On the Road at Last

When we finally set out it felt a little anticlimactic, the familiar landscape slipping past, Allie curled contentedly in her bubble between us. The truck performed splendidly with the camper on top until it got above 65 mph, when the wind resistance began to make it feel unsteady. We turned up the music to drown out the whistle coming from the driver’s side corner of the camper top.

The first leg of the trip was relatively uneventful. We spent our first night in a Cracker Barrel in the middle of New Jersey on the way to my mother’s in Annapolis. What a luxury not to have to push through to our destination, but pull off the highway when we were too fried to drive anymore.

We spent a few days in Annapolis, visiting with my mom and finalizing our setup. Ben installed an inverter which could be connected to the lithium battery from our trolling motor to provide an additional power source. He also put in a cat door for the bottom cabinet so Allie could do her business out of sight out of smell.

We took the truck to a straight talking mechanic named Tucker, basically Darren with a southern drawl (the plaque on the wall said “You can’t fix stupid”) to install timbrens, which Darren had recommended. These are some kind of high-tech shock absorption device that help stabilize the camper and allow the truck to handle smoother and safer.

Our original plan was to stop in northern North Carolina to do some rock climbing. But the forecast was cold and rainy, so we decided to keep driving south into spring, stopping only to eat and sleep and maybe throw out a few crabs nets.

Of course the truck camper gods had other plans.