Announcement: To the Sunshine State!

That's right, Lily is heading to Florida.

This announcement is historic for a few reasons. Namely, there will women on this trip. Also, it's the first time travelling with a gorgeous new golden speedboat hood ornament reminiscent of a true Florida Poker Run boat. Ok, so a hood ornament is not that big of a deal, but taking girls on a trip is!

Open Road veterans Calvin Berry, Tyrone Maguire and I are going with our ladies - Katie, Danielle and Katie - on a trip to Sanibel Island. Though this will be more of a vacation than an adventure style trip, there are bound to be some good stories, so I have decided to write about what we get up to.

So, to the beginning of the story. A few months ago, Katie and Calvin invited Katie, myself, Dani and Ty to go to Florida with them for a vacation. While Tyrone and I were searching for cheap flights, a lightbulb went off simultaneously in our heads. The RV. Surely gas split 6 ways would be cheaper than a flight! Now if only we could convince the ladies...

Much to our surprise, they were excited about the idea! Obviously there were a number of conversations about reliability, but no way of travel is without its pros and cons... The new engine in Lily is built to last, and we haven't had (much) trouble on our last mini adventures. So after we crunched the numbers and assured the ladies Lily would undergo a thorough cleaning, they were in.

Over the past few weekends, I have been getting her ready with Tyrone and another Open Road veteran, Josh Willms. We put some more caulking on the roof (no leaks now!), fixed the right brake light and turn signal (important), got the electrical working inside (which I am VERY pumped about), got rid of some old (very old) rations from trips past, and installed some new windshield wipers (swish swish).  Thanks to my gracious father Rudy for lending some labour from his shop to do the electrical. Oh, and of course I enlisted the help of our favourite mechanic friend, Craig, to help us install some new speakers and the hood ornament. We also let him loose with his drill and some screws, which was helpful considering the state of some of our gorgeous wall hangings and the step into the RV.

With the major upgrades completed, I drove Lily back to my abode in Burlington. It was now time to let Katie loose with the cleaning products for the final polish. I wish that I could say I helped, but I was generally just in the way. Katie went to town with the Pinesol, Windex, and rubbing alcohol (for that pesky duct tape residue). She showed every speck of dust and dirt who was the boss with the Dyson. It was a truly sight to behold! I have never seen that RV so clean, so cared for and so ready to go on a journey.

Tomorrow, our adventure begins. We will be gone for a week, and are excited for warmer weather, and some great time together as friends. Naturally, we will be keeping our eyes open for people to meet and help.

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned. Adventure awaits!

Clean and clear and under control

Home is where you park it,

Jeremy and the boys (and gals!)