Practice for the upcoming camping trip

MARSHMALLOW GOODNESS

The secret to a great marshmallow is LAYERS of crunch. Kimberly roasts a fine marshmallow under any and all conditions... electric burner, coals, flames etc. and I can build a 'mallow with the best of 'em. Anyway we thought that we would show you our twist on a classic.

Roast like any other and then slide the crispy shell right off.

 

Re-roast the mallow insides and let the shell slide off once again. Then shape the smaller shell to fit into the larger shell. Use a small spoon to push through the gooeyness and make room for the final crispy layer.

Re-roast the insides as before and then shove the whole thing into the cavity. I like to spread the goo around with my spoon on the top. Graham cracker crumbs between the layers and Mr. Goodbar pieces in the middle.... you know where I'm going with this.

Comfortable Surroundings

Thanks to all the help from my dad, the camping trailer rebuild is moving fast.  We may not be finished with all the details by our June 16th camping trip, but I am sure the Santa Fe will be in usable condition by then.

Kimberly cut and installed the foam insulation. She was fighting the flu but just kept trooping right along until she had the rig tight as a drum. After the insulation was installed, all of the wiring was taped into place and blocks of wood were cut in above the back window to serve as anchors for the overhead cabinets. On each side of the back window there is a piece of lumber temporarily screwed in to act as a cleat when we force the ceiling panel into the curve.

The ceiling panels went up like a dream. We used 3M 'Spray 90' to make sure the sheets stay put. We chose a honey maple color and plan to face the cabinetry and furniture with black Formica. We are thinking of doing all of the hardware and window trim in nickel.

The order of operations for the past two days has been, make cardboard template, transfer to wall panel, glue everything up, and tack it into place.

Areas that will not be visible were covered in 3/16" Lauan paneling. It is like super thick interior door skins. It is cheaper and thicker than paneling and you don't have to worry about the finish wearing off in the storage areas.

Here comes a plug for the best tool on earth. This little vibrating wonder cuts through anything with precision. There are about a dozen different makers and seems like more brands of this tool pop up every day. This unit is the Harbor Freight and Tool (Chicago Electric) $40 model with some better quality cutting attachments purchased at Lowe's or Home Depot. The attachments seem to be universal. I broke a lot of bones and had at least a dozen casts in my youth and remember them using the same tool to remove my casts over 30 years ago. Why did it take so long to hit the home improvement industry!!! Anyway, all of the windows were cut into the panels after installation by following the frame. Most notches and adjustments were made in tight areas without removing the work. Get one today... hehe

We will leave you with a shot of the newly painted, albeit already dirty step. We saw some grip tape with a reflector strip hanging on an aisle at the home improvement store and decided it would probably save us from a bummed up shin some late, wet night. The step is like brandnew.

Until next time,

Progressing Nicely

We have been working on our little 1967 Santa Fe Cub just about every day since I last posted. There were a couple of days of rain that delayed progress and in one case even caused us do redo work ruined by the rain. The work during the last 10 days has been tedious. A lot of time has been spent discussing the best way things could be done. My dad has a lot of input, he has owned and repaired his RVs for some 35 years. Our goal is to have our trailer ready for a camping trip on the 16th of June.

 

We had started to reconstruct the front end of the trailer the last time I posted. We ended up taking the front end off the next day so that we could run the electrical and place the floor more easily.

The wiring harness was originally a round 4 pin plug. We changed to a standard 7 pin plug. I purchased a new trailer side plug that was molded with 8 feet of wiring. My dad retrieved his electrical tool belt from the truck and got to work. I understand it now, but it sounded like a bowl of spaghetti when he was explaining it to me. Basically the wire from the plug goes to a junction box and every thing is connected in the box. We ran the wiring under the frame, instead of through the walls. Easier to get to if there is a problem. You will also notice 3 new pieces of lumber to support the floor.

We decided to use 5/8" exterior ply board of the floor. The cut out for the wheel well was lined with window flashing tape. The tape is gooey pitch on a foiled plastic liner. The normal RV putty was then sandwiched between the well and the floor. The well is attached from the bottom. I found enough Under Belly liner at www.RVdoctorGeorge.com to take care of sealing her up good and tight. I am sparing nothing to ward off future damage from water and critters. We only breached the protective barrier in one spot to bring in the 12v power. On the side, RV Doctor George is located on El Camino behind Pan Pacific. If you live in the area and need a used piece of anything RV, it can be found here. It is a fun place to wander around.

After the floor was laid we put the front end back on. The window still needs to be framed in and cut out of the hardboard. We used the white enameled sheets.

My dad wired up the 12 volt system and the 120v as well. I found a fuse board out of an old converter at the RV wrecking yard, so the 12v system will have up to 9 fuses available. The breaker box and fuse board is temporarily connected to the wall until we put the panelling up. A small amount of wiring will be contained in the ceiling and the the rest is all inside the cabinets. Easy access for changes and no chance of putting a staple through a wire in the wall.

You will want to click on these two pictures to get the larger versions. After a lot of discussion, my dad tapered a 2" piece of lumber down to 5/8" at each end, then attached it to the side of the existing rib. The ceiling is the same height inside,but gains a nice water shedding, taught shape on the out side. Every piece we put up made it better. Originally there were only 3 ribs going across and several "floating ribs that were just glued to the ceiling. We ended up with seven "engineered" ribs spanning the roof.

Turning the yard into a sandbox. Lou's sandblaster makes easy work of stripping the rust and gunk from the steps. The steps work smoothly now. A coat or Rustoleum and they will be good as new. I will strip down the tongue of the trailer with the sandblaster as well.

We wanted to insulate the travel trailer and thought that foam might be the easiest. I was a little worried that it would not form nicely in the curves, but it went in like a champion. Hopefully the foam will help protect us from extreme temps and give us a little quieter environment. It feels great to see some progress on the interior of the rig.

Until next time...