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.

tackling the cushion re-do

There once was a confident woman who decided she was more than capable to take on a large project, unlike any other she had ever undertaken. She knew it didn't matter that she hadn't sewn in years or that she didn't have a pattern to follow and had never sewn without one before. It didn't matter because she can do anything she sets her mind to. She is woman, hear her roar!

I decided that tonight was the night to work on the camper cushions. I took off the flowery top of one of the cushions and pinned it to the new material as my pattern piece.

 I cut them out and found I had a lot more material than I needed. I am glad I did not pay a lot for it. I was pleased with how easily it was to take the old material off and thought "I am going to be able to get this done fast." I sat down at the sewing machine I recently brought home from my Mom's. She gave me the machine because mine has been acting up. I did some mending with it a week or two and it was running great. I had just bought a heavy duty needle for it and got it installed. I got a new bobbin out and then I just sat there. I had learned how to sew on this machine but it had been so long since I had used it that I forgot how to wind the bobbin. Luckily I had grabbed the users manual and soon had the bobbin wound. I was rearing and ready to go. I got about 1/2" done when the thread jammed up. It had all bundled up and jammed and made a huge mess. I tried it a couple more times with the same results. Well crap! Now what? I really want to get this project done before Memorial weekend and without a working machine I was going to be out of luck. I had already talked to a repair man since my machine had been acting up and he said it would take about 3 weeks for a repair because he is so busy. Out of desperation I pulled my machine back into place and said a little prayer that it would play nice enough to at least get the one cushion done. I didn't have a heavy duty needle for this machine and I was about to sew several layers of vinyl. I had very little hope and at this point I was thinking to myself "See what you get yourself into when you are over confident and impatient! This project is bigger than you are. You can live with the ugly flowers, it is just a camper and no one cares what it looks like. You have not idea what you are doing and this project is beyond you." Thank goodness i am very stubborn and did not give up easily. My machine decided to play nicely and worked almost perfectly. The regular needle was up to the task and other than the stitches being a little zig-zaggy instead of straight (I have no idea why) it got the job done and no one but me is the wiser. I decided I was not pushing my luck enough so I took apart the other three cushions and sewed them up too. I didn't want to take any chances that the machine would quit running nicely another day. After 5 hours I am tired, sore, and smelly. Remind me never to sew vinyl, it is not my friend. I have never sewn vinyl before and after literally wrestling with it over and over again I have no desire to deal with it again. It is stiff and sharp and would not do anything I wanted it to. It scratched and clawed and broke my finger nails and straight pins. I have never gotten such a great workout while sewing. I need a shower and bed now. I think all the frustration was worth it though. It looks a whole lot better.

Our trailer has a bit of a funky smell to it. I don't know if it is from the bathroom, water damage, or any of several other possibilities. The funk is infused into the cushions and material so I am doing a cleaning with baking soda and wild orange essential oil. My house smells fabulous. I mix the oil with the baking soda and sprinkle onto the cushions and covers. I will leave them over night but you really only need to for an hour or two. I will vacuum the baking soda off in the morning and flip the cushions and do the other side. I hope this helps a lot.

After 5 hours I am beat but am so grateful my machine decided to play nice and that I was born with a stubborn streak (yes, it can be good sometimes). I am grateful that I am a confident woman, willing to take on something new. I am so thankful for a mother that had the patience and took the time to teach her young daughter to sew and encouraged even the mess ups, so I could have this talent that is quickly being forgotten in this modern world where it is cheaper to buy what we want already made. I am so blessed.

Spring is here

We have been working on the camper again. Spring must be in the air. It looks like it was water tight all winter, which is a big relief. The work we did last year paid off. As far as we can tell the upper bunk is fixed. My five year old and I can be up there at the same time and she has been up and down, up and down, up and down enough to drive me nuts. We started looking into foam for an upper mattress since we didn't even have an old one and I was shocked at how expensive it is! I thought the upholstery fabric would be the most expensive thing on the to-do list this spring but I was probably wrong. Luckily we found some 3" foam at home depot for 19.99 each peace and it took two pieces of it. 3" foam is not what I was looking for but it should be sufficient for our daughter. We have been sleeping on 4" and that works for a night or two. Maybe in the future, when we are rich, we can get a thicker mattress, though I don't know if we could turn it into a couch with a bed that thick.
I have been browsing around for some upholstery I like because I need to re-do the beds and table cushions. I fell in love with this fabric that I found at www.hancockfabric.com. Isn't it perfect for a camper! It was even on sale for 25.99 a yard.

Unfortunately at 25.99 a yard it would cost me much, much, much more than I can afford since I need approx 17 yards of it. I looked around some more and had decided the beds would have to wait, which is okay since they are usually covered in bedding and no one can see what bad of shape they are in anyway. I decided to go to the local Hancock Fabrics store and see if they stocked this fabric and I would just get the 4 yards I need for the table cushions. I only need to replace one side of these cushions since the red vinyl on the sides and back is still in good shape. I decided it would be worth the money to do this much. Unfortunately  they did not stock this one and I didn't feel like ordering it on-line. I did not see any other fabrics that caught my eye. I had given up and turned to leave when a remnant table caught my eye. There were no prices on anything but one pattern caught my eye. It wasn't anything like what I was looking for but it was neutral colors and I knew I could do what I wanted with it. I was also concerned there wasn't enough of it. I found an employee and asked about the fabric. I was excited when she said it was only 6.00 a yard and that there was 5 1/2 yards of it. I bought all of it for just over 30.00! WOO HOO!!! What a great bargain.
This is what I got.

This isn't a very good picture of it and doesn't do it justice but it will certainly work for what I want.
I will go back another day and see if I can find something cheap for the beds. They apparently often have red tag sales of prints they will no longer be making for as low as 7.00 a yard. That would be affordable and it won't have to be anything too fancy because it will usually be covered up anyway.

Because foam is so stinking expensive I am going to see what I can do with the foam we already have. I was playing on pinterest last week and found a way to freshen up old foam with baking soda and a vinegar spritz. I will also add some essential oils, prob lemon, to help with bacteria and/or odors. The camper has a bit of a funky smell to it and I am hoping this will help out a ton. Now I can't wait until I can make some time to do some sewing. I am also looking for some cute camping curtain material so I can get those replaced too. I like the pattern that is currently in there but they are hammered and faded and need to be replaced.

We are planning our first camping trip for Memorial weekend and can't wait until we can get it out and use it again. I sure hope the new truck will handle it just fine (which it should it is 8 years newer than our old one) and that we can park it again once we get home. The new truck is longer than the old one and it was a tight fit before. Hubby is confident he can make it work. I also have a goal to actually tow the camper on the open road this year. I have never hauled a trailer of any sort and rarely drive the truck. I want to be able to do it though. Once I am comfortable with that I want to learn how back it up and park it. I am so nervous about it. I am not the best driver and I am even worse at backing up, I can't do it straight.

Bring on camping season!!!!