Week 0: The Craziness Before The Adventure
- Week 0: The Craziness Before The Adventure
- Days 1-4: Mississippi Children’s Museum & Moochdocking at Friends
- Days 5-9: Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga-TN, Natural Bridge State Park-VA, and Outdoor Drive-in Movie Theatre
- Days 10-16: NYC Playscapes, Brooklyn Bridge, Liberty & Ellis Island, and Legoland New York
- Days 17-22: Boston, Museums, and Family
- Days 23-26: Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor
- Week 5: White Mountains in New Hampshire
- Week 6: Adirondacks, Olympic Museum, Ausable Chasm, and Fort Ticonderoga
- Week 7: Upstate New York and Niagara Falls
- Week 8: Mid-West Route Home-Ohio, Lousiville, and Memphis
- Trip Recap: 56-Nights North East Summer 2024 RV Trip
The week leading up to our departure was nothing short of hectic. We hosted Logan’s 10th birthday party with friends and family. We did multiple rounds of purging and cleaning the house to prepare it for renters. We organized and loaded up things to bring along. It sometimes felt like we’d never hit the road. But, as always, we thrive under pressure—especially with a hard deadline. Our renters were moving in on Sunday, July 14th, just one day before our scheduled departure. Talk about cutting it close!
Logan’s 10th Birthday
We were so happy to fit in Logan’s 10th Birthday with his friends and some of our family members especially when we were leaving for the next 2-months. We hosted the parties at our home making use of our new updated garage flex space. Glad we pulled it off!
What Goes Into The Back of our Truck?
With only 6.75 feet length in the bed of our Ford F-250 Truck, we had to prioritize what items to bring. As much as we wanted to fit some large outdoor recliner chairs, those had to stay back in the shed.
The items that fitted into the bed of our truck includes:
- Container for black tank sewer accessories
- Camping chairs
- Blackstone 17″ propane griddle
- Outdoor propane cooktop burners
- Air compressor for filling up tires
- Outdoor telescopic light
- Portable camping table
- Tools / utility box
- Bike maintenance accessories
- 5-Gallon potable water container
- Solo stove Bonfire
- RV mat
- Jackery portable power station with 3000w and 30amp RV outlet
- Starlink 2nd gen box
You might be wondering where the four mountain bikes go? In the past, we’ve shoved it into the bed of the truck (taking the front-wheels off). It was a pain in the ass getting stuff in and out as you can imagine. But is no longer the case for this 2-month trip. Thank goodness for the Tonneu-like truck bed rails with t-slots. This setup enabled us to install Rhino Rack cross bars in turn allowing accessories like the Yakima front-loading bike racks. Perfect fit securing 4 mountain bikes while still being able access the items in the truck bed!
RV Prepping & Loading
Without getting super detailed into how we typically prep & load our Airstream before hitting the road, I’ll just summarize into different parts. I like to clean the whole Airstream before traveling which isn’t bad considering it’s like a tiny studio at 200 sqft. The large prepping parts include bed/sleeping area, the bathroom/shower, the cooking essentials, clothes, camping lights, and books & board games for the kids. Let’s not forget about stocking the fridge and freezer with the initial food we want to bring along!
RV Inspection & Maintenance
By no means is this a comprehensive list below.
On the exterior. I normally check is the power hitch jack, breakaway switch, batteries, propane hoses, propane tanks, sealant on windows, entry door, tires or wear and proper inflation, wheel lug nuts for correct torque, refrigerator, water heater components, etc.
On the interior. Making sure all lights and outlets work, inspecting the water pump is working with no leaks by running water in each faucet, shower, head, toilet, etc. I also check all the gas appliances for proper function, test the carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, air conditioner functions, propane furnace, air vents, etc.
Preparing For Our Renter
While it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, we do rent out our model 3-bedroom, 2-bath home in Austin, TX to help cover our traveling costs. We only do this when it makes sense. It is a ton of work to organize, purge, store away personal belongings, and making it presentable and functional for renters. Imagine all the legos our kids normally has out on display! In our case, it was worth the effort being gone for 2-months.
We rented out our home to a traveling nurse which worked out great! Our 2-months summer RV trip cost was fully covered for including tow vehicle gas, RV parks/overnight stays, and even excursions and attractions. Check out the 5 star review we got from our guest!
That pretty much summarizes the things we did leading up to our departure date! All done in between the kid’s school, ramping down sport activities, and work!
