Prepping for the BIG trip

So, now we will start our longest, funnest, excitingist adventure yet. We have toyed with the idea of driving to Costa Rica for several years but never really thought we would ever get a chance to do it. It would take the right vehicle to even consider such a trip. We couldn’t afford a new vehicle & the idea was put on the back burner. That all changed this summer when Dale attended his Uncle Glen’s Memorial service. There it was, a 1988 Dodge, custom camperized van with less than 100,000 Km’s on it. Dale’s Aunty Olive offered it to us for the price of the new tires they had just bought. It even came fully stocked with everything needed for camping. Two weeks later Dale went over to get it & it was ours. It had been sitting for several years yet had no rust & very little wear & tear. It ran like a dream the two hours it took to get home. We’ve had it in to be serviced mechanically & to update the AC & propane (for the stove & oven). The headlights, running lights & wipers have all been replaced. I am working on replacing all the curtains & customizing silver coated insulation for all the windows. This was a handy tip from friends that have done the drive to & from Costa Rica with dogs & cats. It will help keep the van cooler when we start hitting the hot countries. Other handy tips were: buy a club (done), a locking gas cap (done), a fan that runs off the lighter (done) & tamper proof screws for the license plates (still to do). So far so good. We went to B.C.A.A. to see how they could help & left there with a very serious armload of books & maps as well as International Driver’s Licenses. The van is insured for the trip as are we. All that is left to do is get Osa to the Veterinarian for a Health Certificate & to pack. At the moment our house is in an uproar. There are piles & piles of things to take along. I’m pretty good at packing (a skill I learned while trying to stay under 25 lbs. each for all our other trips) so I’m up for the challenge. Every cupboard in the kitchen is filled with sticky notes reminding us to buy or do something before we go....so much to do!! We hope to leave by November 1st. The countdown is on! Stay tooned :)