We FINALLY got the right leaf springs for the camper and just in time for our first trip of the year. We had to have them custom built but it ended up only being $15.00 more for them so no biggie. We were worried we wouldn't get them back in time for the trip and then I was worried my husband wouldn't be able to get them on before we left. Having a camper the last couple of years has made me soft and I was NOT looking forward to tenting it. Tenting is SO much more work and our daughter wakes up several times a night in a tent. She sleeps through the night in the camper.
My husband worked his tail off and got the springs done in the nick of time.

He got it done two days before we were to leave. 

All ready to go. 

We did not get the water up and running. Of course we have more leaks where there is still old tubing. We are going to have to replace the whole thing one day but we are doing it a little at a time. A couple of the T couplers are seeping, there is a leak in the water line to the toilet and the stem on the kitchen faucet came completely off when we were testing the pressure. We also had to buy a new battery. Oh well, that is the breaks when you have an old camper. She is worth it since she was free. She traveled nice and smooth and we are as pleased as punch to call her ours. 

We headed up Ogden Utah canyon and stayed at Meadows campground. We enjoyed the campground and the hosts were great. There was plenty of room between sites, there was a lot to do in the area, the camp hosts were fabulous and the bathrooms were kept pretty clean and well supplied. 

It rained the first evening, just at dinner time, and we huddled up in the camper and taught our daughter how to play UNO. Lots of fun. 

Added a pinwheel, just because we could. 

We usually head south for Memorial weekend because it is warmer but we were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't any colder than our normal trips. In fact, we roasted the first night and hadn't even turned on the furnace. 

She isn't too pretty but she is ours and we love her. 

enjoying the campfire and finding a peace that only nature can provide.

Yay for fixing the camper........or not.

Spring is in the air and we have our first camp out scheduled. We used our tax returns to purchase a new leaf spring for $60.00. My husband got the new leaf spring hooked onto the bolts but when he went to place the axle on, it wouldn't fit! The camper's leaf springs are off set and not centered! We took the spring back but they don't make off set ones anymore. We will have to have them custom built. I hope we can do it and that we can do it for an affordable price. The camper is old and not worth putting a ton into.
When I purchased the new leaf spring I just had them scrap the old one. I got into trouble for that decision today. My husband was NOT happy because now we didn't have it to use for a guide for the custom built ones. He spent the afternoon taking the leaf spring off the other side so we can use it. We would have to eventually anyway because we are going to replace both sides.
Our first camp trip is going to have to be back in the tent. I don't mind the tent because we do have a really nice (and BIG) spring bar tent. The problem is that our daughter does not sleep well in the tent. The second problem is that we have decided to stick close to home this trip and it is cold close to home still. Luckily we do have a Big Buddy tent heater so it shouldn't be horrible. Next, it is a LOT more work to tent camp lol. We will have fun either way.

See that little bolt in the middle of the picture? That should line up under the axle on the right.

 Dang it all! Just won't line up. 

Getting ready to tear apart the other leaf spring. LOTS of work since we didn't jack the camper up nearly far enough to use the air compressor. Pure muscle. Good thing the hubs has lots of nice, big, muscles.

busted!

We took Motel 4 our for the weekend and are sad because it might be her last trip. We went up to Christmas Meadows in the Uintah's and we went on 4 miles of dirt road. Apparently it was too much for her old leaf springs because we busted one. We sure had to pull her home slowly in hopes that we wouldn't bust any more of them. Thank goodness she has a tandem axel or we would have been screwed for sure. My hubs got a bungie cord and tied the busted leaf spring to the axel and we made it home.

Now we have to make some decisions. Do we fix the leaf springs or scrap her altogether. We are leaning towards fixing her up but it will depend on how much it is going to cost. She will sit for the winter for now as we look around and make some decisions.

On another note:

We really liked Christmas Meadows and plan on going back there. It was nice and cool but the nights were not terribly cold. The stars were AMAZING. The camp host was helpful and kind and would go out of his way to make our stay pleasant. The river was pleasant for the kids to play in and had many shallow places for the little ones to enjoy. We went on a nice hike and sat around camp and relaxed a lot. It was just what we needed, despite the broken leaf spring.

Memorial Weekend camp trip

We took Motel 4 out for what we consider it's first real camping trip. We went to one of our all time favorite campsites and we haven't been able to go there in about seven years. Kings Creek, by Tropic Reservoir, near Bryce Canyon, Utah. It is one of the nicest campgrounds we have ever stayed in and there is so much to do in the area. This time we chose to do very little and it was exactly what we needed.
We were a little concerned about the drive there since we have only had our truck a couple of months and have never pulled anything with it. We had a big mountain to climb on highway 20 and were not sure how it would do. It went very well. On our way home I even drove for awhile, even through a canyon, and it was not too bad. I have never pulled a trailer before, of any kind, and wanted to be able to because you never know when it will come in handy. I would be nervous driving with a lot of traffic or backing it in but I plan on learning how to do both eventually. I think my husband was more nervous about me driving than I was. He gets nervous when I drive just his truck but I feel much more confident with our new one than I have in any other we have owned.

My sister and her hubby came along with us and we really enjoyed ourselves. It was one of the best camping trips we have had in years. The nights were pretty cold but they borrowed our tent heater and we had the comfort of the camper heater. I can not tell you how much I love the conveniences of a camper! We stayed so much warmer than we ever were in a tent. I love that we can take time to load things up, and that we can keep so much in the camper, so that the day we leave for our trip we are not totally stressed out and exhausted. We did not just throw sleeping bags over the beds and sleep in them this time. I made the beds like we would at home and they felt so much larger that way and we were more comfortable.
I was disappointed that the black water tank filled up so fast (a little more than 24 hours) especially since we were draining the gray water onto the ground and we hadn't used the toiled very much. We experimented and found that the bathroom sink drains into the black water tank and not the gray water. I don't know if all RV's do this but we quit using the bathroom sink and started washing our hands in the kitchen sink. We have not used the shower yet and are wondering if it drains into the black water or the gray. If it drains into the black water I know we won't be using it in the future unless we are fully plumbed somewhere. The black water tank is little and fills up way too fast. I am still grateful that we have that toilet in the middle of the night though.
We fired up the water heater for the first time too, so we could wash dishes, but we didn't have it on for long because it put off a weird smell under the sink. I wouldn't have noticed it accept I happened to need to get under the sink for something. We shut it off right away. We aren't sure what is going on with it but my Dad thinks we had the temperature turned up too far. We will have to test it out again and see what happens.
I am happy to report that the bunk bed held up great so I am pretty sure we have it fixed. Boo loved being able to sleep in a bunk bed. We might need to add a rail somehow though because her bedding kept falling over the side and she would get cold. I did notice that we lost a screw on the opposite side we had a problem with, on the way home so I will have to go back in and make sure everything is tight and sure. We also had a few things freeze in the fridge (boiled eggs and lettuce) so I might have to turn it down a little bit. I am so pleased that we have this new convenience and that we can enjoy it so well.
I was not sure how well it would park when we got home. It was a very tight fit backing it into it's parking space in the old truck and the new truck is longer but my hubs was able to park it better than with the old truck and we were unloaded and ready for showers very quickly. I love that the camper lowers the stress level of camping by leaps and bounds. I feel like I spend more time enjoying the trip rather than dwelling on the pain of packing and unpacking and set up and take down and how stressful and exhausting it is. Bring on the new camping season!

sanitized the fresh water tank today

We sanitized the fresh water tank and lines today and ended up with another leak. The leaks wouldn't be so bad if they were not in such tight quarters! Turns out out fittings were just not tight enough but it took a whole lot of sweat to maneuver enough to get them straightened out again. Because of the fuss that was all we managed to do.
I am sad to report the velcro is not sticking well to the wall on the top window curtains. I am not surprised though. I will prob end up nailing them in.
It seems like nothing is easy with this camper. What should have been easy stuff tends to be the most challenging. Oh well, we are learning a lot of stuff, the hard way.

curtains and cushions and making it mine

The curtains are finished all the way around, accept the tie backs, and I am very pleased with them.

This picture doesn't show them well but they do look good. As far as I can tell there have never been curtains on the top bunk. You can't put a curtain rod up because then the bunk can't be put up because it couldn't get past it. I was going to leave it that way but I know my daughter would not sleep up there without curtains because we had to make sure they were pulled exactly right when she was on the table bed last year. I had to get creative with them. I decided I would velcro them in place. I put the soft side of the velcro on the wall and the catchy side on the curtains. This way the curtain can be removed and nothing will catch on the velcro if we put the bed up.

The sticky part of the velcro may not stay stuck to the wall well so I may have to find another alternative to this. I might nail it down eventually. By changing the curtains and a few cushions I feel like I have made this camper mine, put my mark on it and made it home away from home.

We also sanitized the cushions with baking soda and orange essential oil. These cushions sucked up the baking soda like a sponge. I could not vacuum it all back out so we beat them good before putting them back together. It has helped a lot with the "funk" smell, though it is still there.
We are going to work on the camper again tomorrow and get everything ready to go on our first campout of the season. I am getting excited.

New curtains and finished table cushions

Despite my continued fight with sewing machines I was able to get it to work enough to start on curtains today. I didn't think I would get to it for awhile but my daughter is sick today. She slept off the worst of the fever for most of the day so I had time to work on a project.
This is what the cushions and curtains looked like before

This is what they look like now

I liked the pattern that was on the old curtains, very cute for a camper, but they were faded, and stained, and pink.

you can't see it well but there are little moose and other fun outdoorsy/camping prints on it.
This is the new curtain pattern. You can see it better in this picture since the light isn't directly behind it.

I have fought myself over this pattern a lot the last couple of weeks. Nothing at the fabric shop really caught my eye. I thought this one might look okay so I bought it. One minute I like it and the next I hate it. I couldn't decide if I should have the pattern this direction or sideways (like it comes off the bolt) I decided it flowed better with the pattern cascading rather than sideways. Now that I have it in the camper I decided I liked it.
I was able to get three of the windows done while Boo slept away the day. I am pretty sure I will keep her home again tomorrow so I might just finish. I don't think I have ever had this productive of a sick day before.