Unfortunately the tires we ordered and the tires Costco thought we ordered were not the same thing and it took the tire shop getting at least some of the old ones off before they realized the error. So an afternoon wasted but they are waiving the install costs and we should get the correct tires put on tomorrow.
3. Today we went down to Brian's to visit the camper for the second time and to put the swing out brackets on it (which we got on a great "scratch and dent" sale online, and they are basically new!). We managed to get it all rigged up in an hour! Other than a few electrical pluggy bits I think we're almost (I HOPE) done buying parts.
A successfully installed swing out bracket, and no one even killed each other in the process of 4 brains working on the same small problem! Tristan's looking a lot older after the ordeal...
4. I (Zora) drove the truck for the first time!!! I was pretty scared about it (she really is huge), but as soon as I got it out of the parking space it was actually a pretty natural fit. I learned to drive in Condo the Great White Whale (the affectionate name for my Dad's giant suburban), and this truck really isn't all that much different. I've always liked being high up on the road (it felt strange when I finally started driving normal cars), so a lot of muscle memory came back. Having the second set of back tires will definitely take a bit of adjusting to, but not so bad. We took her down some winding back roads on the way to Brian's so I could get used to non-highway maneuvers. Now to see how we both adjust to having a monster camper on the back with us...
Me driving the truck and eating jerky like a true red blooded 'Murican. The playlist at the moment is Greatful Dead's Truckin.
In other news I think we're officially pushing back our leaving date til after St. Patrick's Day. There are a lot of social reasons we want to stay (Six Nations rugby, the parade, still people we haven't seen) and still a lot of work/cleaning to do on the camper. I think we're going to get the truck bed scraped and painted (there's a bit of lingering rust) tomorrow if the weather holds, and put all the holes in it (nervy) and install all the camper mounting bits (there's several). If that all goes to plan, hopefully the camper will be coming home on Friday!!
Really nice to have a day of things getting accomplished!