128. Gear/Equipment Changes

CHANGES TO FUN GEAR:

We upgraded to an E-Bike with the shotgun toddler seat for Anjuli. Jordan stopped loving the tow behind trailer later last year. We think Bruce will be able to keep up on his normal bike without having the baby trailer.

We gave away the toddler carrying hiking backpack. Jordan loves hiking herself now so no need for it anymore. We got away with that one last amazing Larch Valley hike in Banff with her in it, but we are now in a new phase of baby hiking development, so only what Jordan can do from now on.

We will bring the inflatable kayak. We didn't bring it last year because we didn't think we would use it, but there were a ton of lakes we could have gone out in up in Canada. There will be opportunities on the second half of this trip, so we will stash it in the RV back storage compartment.

New mirrorless Nikon Camera, new lenses, filters, lighter tripod, camera backpack, and camera clips.

CHANGES TO RV EQUIPMENT:

Given that we aren't traveling in remote areas on this trip, we won't need both 5 gallon diesel canisters.

We still won't get a real generator since we have electric hookups for most of the trip. We will bring the solar generator and extra solar panels since Bruce will be boondocking for his first week of fishing, as well as our few nights in Bryce Canyon. The extra panels being movable is good for when there are trees around that block the panels on the RV roof.

Bruce installed new disc brakes with some additional suspension upgrades to make the Brinky great for the long term since we plan to keep it for several years. Two grease seals had broken by the time we got home from the last trip, and so we had to deal with the brakes anyway. We had discussed upgrading before the 2024 trip, but held off (and glad we did since we beat it up on the Alaska trip). Now that we know we want to keep it long term and had this issue, it's the right time.

New truck tires, because it was time. We put a lot of miles on those...

New bunk ladder with padded steps with grip tape (since they were slanted and we wanted to level them out) so Jordan can have the upper bunk as a play area. There was no way we were keeping her out of there this year. She would find a way (climb up the cabinetry) if we didn't give her one. We also added a large memory foam crash pad at the bottom until we see how she does with this.