Dragoncavers

I got my van back last Wednesday, finally, yay! My kind neighbor gave me a ride up to pick it up, so that worked out very well.

Now I'm getting the van ready for my next trip, which will be May 7. With exactly one week to get the van dewinterized, cleaned up, systems checked out, and supplies loaded, I knew time would be tight, but I figured as long as there were no issues that came up, I'd be able to get ready in time. And fortunately, everything has been going smoothly. I dewinterized and sanitized the fresh water system on Thursday, Friday I checked out all the systems to make sure everything was working, cleaned inside the cupboards, drawers and surfaces, and loaded up all the supplies that usually stay in the van, like tools and kitchen ware and bedding. Yesterday I started stocking the kitchen with food and making a shopping list for tomorrow.

Today, I'm mostly resting. Might take out a few more kitchen items and go through my backpack/briefcase to make sure I've got all the power cords and trip info and notebooks and so on that I'll need. Maybe do a load of laundry.

Tomorrow or Tuesday I'll make a run into town for groceries and money and whatever else I might need. Wednesday, load up clothes and toiletries and such. Then Thursday, off I go! I'll join up with J&J in Pennsylvania on the last two stops of their winter travels.

I've also been thinking a lot about my plans to see BTS in August. That will be the complete opposite of my camping trip and I keep getting things confused in my head. ("Need to remember to fill the cat's water fountain before I go... No, I'm taking Davey with me, that's for BTS when I'm only gone overnight...")

I'm hearing horror stories about hotel/travel/crowd issues with the BTS concerts that have happened in the US so far -- people getting scammed on tickets, hotels cancelling confirmed reservations at the last minute to resell the rooms at higher rates, people standing in line for hours and still not getting into the stadiums on time, merch selling out in a few hours. I'm getting a bit nervous for my plans. I reserved a hotel and parking at the stadium when I got my sad little single ticket in the 300s in the presale, and thought I was all set, but I hear people saying "If you want merch, be ready to line up at 8 AM!" and "Get in line by 4 PM to get into the stadium!" and "Hand out your freebies before you line up, they might not let you into the stadium with extra bags!" and... I remember how my plans for Jin's concert went awry, and that was only an arena show. I thought I'd corrected for that with my current plans but I don't know.

Maps tells me it's a 2-1/2 hour drive to MetLife from here. Which is a laugh. I'm thinking four hours, if past experience with traffic to that area holds. My hotel has a 3 PM check-in. I was thinking if I leave at 10 AM I should get to the hotel by 2 PM. Possibly earlier, possibly later, but around 2 PM. If my room isn't ready yet, I can hang out and get something to eat and maybe meet some other ARMYs. Check in at 3 PM or sooner, then head over to the stadium. Hand out freebies for an hour, try to buy some merch, find my gate and get in line around 4 PM. Hand out more freebies and hang out with ARMYs in line. Once inside, depending on whether there's time and whether or not I managed to buy anything outside, check out the merch. Then find my seat and turn on my ARMY bomb and get ready to go!

As far as merch goes, there's one thing I really really really really want: the brick-red city jersey that is only available on site (can't be preordered for pickup at the venue). I also really want the charcoal-gray member jersey (SUGA version), also only available on site. There will be merch booths outside and inside the stadium, so I can try both places but if the merch lines are hours long outside, I will have to wait to try inside, and just hope there's time and they don't sell out before I get a chance.

I have thought about trying to go down the night before, so I can just spend the whole day at the stadium on concert day, but hotels are already sold out, so that's not likely to be possible. Or just getting up at, like, 6 AM and heading down early on the day. Would that work? What time will the stadium parking lot be open? Would I be able to go straight to the stadium and go back to check into my hotel later? Can I check into the hotel online or at, like, midnight when I finally get out after the concert? Should I try to park at the Secaucus station and take the train to the stadium? Ack!

I keep reminding myself that the concert is not until August and there's plenty of time to work all this out. Right now, I just need to concern myself with my camping trip which is in FOUR DAYS. But my brain cannot help working overtime on both plans, and getting them all muddled.