This past Saturday I managed to drag out the two fifty-pound suitcases full of spring/summer clothes, unpack them, pack away all the winter gear, and then stow the heavy suitcases in the basement storage once more. When we hit the road this summer, I’m pulling those cases out and putting them in my car which will remain parked here in Baltimore while we’re gone. That will help us lighten up by 100 lbs. in short order! Couple that with getting rid of the 200 lb. washer/dryer (which I have yet to do), and we’ll be in much better shape.
In my unpacking/repacking of clothes, I managed to weed out six garbage bags full of clothing that we just don’t wear. I suspect that all together the bags weighed another 100 lbs. Bonus! I tossed the bags in my car and took them to the nearest Planet Aid dropbox. It’s hard for big women to find used clothing, so I hope this helps out some plus-sized gal in need! It’s amazing the quantity of clothing I was able to get rid of, especially given that less than a year ago, I managed to get rid of at least ten bags of clothes. Neither of us is a clothes horse or hoarder of things that don’t fit or are worn out. Even so, we’re constantly in a state of excess. Life in the RV is teaching us some lessons, but others are taking time to unlearn. How much is enough is one of those lessons.
Sunday morning, I went to the laundromat and washed a great many of those musty spring clothes. I found one bag of clothes that had somehow gotten soaked (probably when the shower overflowed and leaked into the basement), so I had to clean them up. Ended up throwing out a couple of things that were too far gone with stains and mildew. Mildew has been a theme during this bout of cleaning. I had to wipe down all the metal window frames with bleach water because they were full of the stuff, and I ended up throwing out some shoes I pulled out of the closet because they were rotten with the stuff. Next winter, we’re DEFINITELY buying a dehumidifier and getting silica packets and putting them everywhere.
Today is the last day of my spring break, and I’ve had papers to grade. After I finished the first set, I headed outside (where it’s beautiful, clear, nearly 80 degrees…a perfect day) to do the last of the de-winterizing. I removed the drinking water hose that I had heat-taped and insulated and replaced it with a fresh hose sans the insulation. I also took out a spare hose and hooked it up to the black water tank flush, filled up all the wastewater tanks, and gave that black tank a good cleaning out. Once all the water was running clear, I closed the tanks back up. I even flushed some standing water out of the fresh water holding tank.
That done, I needed to stow some camping gear that I’d been keeping in my car in the basement storage. I’d been putting it off because it meant wrestling two huge, very fluffy sleeping bags in their relatively tiny ditty bags. It took me about half an hour of wrestling, but I finally got those things in their bags and put away. That’s the only real challenge of camping–getting everything packed away in those tiny, tiny bags.
The snow shovel got stowed in the forward storage compartment. That was a symbolic moment, the putting away of the very last of the winter gear. The trees are in leaf, the daffodils are in bloom, and the snow shovel is in storage! Woot!
My best friend here in Baltimore, Michelle, has a teenage daughter, Alex. While Michelle is traveling this summer, we’re going to have Alex fly out and spend a little time with us in Texas. Alex has never been to Texas, so I look forward to showing her around my home state. Michelle is an historian, so I’ll make a point of teaching Alex a little of that Texas history that was so soundly banged into my skull when I was young. That way Alex can bring her newfound knowledge back to Baltimore and dazzle her mother. I’m sure having Alex around will liven things up considerably!
My spring cleaning is done for now. The next big task will be to wash down the outside of the rig. That is an afternoon-long task that can wait a week or two, though. Once the taxman sends me my refund, I also plan to have Patrick, our repairman, out to fix some things up. I want new slide-out awnings and a couple of 12V sockets installed. I also want a thorough going-over of the RV to make sure she’s roadworthy before we hit the road in June. That all will gobble up quite a few of my tax pennies, but I hope to have enough left to buy some of the diesel it’s going to take to get to and from Texas this summer. Come on, taxman!
Yes, the joy of butane and black windowframes. I need to do that too but really hate the mess and put it off as long as possible. Hey, i have that big bookcase covering one wall (2 windows) and the computer desk and the kitchen table and plant tables… hehehe. I do use the vacuum and a rag to get rid of most of the crud before going again for cleaning. But, UGH.
I was really trying not to think about the remotest of remote possibilities of making it to SA this summer(Pride?), but i have been. However, the Census only comes around every 10 years; and i’ll be doing that for the better part of the summer(August or even September?), at least i hope so.
But Yay! for Spring and nice weather and a clean house! Love you!