Packing

 Picture the two gringos at Lakeside Apartments spending all day Sunday scrubbing their van, pulling stuff out of their van and then scrubbing or tossing it in a big black garbage bag. I hope your Sunday was a tad more exciting.

I have hated these awkward plastic drawers for five years. They are gone.

Our table used to be held closed by a magnet that works on smooth US roads but down here every pothole, every speed bump we heard a loud thunk if I drove just a scootch too fast, as the magnet let go momentarily. Not anymore: 

Layne had to struggle mightily if she wanted to set up the table on a complicated but sturdy metal leg. She has promised to lean lightly on the table now she can open and close it easily by herself.

Just fold the wooden support closed as you lift the weight of the table slightly. 

Starlink is on the roof and the modem is in its shelf  plugged into 110 volt power through our inverter. Eventually we may convert it to 12 volts (we are slow cautious innovators) but for now our new 860 watt panels are cranking so we can afford the juice. Our new second alternator is doing its job too when we run the engine. All these changes should mean much better energy independence for off grid living. 

Allison the carpenter listens as well as Alessandro the owner does and he solved some nightingale long standing issues that had annoyed us. Layne got drawers she wanted and a couple of new doors especially one in the back for me. This was funky from Custom Coach and we tried to fix it in Colombia and failed until this elegant simple solution showed up including a buffer bar to prevent our sliding tray from hitting the door. Solid and thoughtful.

We have a sliding trash can above our new inboard two gallon gray tank from the sink. Alessandro had never seen one so small but I knew what I wanted and he came through. As always I want simple and easy to empty. 

The trash can comes with a lid which we may keep. 

The work of cleaning and planning how to store stuff in new spaces will probably take all Monday and most of Tuesday but we hope to test a bit before we leave late Wednesday morning.

There is a shopping cart in each building lobby for residents’ use and we used it to haul our clothes up to the apartment for sorting. It just fits in the elevator. 

We found our cleaning products at the Walmart in Chile (called “Lider” pronounced “leader.”) and they cross borders with us. 

Layne is the quartermaster organizing stowage. 

Not that Rusty cares. I don’t think he is much interested in travel. We may have to get used to stopping for weeks at a time to help him through old age. He deserves consideration.