NOTE: This chapter has an accompanying photo posted on Tumblr, under the user name kindly-whisper-tolkien and the tag fleetwood.

June 13

Today's the day! I was so excited, I forgot to put grounds in the coffee filter this morning!

Bofur and Bifur helped Thorin get the trailer hooked up while I was getting everything ready. I guess it all went well, but they suggested that we get something called a weight distribution hitch. Or maybe it was a sway control hitch. I think they mentioned both, but it might be the same thing just by a different name. I guess it's meant to keep the trailer from swaying, or some such thing. Anyway, I guess the hitch is kind of costly, but Bifur and Bofur said they'd shop around for us to find one that isn't too expensive.

So, I guess it is a good thing that the first leg of our trip will be a short one. We're just driving from Hartford to a campsite some thirty or forty miles to the north of here (just over the border into Massachusetts). It should be a fine trial run, I think, to get a feel for how it is to tow the trailer! But, well... I'm not going to be doing the driving! I admit that I can get a little anxious behind the wheel, even when the car is small and the traffic is light and there is no one else riding with me!

I still do my part, though. I've been looking through lists of camping places, because even though our itinerary is all ready, we might want to hop to other places once in a while. Most of the sites I have been checking out are military campgrounds, since Thorin is a veteran, and sites on bases cost a bit less than most of the "camping resorts" out there (though we will also be staying in those kind of places, from time to time, since they are better equipped).

Oh! But a few times in my searching, I have come upon campgrounds that I would certainly not enjoy! One even warned that because of "unexploded ordinances", only primitive camping (I assume, meaning in a tent) is allowed - and that you MUST attend a safety course first. Not exactly my idea of a relaxing family vacation destination!

And we got a little bit of exciting news! We were telling some family about what we were planning on doing - and, well, Thorin was on the phone with Gloin, and he gave me the strangest look! Then he got of the phone and mentioned how Gimli is eleven years old now, and that he's going into middle school next year. He's such an active boy, apparently, and he just doesn't ever get the chance to get out of the city (they live in New York, after all!), and Gloin said he wished that Gimli could go and have such an adventure.

So Thorin asked me if we might take him along, as well! Of course, I said "Yes"! Gimli might be older than Frodo, but still I think the boys will have fun together, fishing and hiking and swimming (I'm determined that Frodo will be able to swim, unlike me!). We'll pick him up when we head down that way in a few weeks.

And though we weren't going to do it, Frodo insisted that we bring along his two betta fish. We have to keep them separated so they don't kill each other; but we got a long bowl with a divider to keep them apart, and we duct-taped the top down so that it wouldn't come off. Then we put the bowl in the sink and wedged it in with towels, so they should be fine!

Well, and we're starting off at around 10:00 AM, and it is the 13th! No bad luck there, I hope!