Congratulations on the "new" home and your move! I think a lot of the ideas already listed are very good - the bike is really good. Another thought comes to my mind that goes beyond your questions and is back to the very first word in your post: "Moving".

Is there something like a wiring upgrade that you can do prior to moving in? Can some pre-move modifications to a room in the new house create a "safe room" or a storage area for your emergency supplies? I often look around our home, which we built from scratch, and wish I had done this or that when we were building. I did route extra wires and communications lines and have some nice little touches we did but wish I had done more before we settled in.

Get the family to pitch in on the brainstorming and they will come up with more ideas too I will bet. All said and done, I would also consider your idea of the second car being a truck to be very good. The Outback is great and I like them a lot but a pickup with an open bed has a lot of use. You should be able to get a good buy on one, maybe even a 4x4. You would then be able to consider adding a camper shell or even fully decked out camper to the truck as a way of improving it for bugging out. You could live in it as an emergency measure while traveling and you could maybe store the camper and use the open-bed truck for lots of other things. Keep thinking and you'll figure out what's best for your situation and needs.

Paul in MN -