PackerBacker, this TT has two A/Cs, an electric fireplace, a 2' lower height profile, and much cheaper insurance. The couple of items from L'Andante's basement that won't fit in the TT can go in the back of the pickup.
Ken56, L'Andante is at the age where stuff is wearing out or breaking at a rather high rate, and I doubt we'll have found and fixed all of it before departure. She's gonna have to stay home (we're not prepared to give her up just yet, so fixing is the order of the season). Also, WLToo is hesitant to drive her with his Parkinson's now, and doesn't want me to do all the driving. He feels he can handle the pickup and TT better. Either way, I drive more than he does and can handle both, but he feels better about the trip with a new RV.
Our fifth wheel friends, who will be leading this trip, have already warned us about the battening down. As soon as the TT gets home (installing the backup camera), we'll be doing a lot of practice loading and securing, then running up and down some of the worst roads around here to test how well we've secured, then double that for Alaska's frost-heaved roads. My cousin who lives on the Sitka Peninsula has also passed along a lot of really useful info, which we'll take to heart.
As for the cats riding free, Spotacus is likely to get in the way, insisting on sitting on the dashboard so he can watch the world go by. Alexander the Grrreat will want to be in my lap or on my chest - his preferred resting places - when I'm driving, I'd rather he were elsewhere. But he's too old to keep in a carrier, as he has to pee fairly often, and when he howls, he means right then and there or he'll pee on the carrier pad. So free he has to be...just not on me.
Golden_HVAC, I will miss the ease of setting up L'Andante. We got a TT with electric levelers, and we'll get a little exercise going from one corner to the other to level it. But it doesn't require the levelers be down to open a slide, not that it's an issue. We can go straight into the head from the door, and get to the fridge without opening slides. And we already have the milepost book.
lawduck, I'm not comfortable with leaving a 19-year-old cat unsupervised in a TT while going down a rough road. He could get badly hurt. We're still discussing the safest way to transport them, without Spotacus getting all frisky and possibly hurting Alex, yet letting both have free access to a litter box, water and food.
So much more research to do......
