Some of you have seen my previous Facebook posts but for those who missed it, here are the photos and details!
Nate has finished a story (YAY!!!) and we plan to publish it VERY soon (more on that later!). When he does publish we want to take the show on the road, so-to-speak. We plan to go to all kinds of conventions and do lots of face-to-face to promote his book.
I know, some of you are not world travelers and this sound exhausting. Trust me, I am a little overwhelmed sometimes at the thoughts of a whole year in 120 square feet of living space with 2 adults that really enjoy the "alone time" we squeeze in as it is, plus 2 rambunctious boys! Some of you are thinking, "Just take a plane!" But here are some issues I have with that...
1. I am a very jealous Goddess. I like my time with my man. I like to think he likes his time with me just as much. We both love our boys. Being apart so much is almost too scary. I just don't think it would be fair for others to see him more than me :)
2.I am a very jealous Goddess. I like to see the world too. Why should sexy author man have all the fun? I helped too. I love meeting new people and telling my stories and the idea of showing my children many amazing historical sites, nature's wonders, educational museums and experiences! I have planned to homeschool them since they were born anyway, so this just makes homeschool even more fun!
3. This has nothing to do with jealousy. I want my children to learn, it isn't the stuff you live with, it's how you LIVE. What really is a NEED? I want to show them by example, what we are willing to sacrifice for a dream. I want to feel the family unity of working together toward a goal. I want to support my sexy author man 110%!
I have done the math. Nate won't be making a lot in the beginning. We won't be able to afford airplanes and hotels on top of our primary living expenses. We can save on a lot by going this route.
4. I want to show Destiny the difference she made in our family. We are going to face life fearlessly, head on, and do what we were meant to! We can't wait around and wait for anyone else to make it happen anymore.
So
I've been doing a lot of research.
And thinking (dangerous, yeah we all know.)
And planning.
And starting over again.
And this is how far we have come:
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| We bought this 1971 Terry travel trailer/camper toward the end of 2013 with plans in mind to make it our new mobile "home." |
It was on consignment at a local dealership. The thing was cheap and marked "AS IS" because the previous owner had big dreams and had partially started what they wanted to do... But then they were diagnosed with cancer. Apparently, our purchase was going to help them afford to fly down to be with family while they got treatment. WIN WIN.
As I started gutting it and making floor plans I realized a few things... The windows were in all the wrong spots for the arrangement we would want/need, the wiring an plumbing were not something I had the confidence to do on my own and the entire exterior needed to be replaced to provide better everything, which I also did not have this know how or tools to do... It really wasn't badly damaged, just the inefficient design of the original build.
At $85 an hour labor, plus materials, all of that was going to cost a pretty penny I had not anticipated. But I was not about to let the $750 we spent on the project go to waste. Nate and I decided since we were going to need some storage for all the stuff that wouldn't go on the road with us, we would put a water proof cover on the "project" and build shelves inside for easier access to all the totes (something I have wanted for AWHILE). This storage trailer also save us the cost of buying a shed, which would have been horribly immobile in the case of a move anyway.
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I removed the ugly black curtains that had possessed a lot of the windows but decided to keep these 70s floral curtain that still had some measure of dignity.
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It appeared that the original cushions from the 70's still occupied the camper, years of dust and who knows who having slept on them. I threw them out and my mother repurposed the ones that weren't torn for outdoor seating. The brown leafy pattern just didn't work anyway.
Brown. Brown. BROWN.
I don't really have a problem with brown but sometimes.... I have a problem with brown.
Like when it's the only color as far as the eye can see...
There were brown cushions, come to think of it, the black curtains may have actually been dark dark brown, the brown hardware (which, by itself, I actually like, and will sell), the brown wood grain panel walls, the brown cabinetry with wood grain facing... Bye bye brown.
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| I started the real demolition just inside the door and began working my way around. Here, there was an "L" shaped booth with a table. GONE now, mwa-ha-ha! The table had adjustable legs for supposedly making a sleeping area but one of the legs was rusted so it was a LOT of work to "make the bed." Besides, the table had really rough, unfinished edges that were sure to poke people (Facebook was past it's time). At the top of this photo you can see the green curtains (1 day of labor) I used to replace the black ones. Much more complimentary to the floor, don't you think?! Above that window there was also some cabinetry, which I removed to make room for our storage totes, but I kept the materials to be repurposed. (3 days of work) |
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| Next, I tore out the bench at the front end of the trailer. There was a pull out for turning the sofa into a full sized bed. In the bottom of this photo there are some things on the floor, a black water tank which will be sold, and all the old drawers which I used to hold a lot of the stuff I salvaged in during demolition. Above the bay of windows here, there is a shelf that was used as a bunk bed but it will be used for storage, so I'm leaving it there. (1 day of work) |
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| Here, I have a before-and-after treat for you! Above is the kitchen that was. Below the kitchen is no more. TA-DA! (2 days of work) |
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| There was also cabinetry above the kitchen window. The kitchen sink, stove and range will be sold. The fridge and two heaters in this photo disappear in another photo, hehehe :) |
Secretly, (shh, don't tell!) I went out of order and removed the toilet, sink and mirror (seen above, will be sold) from the restroom before I removed the kitchen because I needed somewhere to stack all the salvaged materials (seen below)... But for the sake of keeping you all oriented as we work our way around the trailer, I'm telling you now... I did it.
So, now I have all the salvaged stuff in the restroom, I went around and pulled out the closet with built in drawers (see below) as well as a storage space that was accessible from outside the trailer...
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| So pwetty! Ok, not really, but better than it was... (1 day of work) |
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| At last, demolition is DONE! The restroom walls came down, the fridge and two heaters (one for air, one for water) removed! (1 LONG day of work, could count as 2) Now the fun of building shelves can begin. I'm going to be using reclaimed pallet wood to build the shelves as soon as I can pick up some free pallets. |
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| Here's she is, 1971, all dressed up and nowhere to go :) (Installing the cover took another day of work to tape all the sharp corners before climbing up and over, tie it down and all that fun stuff) |
I will try to keep you all posted as the progress continues.
Well, we still need a home for the road, right? Our tax return was coming in February and we wanted to have a plan. So, we went back to the dealer....
I spent a good deal of time talking with the owner about everything under the sun (literally) I wanted in our home with wheels:
Skylights (we thrive on sunshine),
Solar power (I already bought the panels),
Electric appliances for food cooking and preservation (which would be easy to replace if need be),
Separate sleeping quarters for the boys,
Water,
No wheel-wells to have to build around,
ETC...
He suggested we custom order a trailer. WHAT?! Our tax return isn't THAT big! No, really...
We custom ordered a utility trailer with windows, the electrical outlets, the lights in the location we wanted, and a camper door. We ordered a good sized water tank which we could mount ourselves.
We've bought a fair number of other things we will have to install ourselves but I will post all the new trailer stuff in another post!
I will also share some other blogs or sites I have found from fellow full time RV living people. Apparently, there are quite a few.
