We camped last week, which is why I was AWOL, and we did a lot of thinking and a lot of talking. Boy, if we could move up our timetable, we’d sure head out now! Patience, grasshopper . . .

First, it’s hot. Really hot this past week, and as some of you know, we had no AC in the truck. Talk about toughening up! Of course, there were several times I thought I was going to melt, but that was while driving.

Turns out I can handle the heat outside pretty well—not as well as 30 years ago, but still.

I tried out my new solar gadget charger—awesome! It works great and kept my phone going. Haven’t tried it on the laptop yet. Since we were gone a few days this time and it was so flippin’ hot, we also went to the campground showers. They were fine, although apparently designed for REALLY SHORT people—I’m not that tall, and I had to duck . . . Next purchase: solar shower!

So, around the homestead here, ha, we’ve been busy downsizing and cleaning up junk. Got rid of two dead chipper/shredders and an old mower yesterday, but started a new pile. At least, I think that was what my husband was doing in the garage all morning. Plus, he and the kid worked on the brush pile for a while. What a mess—30 trees here, and as many branches as they drop you’d think we’d have no trees left at all!

Going to find a junkyard tomorrow, and take a load over. SO MUCH stuff, and most of it isn’t ours but was left by previous owners.

The biggest issue is clearing out the garage so we can get more organized. I’ll admit it, that IS our stuff, and some of it is staying, for sure. The bookstore stuff has to go—whether we sell it or give it away, that’s the immediate goal.

Craigslist, here we come!

I’ve also spent some time making a list of repairs. Those cost $$, so we have to sell off things first; and we’ll likely be doing them a bit at a time, which is going to drive me nuts. I like to finish things, but my husband, not so much . . .

Only 23 months to go!