> Ever since I started backpacking in the Shenandoah mountains decades ago, following each trip I would make a list of things to improve for the next trip.My preparedness had improved to the point where in the 90s I made six quite successful backcountry backpacking trips, mostly solo, in Alaska and Russia. Although a completely different kind of trip, that preparedness-mindset carried over to my first long road camping trip, to the Arctic Ocean in Alaska in 2000. And it continued after that into the subsequent seven long road trips that followed, going through the same routine of my asking what I should do to improve for the next trip. And each trip was an improvement over the last. For this last trip, here are some of the improvements that I made.
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> 1- When my 3.9-liter engine failed on the ALCAN during the 2016 trip, I replaced it with a more powerful 4.6-liter engine.
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> 2- I planned the first seven camps of the trip in detail and with one change met every target, despite two trip-delaying incidents that occurred.
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> 3- I replaced my aging iPad with the new one.
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> 4- I transitioned to using my blog as my journal also.
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> 5- I started to use a dictation app to write my blog.
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> 6- I purchased a beaded seat cover to keep the circulation going through my abductor muscles, that worked significantly. Looking back, riding in the Defender for eight hours a day over the previous eight trips essentially destroyed my right abductor muscles.
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> 7- I purchased a dog gate for the rear window of the Defender to prevent Donner from escaping, as he has been known to do, and to make it more difficult for would-be intruders to gain entry into the Defender from the rear. If you look closely at the Donner, you will see i have panels from dog cages in both side rear windows for the same reason.
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> 8- I had my eyes tested days before the trip and got my first pair of distance glasses to improve my night-driving.
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> 9- Because my recent hip surgery took away my full range of motion with my right leg, preventing me from easily getting access to the front of my roof rack the way I used to, I devised an auxiliary ladder system.
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> 10- I installed an eight- gallon auxiliary fuel tank (52% more fuel) to allow me to cover more distance during the day without having to refuel in to compensate for my the new more powerful engine's higher fuel consumption (about 19% more).
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> 11- I relied heavily on my Garmin and Google (Maps and Search) to locate campsites and other services on the fly. As the result, I did not consult a single AAA or Woodall's hardcopy directories or papers maps so that the next time I can eliminate a whole container with those sources in it.
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> 12- I took along more spare parts for the Defender and, as good luck would have it, I was prepared for the one major incident that did take place.
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> 13- I brought along a small step stool and it came in handier than I ever expected.
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> 14- I relaxed my hard-and-fast rule about having to tent every night no matter what the price to me, especially on the last leg of the trip when we were officially heading for home.
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> 15- I decided to stay in a cabin near Washington at the end of the trip for two days to unwind before heading home.
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> During this trip, I made a number of notes in my journal about ways to improve the next trip. So far, the three biggest improvements will be: (1) Get rid of my Microsoft desktop computer and get an Apple; (2) "process" my gear containers fully now and (3) start preparing those containers for the next trip one at a time as many days before I hope to leave as there are containers to go with me. My guess is that the trip was delayed at least two day because of the many "Microsoft (application) not responding" and "Synchronizing Trash" messages I got and another three days trying to prepare 26 containers simultaneously.
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