Our Travel Trailer remodel…Part 3

OK after the wall repair was completed we went and picked out colors to paint the travel trailer. We wanted it to be fun, easy to clean and say something Hawaiian. Maui, Hawaii is where Merriann and I proclaimed to the world that we made a covenant to God and each other that we would be husband and wife for a lifetime. No surprise to anyone that our time in Maui is one of our favorite married memories. So the colors which I can’t remember say “Aloha” to us.

By far and away this is the most time intensive thing we did. From priming and painting, it took about two weeks to paint everything from the walls the cabinets. It actually took longer because we had to paint all of the new surfaces that we were installing as we went.

But after we completed painting the inside shell. We installed the benches. The idea of the bench was that we could use benches as benches most of the time. But when it was dinner time we could easily bring out the table. We decided to use a small folding table in order to save on weight. The table that came with the trailer was one of those great unstable ones that rocks (or rockets) back and forth whenever touched. We could always count on someone hitting the table and the person on the other side either got the drink thrown in their face ( Merriann or I) OR their plate of food thrown baSck on the person who hit the table (the kids). Which always add unplanned “fun” to our camping trip. So it is safe to say that Merriann and I DID NOT like the table. We used a small Costco folding table. It seems to do the trick. It is lite enough to just fold away when it’s not need. And big enough to use when we sit down to eat we all can sit at the table at the same time. But most importantly there is no more flying drink or food. Another nice thing about the large bench is that it is large enough for the kids to sleep on.

Another plus to using the Airstream design is that it gave us more kid’s play space. By moving the table to a different location it opened up the the floor but gave us a place to watch the “entertainment” (our kids). Because there are extra benches around most of the cabin space.

Next up Merriann takes on sewing???? Oh I mean Merriann takes on SEWING!!!!

Jun 16

Back at Winthrop

Comments 2

This memorial day weekend saw us back in Winthrop this year. We had an awesome time. It was relaxing and mellow. A perfect way to start out the camping season.

The cutest crew ever!

Deer leg found in our campsite. We found the other three legs in a site a few spaces over.

This little boy buried himself in the sand and Abigail really couldn't understand the point.

Beautiful!

Mar 31

Our Travel trailer remodel…Part 1

Comment 1

I just wanted to share with you a wonderful adventure we have almost completed. We have repaired and remodeled our travel trailer. Here is the deal. As many of you know we love to go camping/RVing as a family. And as God has blessed Merriann and I with more children, space was becoming more and more a concern for us. A growing family and the fact that the fiber glass siding on our travel trailer was failing. Yep, a big long crack which was going the length of the trailer.

Our Camping Command Post....

So that motivated us to start looking around at a few new-to-us or as some like to call them “Used” travel trailers and toy haulers, we even looked that some brand new travel trailers and toy haulers (yes, I know that we don’t have any “toys”….yet!) We looked and looked and to make a longer story short we couldn’t find a used one we liked or a new one that we could afford.

So begins our adventure into remodeling our trailer. But first the plan!! Like I said earlier we looked a tons, and tons of travel trailers, 5th wheels and RV. So in that process Merriann and I fell in love with the Airstream’s floor plan and since we were fresh out of $80,000 we decieded to recreate it. Which began like this:

Then transformed into this:

Then to the scaled drawings.

Tips I wish I would have known at the beginning: For those of you crazy enough to try this a home:

When planning a remodel of your rv. Take in account the hard to move items like the kitchen, bathroom, hot water heater, holding tank, doors, windows. etc. and plan around them. It is just easier to work around these item verses the cost of moving them.

Another major tip is pre-plan all storage, keeping in mind what goes where. It is easier and just plan smarter to plan it now at the beginning. Not that we did this but I could have used a few places a little more efficiently.

One last tip in planning this is you should look at boats (yachts, and 30 ft or larger boats) for storage and floor plan ideas. They fall in the same “boat” do to the size of living size and are build to a higher standard.

Needless to say that this becoming the Thames episode of “Pimp you ride”.

Next up is the gutting our RV and fixing the crack and leak.

Jan 18

Winter has arrived

Comment 1

The snowman hat is one I knitted a few years ago. I started it while pregnant with Ezekiel and finished it after his 2nd birthday. It was my first and last hat. It’s huge. Really huge. But it fits this snowman perfectly. His head was made from a 3 gallon bucket.

Winter has finally arrived! Monday Zoe was outside all day. I was mean and made her wait until it was light outside before she went out. About 8am she was in the snow and stayed out until 2:00pm. At one point I served up some hot chocolate and asked her if she wanted some. She hesitated saying “I do but….” I assured her she could go back outside when she was done but she asked if she could have it outside. Sure, why not. Zeke was even enjoying it this year which Zoe enjoyed greatly. What a difference snow pants make. Oliver played outside for a little bit but was also happy in our nice warm house. Tuesday gave us more snow and Zoe was out in it again trying to use up all the snow. She started using a bucket to pack the snow in and made a tall snowman and Snow City complete with sky scrapper. And what did Abigail decide she needed to do while I was outside taking some quick shots?

Aug 30

Blueberries and Boys

Comment 1

Blueberry picking has been a little slower for us this year. Something about teaching these little guys. Zoe did great filling up her bucket. Ezekiel did pretty good once he got into the rhythm. Into the bucket not into the mouth.

Oliver on the other hand needed constant reminding. “Yum Yum” was always coming out of his mouth as the berries were shoved in. Finally, he found a stick (his favorite thing) and that at least kept one of his hands busy.

Ezekiel has become quite the joker. As I am trying to quickly pick I hear “mom, mom, mom, mom…” you get the idea. I kept answering him but not looking at him so he just kept going until I turn to see this…

I bust out laughing and grab the camera then try to convince him not to do it anymore. Yeah right. Oh, Boys. You just don’t teach them this stuff.

Jul 23

Winthrop Camping

Flying High

Comment 1

That was Greg and Zoe last week as they went on an intro to flying class. Zoe was in charge of photos. I’ll share with you a few of the many, many pictures that were taken. It was so much fun to see all the places they were able to fly over. Let’s start off with the irresistible self portrait.

Zoe’s view from the back seat.

This is the plane they were flying in.

And a view of our house. The blue roof is us. I got a call from Greg just as they were approaching the house. Zeke and I ran outside to see them circling us. He didn’t quite believe that dad was in the plane. When asked where dad was he would point to the plan but then get a funny smile on his face and say “No.” Although now when we hear a plane outside and dad is gone he asks “Daddy?”

And here’s Zoe with the instructor Miss April. With the exception of a little motion sickness from some tight circles Greg and Zoe had a blast. The ladies at the terminal even brought up some cookies for Zoe before they landed to help settle her stomach.

Mar 28

Pig Pen

Comment 1

One of our first projects was building a secure pig pen. Last year we had a few problems with the pigs getting out. This year we are doing all we can to keep them in. We set up hog panels and electric fencing around the bottom. Greg also built this board walk type thing around much of the pen. The pen will not be green for long. It will soon just look like a dirt/mud pit as the pigs do what they do best…root. The board walk will help keep us out of the mud when we need to go inside and it should keep them from being able to ground out the electric fencing with dirt.

Zoe helping by balancing things on a stick 🙂

Greg built this fabulous pig house and even bought me Bard Red and white paint. I am a sucker for red barns. We don’t have enough room to actually have a barn but at least our animal houses will be my favorite colors. We are hoping to get many years of use out of it. The kids had fun playing in it…at least until it starts to stink. The house and most of the pen were completed in one day. As is often the case in this area we were being threatened with rain. All was fine until we opened the can of paint. We were expecting to get our little piggies the next day and had to get the house painted before they got in there. Thankfully, it never started raining too much so we just kept painting. It is just a pig house after all. We were able to get all the red and most of the roof painted white before having to call it quits. Unfortunately, after the rush to get this done we were not able to get the piggies. Apparently pigs are hard to come by this early in the year and the man we were getting them from had accidentally over promised and was out. Oh well. We have a great home from the ones we are scheduled to get in May.