What's next?

Things are starting to fall into place as we prepare for July 24th...our Independance Day!  Most of the easy things are done and now I'm down to a hand full of decisions I need to make and things I need to do.  I'm going to try to make a list here, and if anyone has thoughts or feedback this would be a great time!

First...the 'to-dos':

1) Take the camper back to the dealer.  They have some things they had to order that have come in, and I have a couple things I've found since pulling off the lot.  Namely a lock that sticks so bad that I broke off a key and a potential leak around the front door.  This is a 'just do it', but I have to find a good time...ugh

2) Fix the backsplash in our kitchen.  Talking about the sticks and bricks kitchen here.  There was a whole fiasco with our old granite, and although Home Depot stepped up and is replacing it for us 7 years later, it also meant our backsplash had to come out.  Good news is that it was also a somewhat shitty job, but the bad news is that it was a good enough job that half the friggin drywall came out too. So first I have to fix the drywall, then put in the new backsplash.  Gotta squeeze this in somewhere...

3) Get new tires on the camper.  There is a little decision here too, as I have to figure out exactly what tires I want to get, but I KNOW we will not be going cross country with these hunks of crap on there.  Gotta find a tire place I can get a 41' 5er into as well.  If anyone has recommendations I'd love to hear them in the comments.

4) Put rollers on my rear bumper.  I already bought the steal rollers, and I have a friend who owes me a little welding work...just have to find the time.  We were worried we might needs these for our driveway, but it turned out we were fine here at home.  Instead I drug the bumper pulling out of the lot at Camping World less than 5 min after hooking up for the first time.  Go figure...

5) Other house odds and ends.  We need to finish cleaning out the house and get a bit of tile work and painting done before we go.  It's another 'just do it' but we've got to find a contractor and blah blah blah.  

And here are the decisions:

1) The bike rack...  I bought a great bike rack that attaches to the rear bumper of my fifth wheel.  The issue is that I bought it before I knew the back end would drag in certain instances.  Of course the last thing you want to do in my situation is make the rig longer, but we've got to put the bikes somewhere. I'm hoping the rollers will make me more comfortable, but we'll see...  Any thoughts?  Please comment...

2)  The truck.  To upgrade or to not upgrade...that is the question.  So, bottom line, I did what most guys do and bought the biggest thing I could find (16k lbs loaded) and strapped it to my truck.  Can my truck pull it and stop it, sure.  Do I know I'm right at the limit of common sense when I'm pulling it? Yep!  And that's not a good place to be when you're hauling your family around...  This decision is all but made...we'll have a RAM 3500 dually before we leave town I'd imagine, but we've got to find the 'right' one first.

3) Extended camping before the trip starts.  So Karen had this idea to book a whole month at a local place so we can get out there but still have our safety net, which I agree is a great idea.  The problem is that with so much stuff to do I just don't know how we pull it off.  That's kind of what led to this post is me thinking about how in the world I can get all this done before June 24th, let alone July 24th.  We'll figure it out.

4) The outside TV mount.  My 5er comes with a hook up in the basement for a TV that I can use outside.  I found the perfect mount that will slide out and flip down a 36" flatscreen (which I kept from the old camper so I just need the mount).  Karen thinks it's a horrible idea, but I can't shake the image of me grilling wings outside and watching the Buckeyes pound Xichigan again.  Gotta figure this one out...if you have advice I'd love to hear it!  Go Bucks!

5) Which Tire Preasure Monitoring device to get.  This one is somewhat related to to-do #3.  I know I'm going to get it, but I'm not rushing until I have my new tires.  Just have to figure out which brand.  I've had one in my Amazon cart for 2 weeks waiting to pull the trigger...so if anyone has thoughts, please comment!

I think that's my list for now.  I'm sure there are other things I'm not thinking of, but I have to get these off my list.  Thanks for letting me crowd source my problems!  I'm looking forward to your replies...