The Last Day

The simple words of my title likely mean different things to different people. Perhaps it’s the last day to get a project completed. Or the deadline for a bill or payment. The last day of school. ( something I always enjoyed!)Or maybe it’s the last work day of the week for you! Friday for many folks who have weekend plans. It could even be that last day before you head off on a vacation. There’s a certain energy that follows that last day before a vacation that only working people truly appreciate. On a more somber note maybe it’s the last day for you to take a medication. Or your last day of chemo treatment. I find myself needing to mention that today. Health is on my mind. Not mine. But that of people I know. Those hit hard by health issues. I could head down a somewhat different path than I originally intended quite honestly. It’s a rather troubling fact of life and of the end of it.I acknowledge the struggles so many face and honor your courage here on my page.This week Tuesday was a last day for me. The end of living in the Adirondacks on campgrounds since July 10th. I remained the sole occupant of our campsite. Everyone else had gone home for one reason or another.Lucky for me I still had the dogs Stella and Gracie close by to keep me company! Jennifer had left just that morning and it was very strange being the only one there. I continued packing up the miscellaneous items that were no longer needed to save time on Wednesday morning as I needed to leave the site by 10am. The day had started calm and somewhat sunny but as noon approached the sky began to darken with heavy clouds. A damp chill settled in and a message from Jennifer mentioned rain was inevitable by afternoon. Phone service is unreliable and unpredictable in this part of the Adirondack park so I was lucky it got through to me at all! I found my mood getting as dark as the slowly approaching clouds. My last day and it was going to rain yet again! I had planned on an exploratory paddle into Floodwood Pond with the dogs. My choices were before me and a decision needed to be made. I considered sitting in the Airstream and drafting a blog post. Always a decent use of time but not when I had gotten interested in an adventure first. Leaving was an option also. I thought about packing up everything and hooking onto the coach. I’d being using my time productively I figured. The unknown provided the answer to the decision in the end. The fact that I had no clue how much it was going to rain or how long even. Adirondack weather has been fickle this summer. But it was the greatest unknown that would truly set me in motion. Floodwood Pond. Zane and I had explored a tiny piece of it just a week ago on a loop paddle. Jennifer and I had explored the upper part of it months ago. The sections that were still new to me held a certain draw. Sure I had looked at a map! But not extensively. I prefer to understudy as opposed to the opposite. It keeps things more exciting for us and adds to the sense of adventure. Not studying a map had led us to Rock Pond days earlier. I was pretty sure we were headed to Floodwood Pond that afternoon as we fought our way up a narrow waterway filled with beaver dams and abundant aquatic plants choking the passage. I forced us to retreat backwards after we found no passage through eventually. We had struggled up a chilly,narrow channel after leaving a pond we knew couldn’t be Floodwood. Our voyage ceased at an ancient beaver pond with no channel leading anywhere. It was breathtakingly remote and wild. Fresh and totally absent of human activity. Quietly sitting at the base of a large ridge in a rounded swampy basin of sorts. Our second dead end that afternoon where the daylight was fading along with our strength. We fought our way back out,paddled back to camp, and later studied our map. We had paddled to Rock Pond we learned! Good for a laugh at that point as we headed to the shower house to clean up and shed our muddy, soaked clothing. Perhaps it sounds a little reckless but traveling upstream on water leaves little chance of getting lost when returning the same direction as you come in. So maps are optional many times. Tuesday afternoon would find me enthralled with the prospect of the unknown. I quickly packed some drinks, a spare sweatshirt, fire making devices, and stuffed everything into a waterproof dry sack. I tossed in a small handsaw as well. It began to seriously rain as I prepared to launch the canoe. No thunder or lightning so I loaded the dogs and we left the campsite behind us. The rain intensified and we passed two kayakers returning to their campsites. The pond was quiet with most campsites devoid of human activity. Their boats and kayaks beached securely as they hunkered down in tents and campers. Some had their fires burning near tarp shelters and the smoke hung just above the trees. A faint,foggy mist hovered on the surface of the pond as large rain drops sent out thousands of tiny ripples. I felt warm and cozy inside my raincoat! Strong and confident. Ready for the probe into new waters. The temperature had dropped some but I gauged it well within safety margins. I knew better than to underestimate an Adirondack July but felt that I was well equipped. I ran the small outlet that leads from Rollins Pond into Floodwood Pond as it was running high from all the recent rain. Much easier than the canoe carry and faster! Not to mention fun! The dogs hunkered down oblivious to the steadily pouring rain. As I reached the main body of Floodwood Pond I began to feel a slight discomfort as my rain jacket began to soak through finally. A mixture of sweat and water running off my hair. I had thrown my hood back for better visibility some time earlier. There was smoke rising from several primitive campsites on Floodwood Pond and the scents reached me out on the water. The sweet, pitchy smell of burning evergreen mixed with the more pungent smell of damp hardwoods. The distinctive scent of burning birch suddenly made me think of the warmth next to those fires! There are several privately owned camps along the shores of the pond and one had woodsmoke billowing from a chimney. The occupants dry and comfortable inside no doubt waiting for the weather to break. The rain fell steady and the temperature continued to drop. My discomfort grew somewhat but I pressed on into sections of the pond that were new to me. I overtook a couple of older gentleman fishing from a canoe. Clad in full rain suits and as determined as me to salvage their day.We exchanged greetings and laughed about the weather. I found an inlet dumping into the pond and headed up to explore. Beaver dams forced me to get out and drag the canoe forward. Gracie jumped out of the canoe and waded along with me. She was forced to swim in the deeper sections. Stella stayed calm never once jumping out. The inlet narrowed dramatically and I decided to turn back since I was soaked. It was really starting to cool down. I donned my dry sweatshirt and put my soggy rain jacket back on over it. Definitely time to return I decided as the Icewalker’s Motto echoed in my chilly head: the distance traveled in must be traveled out. My own words that I never forget. Summer is a much safer time of year to explore but it’s still best not to ignore a chilled body! We quickly paddled back to the outlet creek of Rollins Pond but first I stopped to gather some resin wood from an old stump. It would be handy later for my evening fire. We skipped the canoe carry again and I pushed the canoe up the creek against the current in the still pouring rain. I gathered a few awesome beaver sticks that had washed up on the sandy banks from a high water event. We found Rollins Pond empty of any watercraft. The dogs and I had become the only paddlers. Now very wet and chilled yet happy in the moment. We reached our beach and took shelter immediately after I unloaded the firewood. I was quite cold by this time so I ditched my wet clothing and turned on the furnace in the Airstream. The heat was wonderful! The rain slowed some and with dry clothing in place I kindled the fire with the aid of some dry birch bark. The somewhat wet resin wood did the trick and my fire surged with fragrant abundance. I had made the most of my last day! Not the most comfortable but certainly fun in its challenge! The rain returned eventually and forced me inside where I prepared a warm meal as the rain pounded the metal rooftop of the coach. A staticky radio played some old eighties music and I reflected on my time living in the Adirondacks this summer. I remembered the many trips when we had no camper. Our time in the Canadian bush cabins next to a wood stove. We lived with savage intent. Tarps and leaky tents at times. Emerging to face cold and uncomfortable days. We made it happen and left with a greater appreciation of nature in the end. So many stories and memories! MOONTABS!The older me loves the comforts of the camper. But the future will find me far from it. Wet and cold. Embracing the hardship for all it has ever meant and all it still can mean.For adventure is addictive and intoxicating in ways not everyone can understand. I hope it never leaves me. This powerful draw of the unknown destination and the need to challenge myself. I have a willing partner in Zane! Jennifer in a similar capacity. It won’t be easy or always cozy. That’s ok. The inner core burns as hot as resin wood. Bright and fragrant in the realms of the five senses where the sixth sense waits to surround us with invisible spirit energy. To that we run. In nature we live our finest days and become our truest selves. It is the unfinished work of a lifetime this endless wander of discovery.

The Subtle Art Of Camp Life

July presses forward with somewhat unseasonal weather here in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. The rains have dominated the forecast and pound the area with incessant,unrelenting frequency. Our soggy debut camping trip of six days at the end of June left us more experienced with boondocking in the Airstream but found us regrouping with a more weather focused preparation. We purchased additional tarps and light tethering ropes. We retired the screen house in favor of a larger steel framed garage sale tent. We only had six days before leaving our staging area in Jennifer’s yard and heading back up to the Adirondacks for our next trip. The forecast was anything but promising but we decided that canceling was not an option. Jennifer had toiled hard to secure the dates through a cancellation website. Giving up wasn’t an option for us at any rate. We headed out on a sunny Saturday afternoon. The truck fully loaded with gear, a kayak, and canoe pulling the Airstream. Jennifer’s car also fully loaded with gear. Sporting a canoe on top and two dogs in the back. We were a party of four. Jennifer,Zane,Garrett (Jennifer’s nephew), and myself.The dogs Stella and Greaser. Coolers,drinks, and all sorts of dry goods. A fully loaded refrigerator and freezer in the coach. The cupboards and drawers packed in advance. Jennifer is a fabulous planner and organizer. She’s set up the travel coach for efficiency and order.It remained up to us to learn the locations of the different things we’d need as the days unfolded. Our camping locations are state parks without full hook ups so there’s a little extra planning on my end of things. We need the generator and extra gas for it. I use a plastic siphon to gas up my generator. It’s clean and efficient.Better than a funnel I feel.We checked in at our campground then headed to our site after a quick stop to fill the 40 gallon water tank of our coach. I prefer to travel with minimal fresh water on board. At 7 pounds plus per gallon it adds a lot of weight to the trailer.Next came my least favorite part! Backing the trailer into the campsite! We like camping in forested parks so the abundance of trees makes for tricky parking at times. It’s a group effort with spotters on both sides. It’s always a relief once I get it close! We then work together to get it level side to side and front to back. We employ a variety of plastic ramp pieces and pieces of lumber. It gets easier with experience! Front to back is never a problem with the electric tongue jack doing all the work! We begin to work separately after that as I finish the final coach setup. The camp takes shape fairly quickly once the large tent site is chosen. It takes a couple hours of brisk activity to get everything in order in a manner that flows. The boys settle into their space after blowing up air mattresses and rolling out sleeping bags. Our bedroom area is set up permanently at this point so that saves us time! The cooking/dining tent is a vital part of our camp. It cuts down on traffic in and out of the coach. We also have learned to set up an outdoor dishwashing station behind the coach. I mentioned much of this in a recent post but there’s a direction of thought here that begs reflection. It’s that point early in the trip where you settle into a sort of informal daily routine. We spend most of the day outside if the weather is favorable. Cooking and dining both. Evenings find us close to the campfire talking about the adventures of the day. We don’t always do everything as a group. It just depends on the activities that are chosen for any given day. I suppose it’s the use of my time each day that takes me into a pensive forest of thought. I very quickly adapt into a life of late evenings and late mornings. I find myself sleeping in longer. Eight hours in bed sometimes. Very different than the four to five hours of sleeping each night during my working years. I find myself feeling as if I am wasting time or missing out.Perhaps I am still too driven to truly relax. After all time can be a nemesis for me as you may know if you follow my stories. I’m trying to overcome these strange thoughts but it’s going to take some time it appears. A typical morning has certain tasks that must be performed. Perked coffee the first order of business. Much more time consuming than a Keurig but very tasty! Generators can’t be started prior to 9am. The boys sleep late so breakfast becomes a daily brunch. Today we didn’t eat until almost noon! The morning walk to the toilet and drive to the shower house. Our daily activities begin after 1pm many days. Rarely before 11am. Sometimes brunch is early with no cooking at all. Today is day thirteen here for me. We were supposed to go home after six days but Jennifer picked up some cancellations that tied two separate trips together. We actually moved to an adjacent site for one night last Friday. Talk about tear down and set up! We didn’t need to set up the tents at least! Then the kicker! The site we vacated remained empty that night! The whole reservation system is a mess in my opinion! Reserve America? How about we focus on New York State? But that takes us down the dark trail of negativity so let’s get back on track! When I stop and take a solid inventory of my days here where exactly did my time get spent? Most definitely on camp chores. The constant rain events keep us scrambling to dry towels and gear. We had a couple of somewhat destructive rain and wind events. The one two nights ago nearly destroyed our cooking tent.It hit suddenly and fiercely with little warning. It had been a rather lovely day. Warm and humid with a mix of sun and clouds. Zane and I had spent several hours paddling what’s known as the Floodwood Loop. Very fun with two short canoe carries. We had just gone to the shower house to clean up when the storm hit. Jennifer and Garrett rescued the tent and a bunch of our gear. We returned to help salvage the cooking tent and reset it. The boys sleeping tent and large tarp above weathered the storm like nothing happened! Regardless those types of storm events keep us busy! Zane and I have spent quite a bit of time paddling and hiking during the time he’s been here. It’s been in and out some for my three companions here with the endless details back home that can’t be avoided. I’ve pretty much put life back in the valley on hold these last thirteen days. One thing that takes time here is getting to town to get decent cell phone and internet service. We basically need to drive into Tupper Lake to do that most days. We double down picking up necessities like milk and ice. Firewood if we run low. It gives us a little diversity at times. Zane and I often need to drive to reach our hiking trailheads so we do our business on the way. Our most recent hike was up Catamount Mountain. It turned into quite the ordeal when we got separated from the dog on a tough rock scramble! It pretty much finished our day by the time we bushwhacked our way back out after losing the trail while retrieving Gracie. We learned a valuable lesson of teamwork and the importance of not getting separated! We didn’t return until after 7pm and a thunderstorm drove us into the coach. It was one of those nights where we were glad to have it’s kitchen and sleeping amenities! I think it may take some post camp life living to truly reflect on our time spent here. The days run together here and time passes much too fast. I need to run home for a few days before returning for the last three days of our reservation on this site.Today a north born wind chills me when the sun hides behind a cloud for a moment. The clothesline sways and our items finally dry! All is well and the afternoon awaits our decision of how best to spent the remainder of our day. Evening will require the second meal of the day to be crafted. Dishes and the purring generator recharging the batteries. A carefully laid fire if the rains don’t return. Camp life as I have never known it continues for the moment. How best to describe it and honor those moments remains the writer’s challenge. For the hours become rambling and difficult to follow at times in their silent passage. I don’t watch the clock here. I watch the sky and track the movement of the sun if we’re lucky enough to view it. Life flows with the daylight and the darkness. And if I sleep long and deep perhaps I need it. Leaving the race has been a challenge. Not to worry. I always seem to find my way back onto the track for a time. The home on wheels can’t stay here forever nor can we. The energy lives in the forward motion. This life that has become MOONTABS In Motion.Places of outdoor beauty where loons cry and waves gently lap on sandy shores. I try to find my balance here as these summer days tick past. I pull out my map and gaze upon the many unknown waterways that wait for us to explore them. And fondly remember those we know now. The dashes of untraveled trails on a map call with an urgency at times. Perhaps the drive represents more than I can understand at this moment in time. I must enter the now and count my small blessings. To question is to learn new answers. To follow the heart brings passion and love into the light. It is enough this simple existence.The spirit energy will fuel the journey.The stories will follow.

The Happy Campers

Summer is in full swing! Mid July already.Day six camping here in a wooded state campground in the Adirondacks where I finally take a moment to write. Looking around I can safely make some fairly accurate observations. The “happy campers” surround us. A medley of human diversity and age. A joining together of fellow campers with a variety of gear specific to their personalities. Tents,travel trailers,and motor homes spread across the grounds of this large campground. One thing is very apparent. All types of people gather here. Senior citizens quietly sitting,biking,and walking.Large groups of rowdy party types laughing and hooting as the evening approaches. The family groups. Babies, children and adolescents. The water lovers.Speed boats pulling tubers and skiers. Pontoon boats cruising and checking out all the campsites. Kayakers and canoe enthusiasts. Stand up paddlers and floating inflatables. Those who take time to fish the abundant ponds here. Some are enamored with their shiny towing hardware. Cruising the campsite roads trying to attract attention with horsepower,music, and horns. We’ve thrown ourselves in the mix with our Airstream travel coach parked securely in our reserved space with our boundaries marked by a clothesline covered with towels in a flapping flight of privacy. Different to me this manner of camping but I am growing accustomed to it. The mornings quiet and slow to come to life. The pond calm and still. The time of the loons although I question their choice of home turf with all the boats and jet skis.People begin heading off to the wash rooms and shower facilities. Dry or soaked in this game of weather and circumstance. Plenty of dog lovers out and doing their “duty” walks. The joggers and walkers. Coffee sippers relighting their fires from the former evening. Eventually the vehicles take to the campground street headed to unknown destinations. It’s a late rising sun of energy. Noise the normal here over the course of any given day. There are no full hookup sites here so generators quietly charge batteries sometimes roaring when someone loads them heavily. Constant chopping sounds of fire building folks as afternoon fades to evening. Smoke rises in all directions often hovering over the water like a scented blanket.As the daylight dwindles the campfires glow and twinkle as laughter crosses the water. The happy campers enter the twilight phase as campground enters the realm of nighttime. It’s that time when most engage with the flickering campfire flames and dancing shadows that bounce off the trees and forest canopies. The boats return to anchor. The water calms as darkest comes. Predictable almost until possibly a tricked-out pontoon boat hits the cruise. Party folks relinquish the light with stubborn perseverance it seems. Quiet comes eventually as we retreat to the coach to settle for the night. Zane and Garrett head to Jennifer’s large condo tent where they each enjoy a separate room if they happen to be with us. A routine develops after a day or so. The frantic first day set up forgotten until the last day tear down. We try to work as a team in camp sharing the various responsibilities. Similar to many folks here we brought a separate pole tent that covers our picnic table and serves as an outdoor cooking area as well. Handy when the rainstorms come. We sealed two sides in with tarps to weather proof it further. We hope to purchase one like some of the other campers have set up. Four sided affairs that can totally block out the weather. We are gaining ground as newbie travel coach owners. We add to our gear and continually try to improve our camp life experience. We have the ability to cook inside the Airstream but prefer to make our meals and dine outside mostly. Rain events drive us inside and it’s nice to have the option of using the stove and microwave! We also leaned after our debut trip that setting up a dishwashing station behind the coach makes for a better quality experience. We use a folding camp table next to our outside shower spray head. Hot water and cold. We are fortunate enough to have a water spigot right in front of our site! Handy for filling jugs and the rinse water dish pan. Since we are basically boondocking we need to watch the volume of flow into our gray and black water tanks. We have adapted quickly I feel and have had no trouble to date. I call our manner of boondocking “hybrid” since we use the park facilities for toilets and showers. It works out well for us! The properly set up camp assures that we are truly happy campers! The weather certainly can change our attitudes at times but it’s to be expected when you try to live outdoors. We prepare for the rain as much as possible and regroup after every storm. Some folks however become the unhappy campers! We see blown over tents and soaked gear as we drive to the shower house. “Tarp worlds” sagging and torn from the wind. The energy of the returning sun finds people digging out and drying their possessions. Then there’s the other type of unhappy camper! The ones who fail to notice overhanging trees along the campground roads until they rip their awning or other parts of their rigs. Pull ahead with their trailer jacks still extended as one fellow did the other day. Some wedge their rigs into impossible places to the point of having trouble getting them back out onto the road! I truly admire the driving skills of some who get backed onto tight places! Backing into the site makes me rather anxious even with the camera systems on the truck and coach. It’s a team moment that counts! A lot goes into getting that happy camper atmosphere built. The good thing about this location is the ability to paddle beyond the range of where the motor boats are allowed. There’s also a few nice hiking trails here. There’s certainly an abundance of hiking trails within a short driving distance here near Tupper Lake,N.Y. Zane and I hiked Coney and Goodman mountains a couple days ago on a very cloudy day. Easy and fairly short hikes both well under four miles round trip. Super views from the top of both. We also did a little fishing recently. We didn’t have much luck until we embarked on a late afternoon paddle into a remote pond. We returned with three barely legal bass and good stories of the ones that got away! We stayed out way to late and didn’t make it back to camp until after dark. I cooked the fish the next day over a hardwood fire in a large cast iron skillet. Well worth the trip we took and a tasty appetizer for our evening meal! Happy campers most definitely! It’s a typical sunny day here as I write this post. Boats pulling tubers and people floating on the gentle waves. We love our waterfront site and have quiet neighbors. We are the happy campers provided everyone follows our simple camp rules! Jennifer maintains a certain expectation of camp protocol and I respect her dedication to adherence to the rules! It takes some perseverance to keep a camp from falling into chaos. I drafted a name for camp today! “Camp 4C”. It means cleanliness,consideration,cooperation,and concentration. I realize that as a father I must lead by example if I expect our group to be happy campers. I wrote it for my benefit primarily. To serve as a daily reminder of the importance of thinking of others feelings and well being. I hope this simple name will serve us well for many years to come! I hope Zane and Garrett copy it. Carry it forward like a torch of positivity. Einstein once said that we never fail until we quit trying. Agreed! I wish for those who camp with me to have many happy MOONTABS! Especially my ADK Girl Jennifer! The Queen of her coach! Our adventure continues tomorrow as we tear down and reset the camp for one night before moving to a new location nearby. A new happy camper will occupy our site and I sincerely wish them well! We will pass many campsites on the way to reach ours Saturday. We share a common thread with these unknown strangers. We smile and wave. Always say hello. We make every attempt to be good neighbors and good stewards of this special place. We are blessed! For a time we are living in our beloved Adirondack Mountains! We must make this fleeting days of summer count in every way possible. As teachers and as students in this school of coexistence. I make a solemn pledge this day to make camp life better for those who join me here. That way we all become the happy campers!

MOONTABS In Motion

I love creating words and phrases! Titles especially! One of the benefits of writing a personal blog is not needing to hand my work over to a supervisor for permission to post! One of my long term goals for the blog is simplicity. I desire to keep my work honest and raw. I’ve touched on this before. I dislike editing my own entries quite honestly. I don’t really worry about criticism of my misuse of the English language and sentence structure. If I bring you something edited to the point of being artificial then I lose something in the process. This too has been mentioned. It’s that sense of living in the “now” that I try to capture and get launched in a post. Quite honestly I feel some of my best work dwells in some of my short Facebook posts as we live our day to day lives. My “A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words” posts have been well received. It’s shortened to “APIWATW” if you happen to run across it. The title of today’s post is a phrase that I recently created to describe a future lifestyle choice I hope we can embrace shortly. If you’re following our story then you know about our recent purchase of an Airstream travel coach and pickup truck. These will be taking the place of a permanent home eventually for an unknown amount of time. I haven’t worked out all the details as we get accustomed to the proposed transition. But such answers will often appear to me suddenly while driving. The phrase MOONTABS In Motion occurred to me suddenly one day while driving around wiping out a myriad of small details. There’s a hazy destination in the term that I have yet to fully understand. Call it a feeling of gut instinct. It’s connected to nature and migration. Perhaps it’s just my desire to travel and explore. The imaginative side of me believes different. As does the romantic adventurer side. If you’ve ever read my Facebook profile then you know my simple quote: The answers to all questions in nature can be found. Never to have asked them, uncertain future bound. My true spirit energy is connected to the natural world. It’s where my stories originate most of the time and always have mainly. Sometimes writing can take a turn down pensive and pragmatic pathways that I risk getting lost on myself at times. I consider this a continuing introduction. MOONTABS In Motion is going to take a little work to fine tune. It’s travel. Adventure.The mundane days of trying to get it right and still stay positive. It’s about the unexpected and the unknown that hits you right between the eyes sometimes. It’s about getting knocked down and staggering back up. It’s about giving and sharing. Taking the time to say I can wait for a minute. I need to help someone today. I still have tomorrow.Motion is the key word. As in forward. That place you always wanted to head off for but just couldn’t for some reason. I don’t expect words will capture what I hope this simple term brings to life. It will express itself in deeds. Ones that say I want to make a difference. Not just for myself but for many. I recently had a meet and greet with Patrick Bourcy. He’s the creator of the Facebook group Just Go Outside. We shared a lot that day talking for several hours. It was nice to know that others shared the same hopes that I did when I began to put my ideas in motion. If you’re not familiar with Just Go Outside I think you’ll like it’s positive energy! I may be posting there more frequently soon in a somewhat different capacity. There’s a strength in a group of positive individuals that can truly make a difference to someone who might be struggling. Most of us have struggled at some point in our lives in some capacity. Some struggle everyday. MOONTABS is where I chose to count my blessings. To honor the simple gifts of nature and what they mean to me. It’s a journey underway. Decades in the making. It’s recognizing when ordinary is extraordinary. I hope you find yourself in the journey. You have your own MOONTABS. “Memories Once Ours Never To Be Stolen”.

The Debut

It’s been a busy summer so far and time seems to be flying! We’ve continued outfitting our Airstream coach since bringing it to Jennifer’s. She took charge inside setting up drawers and cabinets with all sorts of household items that would be needed to make for a successful outing. She’s good at things like that but it takes some thinking to make everything flow when space is at a premium. We settled for a 27 ft. coach for several reasons. Weight was certainly a factor although my truck is capable of towing a much larger trailer. I’m very impressed with how well it actually tows! It’s very stable with the “Blue Ox” hitch I purchased at the dealer coupling it to the truck. I haven’t towed it that many miles yet but know that I’d leave for a cross country trip with no hesitation! I also purchased a type of insurance called “Coach Net”. It’s like Triple A on steroids! We hope to never need to use it but it provides some nice benefits if we ever have issues with the coach or problems of any kind on the road. Time will tell the tale and I’ll give it a review sometime. My thoughts were simple. We travel to have an enjoyable adventure.Why not do everything we can to give ourselves peace of mind? Check it out if you’re not familiar with it! Another factor in choosing our coach size was our desire to “fit” ourselves easily into camping sites. Backing a travel coach into sites can be challenging. Experience will come in time I realize but it’s a little daunting! In the Adirondacks we haven’t seen any “pull through” sites to date. They may exist but we haven’t found them yet. In fact the places that we are camping don’t even have full hookups. I’ll cover that in greater detail at some point. A third reason for purchasing our coach was practicality. We expect that Jennifer and I will often be traveling alone. Two people and two dogs. We have plenty of space for that! All this being said we slowly transited into a “pre-flight” mode of setup. I load tested the small Honda generator I purchased for boondocking. Quiet and easy to move around at 47 lbs. Our twin set of batteries keep the coach alive when we aren’t connected to a permanent power source. The refrigerator functions with electricity or propane so there’s never an issue there. Same with the water heater.We’re very self contained. Pretty typical for most campers but I think Airstream has added some nice bonus features. We have an onboard inverter for added power when the batteries are utilized. Having two batteries is definitely a bonus. The days ticked past and our debut camping trip drew ever closer. We checked off our lists and added to them as well! Our trip would be a bit of a hybrid. A mix of outdoor cooking and some items kept in a cooler. Our Airstream has a nice sized refrigerator and freezer but our trip was to last for 6 days. A cooler was still a necessity. A tent was as well. Jennifer’s giant two room tent would house Zane and his belongings. Overflow storage as well. I also brought my screen house but I‘ll revisit that some other time! We planned to use the toilets and shower facilities at the campground to conserve our water supply and not overtax our gray and black water tanks. You can’t make it 6 days with 3 people otherwise with no hookups. Our group was supposed to be larger but circumstances kept that from happening. With a larger group using the park facilities would be even more of a necessity.The weather forecast was less than perfect but we decided to keep our plans regardless. Having the comforts of the coach outweighed any negatives overall. We packed extra tarps just in case we needed them. Jennifer and I both like using plastic totes for storing camping gear. They’re easy to transport and great for organizing your belongings. We set up a staging area in Jennifer’s garage and our gear pile grew quickly! We planned on taking the canoes so there’s paddles, life vests, and cushions to pack. Folding chairs and camp tables. We decided to cook outside so we were bringing a propane stove and griddle as well. We use the picnic table that sits on every site for a multi purpose work station and eating location. It’s amazing the number of items it takes to prepare for a comfortable outing! We also included our fishing equipment into the pile. Jennifer began stocking food,spices, and paper products into the coach as the week progressed. We started the refrigerator 24 hours before our departure to get it cooled down properly. It takes longer for an Rv type refrigerator to cool due to its design. We placed some blue ice packs into both the frig and freezer to aid in the process. Things were shaping up! We got the truck prepped and packed ahead of time as well. Monday morning came and I got ready to hook onto the coach. It takes a few minutes and there’s a checklist of sorts that I follow. Finally the moment leading to departure. Light check. I powered up the coach camera that is typically used for backing up but it’s a great tool when driving! It gives you added vision when on the highway. I felt that momentary twinge of anxiety I get just before towing any trailer but knew it would quickly pass. The truck and Airstream are well matched for the road! It always amazes me the amount of time it takes to prepare for an outing away from the comforts of our homes! But it’s time well spent when you plan properly!The day had arrived that had sat on calendars weeks in advance. The debut was about to begin. The events of those days of camping worthy of their own post. It was time to begin MOONTABS In Motion!