Maiden Voyage

Mission Mountains, Montana

The maiden voyage was a great success.

Here we are, all set up at Lake Alva Campground. We kept a list of things to make/get/improve for next time. It is a pretty short list because things went great!

FYI here is a close up of the "stepper" David made:

Made with some materials left over from the renovation, plus a door mat on top. AND the lid lifts up to reveal storage for the levelers and a level for the set up process.

Here is some built in organization David did. Those are the awning poles and a pulley (for when a person has to set up the awning alone). I sewed the bag out of leftover awning fabric to hold the tent stakes and guy line.

Magazine rack for maps and books etc. And notice the little tv (nights are long here in late autumn and early spring!)

The kitchen worked great.

The bed was cozy.

We hiked up to Cold Lakes (Upper and Lower) on Saturday.  We probably never would have done this hike unless we were camped nearby; it is a 2 hour drive from Missoula and usually if we are going to drive that far we would go on a longer hike (this was about 6 miles round trip). It was a perfect day hike, uncrowded, good for swimming, beautiful. Huckleberries.  

No real problems! We can't wait to take it out again.

Awning is complete

This is a follow up to my previous post, which has a lot of instructions about making an awning. Instructions I gleaned from other sources.  Glad to report that it is finished.

 Here is how it went down.

I had a lot of help with this, as you can see. Natalie and Miles were there constantly to make sure everything went well. Also helpful: someone on the Tin Can Tourist FB page who mentioned the half off awning fabric sale at JoAnn- it was quite a score. Thanks. 

David made the template for the scallops, which was really helpful.  He traced the edge of a plate in such a way that he got exactly 3 scallops per pattern repeat.  It turned out really well- the only challenging thing about the scallops was that it is hard to get the bias tape all the way up into the "corner" between the scallops.  If I were to do another awning, I would use this kind of profile:

It would be easier to sew on the binding tape.  I heard on FB that Sailrite.com has a special bias tape that is easier to work with than regular bias tape. That is the company that makes (or at least sells) the Keder line.

The completed awning is 75" by 60".  We put it on the camper and it looks great. However I forgot to take a picture, so it's almost like it didn't happen.  We have tent poles that we got on eBay for a few dollars.  David made a rack inside the camper closet to hold the poles and the stakes and pulley.  I'll sew a bag to keep the awning in for storage.  What else?  For the most part I followed the ThisMontanaLife.com instructions.  A few changes (I will also note this on the previous post):

* I didn't encase the side seams in bias tape.

* Instead I used the French seam plus a welt stich to make it more rigid and strong.

*I added a grommet on the last scallop on the left hand side (closest to the camper when mounted) that can be used for the pull rope when putting the awning in place.

Can I just say that the hardest part of this whole project was putting in the grommets?  I spent so much time bonding with the awning and taking care of it, nurturing it to reach its destiny. And the final step is to cut holes in it and then hit it with a hammer. Ouch.  Of course it turned out fine.

More progress- bed and fridge

Here's a nice shot of the Master Bedroom, in progress! David built new framing for the new bed 

(he used 1x3s because it is planned for 1/2" plywood... always thinking of keeping the trailer light).

As in other parts of the camper, this project resulted in a more structurally sound and happier camper.  

Plus, look at the beautiful colors and the lovely scroll work below the bed.  Look at the pretty white ceiling panel! Notice the storage cabinet for seldom-accessed things, 

behind a cubby for stowing frequently-accessed things. 

As a reminder, here is a BEFORE photo. Kind of dark.

And here was the demo phase, wherein we discovered extra water damage and had to do more framing than originally anticipated.  We replaced that batt insulation with rigid insulation.

Speaking of batt insulation, David also spiffed up the ice box.  It was formerly insulated with about 1/4" of fiberglass insulation and some cardboard.  I think that was just to hold the fiberglass in place.  After cleaning the ice box, David caulked or possible "Great Stuff-ed" the gaps around various parts of the ice box, and now it fits so well in its little wall space.

Here's a picture FROM the bedroom:

Time to make the awning

Things are coming together for the awning. I'm going to sew it. Big thanks to This Montana Life for posting a detailed step by tuturorial. Here it is.  The author also makes custom awnings, and you can find out more about that at www.theawninglady.com.

In the tutorial she describes making her own keder rope (which gets sewn to the awning, and then run through the awning rail to connect the camper. But on the other webpage she says she uses keder rope bead.  So I emailed her since she seems very friendly and interesting, and is a fellow Montanan.

We got the fabric at Joann's, on sale thanks to a tip off from someone at Tin Can Tourists. 

It's Monteserra Sangria, I believe (photos forthcoming). 

Here are some keder rope sites, I'm putting them here so I don't lose them.

http://www.sailrite.com/Keder-Awning-Rope-Tape

Well that's the main one I found that I like, I enjoy the YouTube videos. If anyone knows other sources or products let me know.  Thanks.  Here we go. (Just as soon as my fabric comes in the mail).

Update:
This is a helpful video about how to do a rope and pulley system to make the installation easier.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00AFXao-k4I

Another update:

I varied slightly from the instructions at ThisMontanalife.com

* I didn't encase the side seams in bias tape.

* Instead I used the French seam plus a welt stich to make it more rigid and strong.

* I purchased keder rope from Sailrite.com, and it turns out that is what the author of the aforementioned blog uses also. She told me she doesn't make her own anymore.

*I added a grommet on the last scallop on the left hand side (closest to the camper when mounted) that can be used for the pull rope when putting the awning in place.

Happening fast- water and propane

Things are happening so quickly that I have fallen behind on the blogging.  Why so fast? Probably because Miles the Wonder Dog is so incredibly helpful.  Here he is helping David:

 This was around the time David finished setting up the new water tank with an on-demand pump. 

Here it is:

It's a 16 gallon tank, all new lines (made out of pex so they won't rust or corrode). It is set up with a 12v on-demand pump (you can see it in the upper right hand corner), to which David connected on/off switch near the sink, just so the pump doesn't run all the time (if there is a leak or something, which hopefully there won't be).  This whole thing sits under one of the dinette benches, and now has a spiffy hinged lid for easy access.  We also have a new water inlet, so it can be filled easily from outside.  Huzzah.

In this picture, the water tank is on the side that is further away.  Check out the good-looking venting under the dinette bench- one by the water tank so it can get heat (and not freeze) and one near the central wiring area so the battery and everything can ventilate a bit. Plus it just looks cool.

David also did a lot of work for the propane system.  This is serious business, you can bet that Miles was there paying attention to every single detail.

 Nothing escapes his attention, as you can see.

David re-plumbed the camper's propane delivery pipes using 3/8" black iron pipe to replace the kinked copper pipes.  Honestly, Miles was not helpful at all for this phase.

After getting that set up, we tested the stove top (works great), the propane heater (works great) and the oven (doesn't work...yet)

Some photos from appliance day.

Such a cute oven. Do other people use their ovens? We have read that most people just use the stove top.

Here is the inside:

Kind of taken apart to figure out what is wrong.  Here's the problem:

After talking with the nice folks at Rangitsch Brothers RV in Missoula, we think this is the pilot light supply line.  (David actually talked to them, so sorry if I got that wrong, sweetie).

And here is the trusty Hydro Flame furnace. And some long reach matches. Why matches? Because there are no lighters that are not made in China, and we are on a year project of buying nothing from China.

The instructions look they were just printed yesterday.

I think that is it for this post.