Climbing Trip Preparations

Now that we are getting read to start our trip there are a few things that need to be done. We've sold our Honda, the BMW Motorcycle, and have kept the Subaru for driving until a few days before we leave.
Our apartment is getting progressively more empty with loads going to goodwill (in Utah they are called Deseret Industries which are run by the Mormon church). Our friends have spoken up for the last few pieces of furniture left such as our bed, some tables and such. It looks kind of like a junk glacier in the house as items slowly but steadily move toward the front door to be donated or sold.
Last weekend we got rid of both dressers in about an hour with almost 20 phone calls shortly after posting. We even had a guy claim he was picking up the dresser for another person who had already said they were coming to get it! Apparently good deals attract all kinds of people.

Yesterday we made really good progress getting our major VW camper projects finished. The first was a pretty intense install of some hydraulics for helping us lift the pop-top when it's loaded down with gear (this is made by a company called GoWesty it's called the lift assist kit, and we give it a big thumbs up). Considering that the Yakima box on top is literally the largest box Yakima makes it will definitely be needed. Last summer we had a significantly smaller box on top and Cassie was unable to raise the pop-top and I could only after putting in so much time that an analogy to Sisyphus seemed reasonable. So, we're happy to report that after significant amounts of cussing, griping, complaining, swearing (yeah I put that in twice), drilling, wrestling, and worrying it was installed and does indeed provide a significant amount of assistance. I can now put the top up using the tips of my two index fingers. While the top is unloaded however pulling the top back down is now incredibly difficult. Cassie can literally hang from the bar used to raise/lower the top and it goes nowhere. After the box is loaded things should get better.

GoWesty Pop-Top Hydraulic Lift Assist 

We also waterproofed the canvas, and installed a GoWesty Wasser-Stopper rainfly. It's like an additional tent that wraps around the existing pop-top tent. In the Pacific-Northwest we're hoping it will help us be nice and dry in the van even if the weather is nasty. It has the added benefit of wrapping around the top of the van where there is storage area, creating a vestibule for storing gear and keeping it dry. Hopefully many soggy nights will be avoided. It was super easy to install and should be pretty simple to put up in the event of a rainstorm. Given that we cannot just abandon the trip and head "home" we're thinking that these kinds of features will make us much more comfortable.

GoWesty Wasser-Stopper Rainfly

That's all for the last minute preparations. Only 7 days and counting till we leave for Bozeman and my USA climbing team's regional competition. The drive to Bozeman begins Friday May 13th. At that point we will officially consider our world climbing trip underway.