Hi Questies,
Well, we have hit a rather frustrating amount of difficulty trying to get our beautiful new truck (name pending, we are open to suggestions) registered. To do that we need insurance, and to actually get insurance we have to communicate with someone who wants to take our money, and that is surprisingly hard to find! It has now been 2 days of playing phone tag with agents from State Farm and Farmers, trying to give them the mountains of details they need, fielding their confused questions about what exactly a truck camper is, and repeatedly telling them that no, we will not be at a fixed location.
Anyway, we bought four new tires on Monday, that was another day long process of calling different stores for quotes, I didn't realise that there was so much to learn about them, but I'm now feeling significantly better informed! They are already waiting for us so when we are legally able to drive we will head to Costco and have them installed. Other expensive and complicated things are that we bought are: A new tie down system for the camper, so when the weather warms up ever so slightly I'll go and drill a few holes into the frame of the truck, and hope one or two of those line up as needed. A new battery to run all the electrics off of. Swing out brackets for the jacks on the front of the camper. These should provide just enough width so that the truck's big ole hips can squeeze between them. We would love to have the cash available to install a solar panel on the roof. But at this stage it's just not doable. Mind you I'd also quite like to haul around a hot tub and a fully stocked mini bar, but that might spoil the pioneering spirit of the quest.
Every step recently has taken more time and money than expected. Every stage involves more taxes and paperwork. We just have to keep reminding ourselves that it will be worth the headache in the end. And of course all the stress now is going to make being out and on the road even more uplifting!
Other than dealing with logistics, life is very enjoyable. We are regularly sleeping in. Michael is being an excellent host, and getting to make use of his kitchen is a real treat after cooking in our tiny Hawaiian home (an experience which will serve both of us well when we are adapting to the camper). On top of that it is six nations season, the winter Olympics has been pretty great, Nova rat is still alive, and my little sister just shared some wonderful news. So yeah, I'm a happy guy, and extremely lucky to be able to live this life. I can't wait to share some photos of the rig all loaded up!
Keep on Questing!
Tris