Lake Nacimiento Camping

Grandpa Unit

El Cap Campgrounds- Aug 26-28, 2011

Santa Ynez pre-fail

Champer Fail

Tried to go to Santa Ynez area today. Crowded, closed, and lots of flies. Total fail. We went to Butterfly Beach in the Champer instead, met some friends, and it ended up working out. All things considered, it was probably a good experience to take it up the pass today, and also bring it back down the pass. Low gears work great, brakes work great.

Banksy champer

Now a Travel Blog

Since the Champer is complete, this blog will now focus more on our travels in it. Maybe I'll get a nose job.

Trailer Hitch Fix

I first Sawed the Aluminum Cast to fit on the existing broken hitch. After realizing it was going to be a close fit, I grinded down both the hitch and the cast. I spent a good 30 minutes banging it into place, with each hit making me feel a little more unnerved that I was not going to be able to get the cast off, so this better work. Finally got it on.

The next step was to drill new holes, since the holes in the aluminum and on the hitch didn't meet up. After finishing that, it was an easy install of the cargo carrier onto fixed hitch.

!!!!!Tentative Completion of Renovation!!!!!

As of last Friday, the Champer is "camp-able" We set a hard deadline of August 5th, and worked hard to get everything in line that needed to be. A list:

1) Both MaxxAir Vent Lids installed
2) Kitchen "tile" glued down (reminder to glue on the corner piece)
3) Cargo Carrier put together
4) Trailer Hitch Fixed with a metal cast, a huge drill bit, and some serious hammering (sorry neighbors). Pictures to follow.

New Ladder Conquered- No thanks to the instructions!

Mangled Ladder- Gone

Name Change

Beatrice was forced. We're just going to call it what Owen, and now his parents, call it; Champer!

Saving hardest (or at least most annoying) for last

I've been dreading this part of the renovation. Since the inception of this great idea (to renovate a camper), I've run into little roadblocks that, rather than being fixed at the time, were shelved for a later date. This is that later date.

In order of annoyance (highest to lowest)
- Fake tile on the kitchen and bath counter. This one is a real problem, because I can't get the tile to stay in certain areas.
- Trailer hitch- no comment necessary
- Real lid over the main vent. Currently, there is a pizza box covered by black plastic trash bag and duct tape.
- Going over the waterproofing (front and back)
- Ladder
- Nailing waterproff vinyl below the soft spot fix

Lots of little annoying things completed today.

Futon Mattress Complete, Barrel Chair Seat Cover Almost Done!

First cushion done, with new material

One pricey swivel chair!

The swivel chair that normally sits next to the door in the camper (you can actually see it in the title picture as you look in the door) is going to be reupholstered with the same fabric as the bed. This is the one thing we were not going to do ourselves. Unfortunately, the quote I got for the chair to be reupholsterd was for $650. 6 hours of labor at $100 an hour. What upholsterer charges $100 an hour?

So, it looks like necessity truly is the mother of invention. And in this case, invention is me learning to reupholster a chair. Or, at minimum, just sewing a chair cover.

Drapes