D-10, Monday, June 15, 2009 After a morning of cleaning house, we spent late afternoon organizing and packing fly fishing apparel, waders, boots, rods, reels, leaders, tippet, and several boxes of flies for varying fishing conditions. We plan to fish for trout in South Dakota and Montana on the way up late next week, and Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, on the way back home in September; then fish for trout, grayling, salmon, and steelhead in Canada and Alaska, necessitating taking several different rods, reels, and flies.

D-9, Tuesday, June 16, 2009 For the umpteenth day in a row, it’s raining. We had some roof sagging between trusses on our house, so workers came this morning to make repairs. I thought de-lamination of the plywood had caused the sagging, but the framers said it was just some random bad sheets of plywood. I filled the feeder with corn for the deer and turkeys for while we’re gone, and finalized our trip book. We are waiting to depart until Kay completes her application for Social Security. She did the online application today, and will meet with Social Security Administration staff next week, finalizing and submitting the application. Half-price camping, here we come!

D-8, Wednesday, June 17, 2009 No pre-trip preparations occurred today. The rain has finally stopped and it’s very hot today—98 degrees. We traveled to North Little Rock for semi-annual medical appointments, hair cut for Kay, and dinner with Kay’s daughter and her husband.

D-7, Thursday, June 18, 2009 We depart one week from today. It was another hot day today with a high of 98 degrees. We stopped by my deceased parents’ house today on the way home from North Little Rock to pick up the remainder of personal belongings that had been stored there. It was a melancholy experience, as I helped build the house, working all of the summer, fall, and early winter of 1964 at the age of 14/15, and was the only child of the three that actually lived there. In fact I vividly recall writing the check for the lumber for the house. This will likely be the last time in the house, as it is on the market to be sold as part of the estate, and will be sold while we’re away. Saying goodbye is difficult after 46 years! Good news from the urologist; my PSA has dropped to half its previous 12+ to 6.7. Kay took info to our wonderful neighbors who will be watching the house and collecting the mail for monthly forwarding to Alaska.

D-6, Friday, June 19, 2009 Kay gave blood for her quarterly liver screening this morning. We made substantial progress today in pre-trip preparations. Valuables went in the safety deposit box, money was withdrawn for the trip, quarters obtained for laundry, meds were ordered for our projected 88-day trip, and papers signed and given to our financial advisor. Kay completed—yes, completed—her application for Social Security, a member of the local Social Security Administration office reviewed it, and it has begun processing. Half-time camping, here we come!

D-5, Saturday, June 20, 2009 No more messing around; today has got to be a work day. We were up before 6 AM sanitizing the fresh water tank by filling it with chlorinated water and running the water through the pipes and faucets. Air pressure in the tires was checked and all were at the desired 80 pounds per square inch (psi). The awning was deployed, covered with soapy water, and rolled back up. We washed the top of the motor home roof, cleaned the gutters, and deployed the awning again, this time scrubbing with concentrated detergent. We applied Aquapel glass treatment to the windshield and side door windows, and sorted through our food before packing it into the motorhome. It was really, really hot today, with highs in the 90s, so we escaped to the lake.

D-4, Sunday, June 21, 2009 Late Sunday afternoon found us packing non-refrigerated food and kitchen items with heavy items being packed on bottom at floor level, and lighter things packed in upper cabinets. Despite bag after bag of stuff, we still have some room! All we lack in packing are refrigerated goods, fishing equipment, and outside items like camp chairs, BBQ grill and charcoal, hoses, etc. Three more days and we depart.