Precursor of things to come.

I got up this afternoon and washed the van. Nice and clean now, guess it'll be more aerodynamic with all that dirt and dust gone. It was so hot that I had to turn the van around half way through, the water would evaporate off the sunny side before I could get to it with the sponge. The temperature at the time was 36C, I think in Fahrenheit that's close to a billion degrees. I remember a line from an old Monty Python skit that seems fitting: "Hot enough to boil a monkey's bum." I guess we should embrace the heat, I've heard rumors that it gets warm in the summer time in California and Mexico.
Tomorrow Nicole takes the cats to kitty prison for their month long sentence, that is of course if she can find them. Voodoo's around but Tiki's gone AWOL. Looking on the bright side, kitty prison will only cost half as much if we don't find her. However I'm sure there'll be a cornucopia of mice, moles, and other assorted rodents piled by the patio door when we return. A thoughtful pile of gifts from Tiki.

Last Minute Rush

Why do something today when you can put it off until tomorrow? Manana, manana, manana. Well for the last few months we've known we were doing this trip, but daily life has taken priority. So here we are, three days before we leave and we're only starting to prepare seriously now. (And I still have 2.5 shifts to work still) Nicole's been working nonstop getting things together at home.
We have an inflatable queen sized mattress, which fits like a glove (Michael Jackson's, not OJ Simpson's) behind the front row of seats. This'll be our quarters in a pinch, but we'd rather be tenting it or in a hotel most nights. We've pulled out the back row of seating leaving more room for cargo. It also frees up an area where we can sit out of the weather if need be to watch a movie or eat or park and watch Hailey and Reilly practice with their newly purchased skim boards.
Also picked up a camping shower, it's basically a black 5 gallon bladder which you fill up and let sit in the sun. I'm guessing it won't take too long to heat with some of the temperatures down there. In the military, we used this same idea in Kuwait by painting water tanks black for hot showers, but by July we had ended up painting them white in an effort to cool the showers down. Maybe California will be a bit less intense.