Ellen and I have been debating how much stuff we can take. The Prairie Schooner is huge, in my mind, but storage space is definitely limited when you compare it to our home. We have been prioritizing our needs and have come to the conclusion that it will be easier to load the RV until it is filled (based on our priority list) rather than have one of us say, “You can’t take that.” answered by, “Oh yes I can.” Saturday is loading day and by Sunday this will be a memory.

We hooked everything up today for a “drive run” before take off on Sunday. Drove the Focus up to the dual tow arms on the hitch on the motorhome and connected it to the tow bar on the “bullets” on the car. Plugged the 7 to 6 wiring umbilical cable in to both vehicles. Plugged in the “breakaway” safety cable from the motorhome to a trigger release slide on the car. Clamped both safety cables (crossed) to both vehicles and then installed the RVI 3 Brake system inside the car. This system is a box with a jaw that presses down on the brake pedal for stopping the car when the motorhome brakes.It’s computer driven so it talks you through the setup process and even reminded us to plug in the breakaway cable pin, too. It wouldn’t allow us to leave without doing that!

Next, we put the car in neutral, let down on the emergency brake, and I sat in the passenger seat while Ken slowly drove both vehicles down the hill in the storage lot. I can tell you that it was a very uneasy feeling seeing the car’s steering wheel turning on its own. But, when Ken came to a definite braking stop, I heard the pneumatic type sound of a whish where the Focus’ brakes were also applied. Good! So, I got out of the car because I did not think it was safe for me to ride in it this way.

We traveled around for about 20 minutes and found no issues at all. All lights functioning well. There’s a key part that comes with the brake system that will be arriving later, which is a dedicated wireless tablet which pairs with this unit only (wifi), and will give us much more feedback as to how the brakes are doing on the car. This is a brand new model so it will be another week before we get it.

Stuff, lots of stuff! Lifejackets (even for Pogo), kayak, cabling, electrical surge protector, etc., etc.

We’re scheduled to leave home on 12/4 (a week from today), so Ken is finishing up the installation of the wiring for the “toad” or dinghy, which in prairie schooner parlance, is his Ford Focus, not an inflatable boat. This has become a multi day project due to some learning missteps, but hopefully, it’s getting sorted out. He’s almost done (day 5).

Our living room is now a storage area for what we’re taking with us. We have a long checklist of to-dos. We do need to bring the schooner into a tire repair place to install a new tire stem because one leaks air. Ken tried to fix it with no luck. This is set for tomorrow.

Here’s where most of all this stuff will go (a nice BIG trunk):

Trunk comes with a folding table and spare tire. Lots of space to quickly fill up.