Trip Prep
Long gone are the days when I'd pack up the morning of a trip. For this, my long-desired and first RV trip, planning commenced weeks ago. I printed out checklists I found online in the course of trying to figure out what could go wrong and how to make it go right. I made shopping lists: for the RV itself, leaning on sage advice from friends in-the-know; essentials to take with us like water; for lunch and dinner the one day we'd actually camp out on the road. I made packing lists for me, for Merlin, for the RV. I got AAA maps and printed out a TripTik. And, of course, I put it all in a binder. Which I may forget to take. As the day of launch became imminent, I decided that Merlin needed a travel crate that is lighter than the van-wide wire crate he travels in. I popped into the Village* Pet Food Express. Not seeing collapsible crates and the manager asking if I needed help, I for once said yes. She showed me what they had, I settled on one and asked if she'd give me a 50%...