As the cases and hospitalizations climbed for Covid-19, we spent a lot of time thinking about our trip which was coming up fast. Texas became one of the new hot spots but not in our area. We were doing well, only going out when we had to, keeping 6ft away from others, wearing masks when in crowded areas, washing our hands, and all the other suggested advice. We wanted to be careful not only for ourselves but our family and friends who we wanted to visit and everyone else we may come in contact with on the road. After much discussion and a good conversation with my mom, we decided to adjust our travel plans. Instead of taking the fastest route and avoiding major cities, we would first swing north and start from the part of Texas that was not yet having trouble, continue into Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, a tiny portion of northern Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Vermont, and into New Hampshire.
We also had to drop the Jeep off for them to finish the last few items to fix from the sales contract. We contacted the campground in New Hampshire and shortened our reservation to 2 weeks so that we could spend the other 2 weeks closer to my family in Massachusetts.
Dom has been working really hard with our Instagram page and his work is paying off! On Monday we had 280 subscribers and his goal was to hit 300 by the end of the week. We hit 300 subscribers on Wednesday, less than two days after he set this goal! He is amazing and our supporters and subscribers are awesome too. It wouldn’t be worth sharing our adventures if it wasn’t for you reading about them. We are looking forward to this trip in two weeks so that we have more on the road content to share with you. We hope to be able to give you a glimpse of what different areas of the country look like right now and how different states that are doing well with keeping their covid numbers down.
We are trying to get active on YouTube again as well and thinking of videos to make for you. We are coming up with an introduction for the beginning of our videos to help with branding. We are also still cleaning out the RV of everything that we aren’t using, even with small spaces this takes time. We are still working full time and getting ready for our trip so we are trying to squeeze everything into the time after work and the weekends. We are down to the final weekend, we leave next Friday!
Friday was the day that we got the backup camera working. It took 3 tries, 2 cameras, both cars, several hours, and 2 neighbors helping with tools, equipment, and extra hands. But we did it! First Dom took down the second camera that we had mounted last week and took off the center marker light. Then he used one of my crochet needles to grab the wires in the wall and pull them all through the hole as far as they would come without putting too much pressure on the connections. From here we were able to trace the wires from the working light to the wires for the backup camera. We tested the voltage of each wire to figure out which were positive and which were negative, because they used just white and white with a green stripe for the power to the light and camera, then the light just had 2 black wires instead of red and black. We found the wires for the camera (which were red and black) and confirmed that they were live with 12V. Next we tested the plug on the outside of the RV and it was live as well. What had happened was….when the manufacturer installed the pre-wiring for the camera, they reversed the wires when inserting them into the plug that comes through the wall. When a 12V system is wired backwards it doesn’t provide power. We had found the problem and luckily the camera came with a plug and wires in case the rig was not prewired. We used those extra wires and some shrink tubing from a neighbor to correct the issue by adding the extra red wire to the RV's black wire and the extra black wire to the RV's red wire. The camera was working!
Our second favorite local trail, Horseshoe in Grapevine, TX, opened up on Saturday so we took the opportunity to remind ourselves of this tech-heavy trail.We were both back on flat pedals and we were really glad when we remembered just how tough this 4.3 mile intermediate trail is. We had a great ride and looped it twice. Saturday also brought news of travel restrictions being put in place by NY, NJ, and CT on people coming from TX, AZ, and FL where the cases have been increasing quickly. We talked about if we can still go at the end of next week. The official NY website stated that people will be asked to self quarantine and if they are caught not quarantining, a $2,000 fine will be given with fines increasing for each time they are caught up to $10,000. We worried about getting pulled over for 1. Not having a front plate, 2. Having a temporary plate from TX, 3. Having TX plates on the RV. We could be stopped at the border, then potentially stopped again as we approach Albany resulting in a fine. We could be pulled over more often due to the above reasons putting us in a higher risk category for getting fined. These three states create a belt that effectively blocks all travel to New England for anyone coming from the south or west. We are more thinking to do but this looked like the end of our planned trip.
Sunday was a busy chore day but we got to start it in a relaxing way by sleeping in a little and having coffee with our neighbors. Drac got to see his girlfriend Pepper as well and they were so excited. After breakfast we washed and stored the bikes on the back of the RV and gave both adventure pups a bath outside. It was pretty warm and the cool water helped them to be comfortable however neither of them is a fan of getting wet. We bundled them in a towel and they laid outside in their bed to dry in the sun. Then it was on to laundry and groceries, we were adulting hard! At night we went to our neighbors' house from when we had our sticks and bricks home. We had dinner to catch up with them and discuss when the best time would be to get them the keys to the X5 that we will be leaving behind when we go to New England. It was nice to see them and catch up. We couldn't stay late since we had work in the morning and a busy week ahead but we did get to race the kids on motorized scooters with their new puppy chasing everyone.
See you next week when we hopefully get to leave on our first big trip since the pandemic began.
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