Enjoying The Last Days On The Island

It is always the same before we are hitting the long, long highway to the south: Our thoughts are circling around the plethora of "must-dos" and "don't forgets", and both of us have different tasks through the days prior to departure. And today I tackled what always is one of the biggest tasks, which is removing the 4 rows of passenger seats from our 1t. Chev van and replace these with a huge box where we are gonna store all the weighty items without which we cannot go.

But before I got to that I had a rather unusual thing to tend to. Our terrible RV-couch was to be replaced with my very own couch variety - built from scratch. 

The couch which came with the trailer was a dysfunctional heavy monster which usually started hopping through the trailer when going down the road. Not only is the new couch much lighter but also more comfortable and it can be made into a bed bigger than what the old one was.

This summer we have been blessed with a seemingly never ending flood of tomatoes from our greenhouse. 

And today the last fruits were harvested - another 5lbs. Many of them still green, but they will ripen inside. Last night we had frost on the island and that usually spells the end of garden harvests, mind you our busy tomato plants still had blossoms! Over the summer months we have supplied neighbours and friends with both tomatoes and cucumbers. 

Dixie, I am sure, has long since noticed our hectic activities, running back and forth like some scared rabbits. (oh boy, they did that last year too)

Our van has been checked out and got a new alternator, new brake pads (important) and our gear shifter had gotten a new linkage connecting it to the transmission.

In a few days we are taking indoor plants to a friend who is gonna care for them while we are gone. 

Our friends, (all seniors) are all sad to see us go again. The winter can be lonely...

The weeks prior to October 22 had still been very busy with cruise ships showing up in Eastport, ME (1 mile across the bay from us) and sending passengers into our sightseeing tours. 

But October 21 was the last day the Roosevelt Park was open and the last cruise ships will have to find entertainment for their guests in Eastport.

Waiting for the guests

Besides of our travel preparations, it is now time to take the dog and wander along lonely beaches and trails to enjoy the beautiful fall colours. We really like the weeks of fall when everything seems to enter a period of quiet time. Of course, temperatures mirror the approaching cold time of the year, but that's why we have warm clothes to wear, and Dixie enjoys the cool weather and has recently shown much more gusto during our walks.

Now, I am finding myself checking temperatures in places along our travel route and at our destination in California.

And they are in a pleasant range, which makes me continue counting the days.....

Добро пожаловать в Киргистан

 Whoa...what is that? A headline in Russian?

What it means: WELCOME TO KIRGIZTAN!

No, we haven't abandoned our plans to travel to California this winter. But it doesn't hurt to get into top travel mood, and YouTube has helped me a lot that way.

If you click on the link down below you might also get bitten of the travel virus. It is part of a travel series about a very nice sympathetic young German couple (May-Brit and Niklas) 

who suffer of a serious case of travel virus. They simply left Germany in a 57-year old Mercedes truck, converted into a beautiful motor home and traveled through central Asia as far as Mongolia. Their videos, which are published once every week, are simply beautifully done with great photography and their narrative. Don't mind the German language, you will still be able to enjoy their travels. The latest link lets you join the couple when they travel through Kirgizstan, a former Soviet Republic.

What was most surprising for me, who has never been in Asia, was the modern infrastructure the main cities are showing. Super nice paved highways, futuristic high rises besides of beautiful historic architecture. Super markets which at least are at the same standard as in Central Europe and North America, and last but not least very friendly people. Their journey must be an inspiration to everyone who wants to see the world.

Not the Mall Of America but one of the biggest malls in Central Asia in Bishkek, Kirgizstan

The Happy Couple in their Mercedes motor home

Niklas 

"The Rig"

And here the latest video:

Summer Is Officially Over And I Have The Hitch-Itch!

After the rainiest and foggiest summer in a long time, we are officially in the fall season.

The days are now shorter, the evenings longer. And I have been watching a couple of travel documentary series. Young people traveling through Central Asia with an old revived Mercedes truck, while other young couples are traversing the Andes Mountains in Peru with a Land Rover.

Watching stuff like that gets me into dangerous terrain. I am catching myself wanting to journey into uncharted areas of this globe. Actually, when I was young, those plans and ideas had taken up a front seat in my thinking. And it has led me leaving Germany behind for ever moving to Norway, and later to Canada. I should be all content now having seen so much and still doing so. But holy cow, the realisation that I got old over all of this is hurting, when the longing for the far-away horizon is still there living a hopeful life for an exciting future.

And then I look outside, and there is our RV, just waiting to get hitched onto the tow vehicle and hitting the highway. 

As you may recall, we are renting out our trailer through Air-BnB, and this summer's rental season broke all previous records. With the last guest leaving tomorrow, my excitement getting everything ready for a start into a warm winter season way down south is boundless.

October is just starting out and with that I am still facing the last  2-3 weeks of business pressing on. 

Once we reach November, I am going into overdrive. So many things must be done, and this time we will avoid to overload the trailer. For the first time, we will be traveling with a minimum of water in the holding tank. Instead, we will carry a few 5-gal. water containers in the van. Once we need the water, we will use a small battery-operated pump to transfer 5 gal of water into the trailer. And our wastewater holding tanks will be emptied as often as possible.

So, wait and see what's going to happen as we are gearing up for this winter adventure.

We Battened Down The Hatches

Hurricane Lee had been announced for a couple of days, and finally he is here, though he abandoned the hurricane status and lessened into a tropical storm. When Lee entered the cold waters of the Bay of Fundy he lost a lot of his power. While average windspeeds were still predicted to be around 60km/h (40mph) it diminished to (now) 51km/h.

But we were prepared!

Loose porch furniture had been stowed away into the basement, doors of our sheds were secured, our greenhouse plastic had been secured with 1x2 wood strips. In case of a power outage our generator is ready on the porch, even a lot of our tomatoes had been harvested from our greenhouse and finally Bea has been cooking "storm soup". 

What? You don't know "storm soup"?  One makes storm soup when a power outage threatens. A soup is easy to be warmed up on a camping stove or, in our case, in our trailer. So it is an easy way to get dinner going, and with all of our home-grown vegetables from the garden, it is a delight, when the weather has unleashed its powers.

And tomorrow, we still get a summer day with lots of sunshine.

But vegetables haven't been the only thing going on here. Bea restarted her Monarch Butterfly raising program. Monarchs are threatened by extinction and Bea is making sure at least some are getting a good start in life. Collecting eggs and caterpillars from Milkweed plants in nature she has been successful in raising them to full-grown butterflies.

From the days without rain: Some reflections of a by-gone summer:

Yet, we know that summer is running out. Another month from now, we will have just 3 weeks left until the hitch-itch is all over us. California is calling again!

Depending on weather conditions we choose our best travel route. With winter approaching we will go south along the east coast, but if we'll have an extended fall season we might go the shortest route through Indianapolis. 

The truth of the matter is that this summer was nothing to write home about. Rain and dense fog have been re-occurring weather patterns, keeping me on my toes with lawn mowing. 

The season started in May with cruise ships visiting at Eastport, Maine. One of the most beautiful, and biggest, ships was the "Zaandam" of the Holland-America Line.

More ships will be visiting in October.