Getting ready

Here it is, finally, the day before we hit the road for Pie Town, N.M., and other attractions -- Mesa Verde, the Grand Canyon, tourist traps like that. Tomorrow, we're going to get up early and try to make Hannibal, Mo., before nightfall so that we can check out Mark Twain's old haunts on Monday. At least that's the plan.

As we did in 2009 for our epic South Dakota/Wyoming/Colorado adventure, we have been assembling gear gradually, getting the car serviced, arranging for pet care and taking care of all the details that seem to multiply by the minute. This time has been a bit easier, since we didn't have to start from scratch. We pulled everything out of the garage, brushed off the dust, rummaged through the camp box and filled in the missing gaps.

High on our list was airing and vacuuming out the tent. We didn't want a musty first night sleeping next to dead spiders. So Michele and I, on a rare sunny day here, set up the tent in the backyard, figuring Ted and John Michael could give it a test run that night. After a couple of fitful starts -- it had been a while -- we put the right poles through the right straps into the right sockets, and up it went. Immediately, the boys ran and got the essentials for that night -- sleeping bags, flash lights, comic books, Legos and stuffed animals.

Later, the clouds darkened, and we fished out the rain fly. We tried to fasten it, but where were the hooks for the cords? How did this work? We were befuddled. It was easy before. Had we become idiots? Then Michele noticed a minor detail: We had the side poles upside-down, so that the hooks were near the ground. Brilliant. Like I said: It had been a while.

Today, I have to install the cargo shell on top of the car. I'm hoping my memory is better.