Carson & I are heading up to run the first Adventure Trip of the summer. Last year we began leaving 1 of the GTD trucks and 1 of our trailers at a storage facility in NC, and I'm loving this decision. The cost to store both is offset by the fuel and wear & tear of driving back-and-forth to Florida plus, according to State Farm, we are able to suspend our vehicle insurance to the absolute minimum while it isn't being driven which saves hundreds of dollars per year. The small town secure storage facility is also less expensive than storage facilities in bigger cities plus low crime rates makes it doubley secure. The truck & trailer are near an airport that flies Allegiant so I keep a set of clothes and necessities in the trailer which allows me to get a very inexpensive flight from Clearwater for around $45 each way as well as get in & out of the airport very quickly since I don't have to check any luggage. Having both pieces of equipment staged in NC also opens up the opportunity to do events year-round instead of only in the summer which has the potential of adding more income into GTD. Have I mentioned yet that the flight is only 90 minutes verses 13 hours of driving (plus an extra hour or two for flat tires lol) which saves a ton of wear & tear on our bodies. It also allows us to get up & back for quick weekend trips to recon new adventure locations or simply get to breathe some fresh mountain air. If all those benefits weren't enough it also reduces the amount of trucks & trailers in my yard. GTD has 3 trucks, 5 trailers, 1 40' shipping container, a pontoon boat, and 2 big racks holding about 20 kayaks... so my yard was getting a bit overwhelmed with equipment to put it lightly. Fuel alone for a round-trip to NC & back driving one of our gas gulping trucks is around $400 which adds up pretty fast over the course of a full summer. So all-in-all it's close to a breakeven monetary yearly cost, but the long-term wear & tear savings on the equipment and the body as well as the increased opportunities for running events outside of the summer months makes this decision feel like a wise investment. Anyways, we are NC, SC, & TN bound aaaaaaaaand I'm so happy to NOT have to haul the trailer up here & back for the first time in 29 years!! It feels like progress to me! We are looking forward to a God-awesome summer of adventures... thank you for your prayers & love! (This is also my first event since my surgery, and physically I'm feeling strong PTL!)
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