A Cross-Country Driving Trip in Our Morgan
|
The Hendersons Preparing the Mog and Packing and Loading |
|
A Cross-Country Driving Trip in Our Morgan |
|
|
Overview This trip has been quite some time in the planning. We knew we wanted to take about two months. That would mean that we would have to save some places for another time. We knew we needed to be in Shepherdstown, WV on June 30th for MOG 36. We decided to start the trip with the MOGNW Caboose Run. That meant leaving home on June 2nd. We tried a variety of itineraries for the trip east, and finally settled on the one shown on our Itinerary page. Our itinerary for the return trip has still only been roughed out and will probably remain that way. It's a good thing we have learned how to travel light. There is no other way to travel in a Morgan, unless you ship things from place to place. That is definitely not our style. You'll see photos of all the pieces of luggage, etc. we take with us. Our itinerary allows time to do laundry as we go, so there is no need to take a huge amount of clothing. We will take a small cooler to help us maintain some control over out diet while on the road. We will travel with a TomTom Go 700 navigation system and will report on how it works out. I've made a mount that will hold it in place on top the center tunnel and it works well. The unit has no problem maintaining a good signal, but is admittedly difficult to hear in a moving Morgan. Mel will be able to ensure that we stay on course, as she will have no problem leaning over as needed to read the display. We will also travel with digital SLRs and a laptop and will build travel journal pages as we go. Those will be uploaded to our web site so our friends and family will be able to follow our progress. This worked well in Europe last year and should be much easier on this trip. We will have access to high-speed links for our laptop in most places. The drop-down menu in the upper left will take you to all the pages of this journal. We will have dealt with the newspaper and mail by the time we leave, and the house and its plants will be in good hands. So follow along as we set off on another trip of a lifetime. If we go through your area, drive along with us for a while, or wave as we go by. Preparation Moggie has been undergoing some changes in preparation for this trip. I had long wanted to restore her bumpers to factory mounts (and height). That has been done. The front impact absorber holes have been covered with stock indicator lamps and the front end looks a lot cleaner. The rear deck holes have been patched by epoxying pieces of aluminum to the underside and painting them to match body color. It turned out pretty good. She is also sporting a new luggage rack with sidescreen stowage space and the sidescreens are in a storage bag. That bag doubles as space to carry spare clutch and accelerator cables. Her side mirrors, which were in somewhat sad shape, have been replaced and she has been given a good coat of polish and her leather has been treated. I also devised a way to mount a waterproof toolbox under the bonnet. Last, but not least, she has received a new set of tires. She will have her engine and differential oil changed before we leave. She looks great and is ready for a LONG trip. Mel and I have put together our packing list and, with only five days to go before departure, have started gathering clothing, etc. We'll have plenty of time to finish packing and loading on Friday morning. Our first day's drive will only be about four hours to beautiful downtown Soap Lake. Hey, we didn't pick the starting location for the Caboose Run. The next day's drive to Colville will be the only day on which she has plenty of company. After that she will be traveling solo unless some other Morgan owners read these pages and join us for a while. We've completed our packing and took this photo of the things we will take with us.
The two blue bags have our clothing (inside plastic kitchen trash bags to ensure it stays dry) and will be strapped onto the luggage rack. The cooler, the gray backpack (with cosmetics, books, etc.), The blue Kirra Tours bag with other stuff, the aqua camera bag, and the laptop will go behind the seats. The little red cooler bag and the round, light blue car cover will go in the passenger foot well. We'll keep our lunch items in the red cooler for easy access, and Mel can use the red cooler and the car cover as a foot rest to keep her left ankle elevated. So we are loaded and off on our big adventure. Perhaps we will see you along the way. Our Itinerary
|
|
