The carpet was BEIGE!!! Who puts light-colored, sculptured carpeting in a vehicle that is designed to camp in dirt and woods?!? It was old; it was pretty much un-cleanable; and it was time for it to go!
[Ken 06/01/2015] Putting new carpeting in a motorhome is a pretty big project, it turns out. The first part of the project is to remove all of the furniture -- a task easier said than done since [for obvious reasons] everything in a motorhome is bolted to the floor. The desk, couch, dinette, the driver's and passenger seats all had to be removed and stored. Not to mention countless brackets, panels and grab bars that are also attached to the floor in some manner.
Deb took advantage of the furniture-less motorhome to repaint the living room. What we had was a splotchy tan and sea foam wall paper. In the end, Deb painted a base coat (actually the same color that we used when we repainted Surrey for the last time). She sponged over the base coat with a dark tan that was a perfect match to the new carpeting. On top of the sponging, she placed random, multi-sized circles of paint in black, burgundy, and sage. The colors match all of the furniture in the coach and the circles match the bubble theme we added in previous years.
Deb took advantage of the furniture-less motorhome to repaint the living room. What we had was a splotchy tan and sea foam wall paper. In the end, Deb painted a base coat (actually the same color that we used when we repainted Surrey for the last time). She sponged over the base coat with a dark tan that was a perfect match to the new carpeting. On top of the sponging, she placed random, multi-sized circles of paint in black, burgundy, and sage. The colors match all of the furniture in the coach and the circles match the bubble theme we added in previous years.
It took two full days for the five carpet installers to finish the 440 square foot space. They described it as more of an upholstery project than a carpeting job because there were so many small pieces that needed to be tucked and glued and wrapped in order to cover all the nooks-and-crannies in the floor. In the end, there were ten tired knees and a terrific carpet install that has finally finished off the interior of our rolling home. WooHoo ... it looks great!!! Winnebago would be proud of our exciting updates to their grandma's parlor OEM color scheme.
reason to smile
[Ken 06/08/2015] "Oops...." That's what Mallory, our daughter said when she heard about my first "fender bender" in the Winnebago. I was pulling out of the driveway, of all things. Trying to navigate around the TrailHawk parked at the wide spot in the driveway, and while pulling the Wrangler, I cut the turn onto Surrey wider than usual. I've never heard the sound of tearing fiberglass before. It is a terrible sound.
The tail swing on a motorhome is significant. There is almost ten feet of motorhome hanging behind the rear wheels. As I turned left, the tail swung quickly to the right, and clipped a wood post near the street at the front of our lot.
The old wooden post "just" caught the bottom of the fiberglass rear cap and pulled it free from the motorhome. And that post just wasn't gonna move out of the way. Unfortunately, the fiberglass at the bottom cracked,as did the top corner from where the whole rear cap assembly actually hangs. Needs to be removed, replaced and re-painted. Ugh. My first ding in Faith -- and it is a big one. A REALLY bad day for Ken!
The tail swing on a motorhome is significant. There is almost ten feet of motorhome hanging behind the rear wheels. As I turned left, the tail swung quickly to the right, and clipped a wood post near the street at the front of our lot.
The old wooden post "just" caught the bottom of the fiberglass rear cap and pulled it free from the motorhome. And that post just wasn't gonna move out of the way. Unfortunately, the fiberglass at the bottom cracked,as did the top corner from where the whole rear cap assembly actually hangs. Needs to be removed, replaced and re-painted. Ugh. My first ding in Faith -- and it is a big one. A REALLY bad day for Ken!
But you know what? It's going to be OK. We will get it back in a month or so and it will be as good as new. We are still meeting our goal to get the house ready to sell and retire (Deb has only THREE more Mondays, WooHoo!). And we will still be able to embark on our Adventure in Faith as scheduled. The broken rear cap is a small set-back -- but those kinds of things are gonna happen. The way we deal with them is what matters. I still look forward with GREAT EXCITEMENT about the way that the Lord will be able to use us in the years to come, broken rear cap and all. And that is a reason to smile!
And, yes. He is still teaching me things about Faith!
And, yes. He is still teaching me things about Faith!
finale flag day
at surrey drive
[Ken 06/14/2015] Family home for 25 years; from 4 July 1990 to 4 July 2015. What a great place to raise a family!
(HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!)
(HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!)
camping with dad
[Ken 06/21/2015, Fathers Day] I think of my father every time I drive our motorhome up and over a scenic brow. He would be in his 90th year now. My father passed away far too young (IMO) from congestive heart failure; it was July 21, 2000. This was the last photo-graph taken of us together (about a month before he passed). In this picture, he believed that he was spending time "at camp" when, in reality, he was recovering in the nursing home.
My father inspired in me with the irresistible and undeniable urge to camp, travel, and explore our country by hi-way. As a child, my family started camping in a large 8x16' wall tent, the "El Dorado" (I think I was about 8 years old when we set up that monster for the first time). Dad made a HUGE camp kitchen for it (featuring cast iron cookware). Things were definitely big and heavy back in those days. We would drive as far as $25.00 would get us, and set up camp. We used another $25 to get back home. Twenty-five dollars goes a long way in providing fuel in the relative flat mid-west of the 1960s.
My father inspired in me with the irresistible and undeniable urge to camp, travel, and explore our country by hi-way. As a child, my family started camping in a large 8x16' wall tent, the "El Dorado" (I think I was about 8 years old when we set up that monster for the first time). Dad made a HUGE camp kitchen for it (featuring cast iron cookware). Things were definitely big and heavy back in those days. We would drive as far as $25.00 would get us, and set up camp. We used another $25 to get back home. Twenty-five dollars goes a long way in providing fuel in the relative flat mid-west of the 1960s.
A handful of years later my dad came home one night pulling an Apache pop-up trailer. It was quite the fancy trailer because it had mattresses, a hard roof, and a linoleum floor (but that is about all it had). Us kids called it the "A-Pace" because the "H" eventually fell off the back. We liked it because it was a lot easier/faster to set up in the rain than a gigantic wall tent.
While all of us kids had scheduled, sequenced responsibilities when it came to setting up the El Dorado, it only took two of us to set up the "A-Pace." I liked to be the one to crank up the top! And when you cranked up the top the beds popped out of both ends. It was the coolest thing! And it didn't smell like mold!
Our family eventually migrated up to a couple pick-up truck campers. But by that time I was distracted by cars, a job, and girls; I was almost through High School. I really did not camp much with the family in the truck campers (though I recall my father bringing the smaller one on Boy Scout camp outs several times -- I was never invited to sleep in it).
While all of us kids had scheduled, sequenced responsibilities when it came to setting up the El Dorado, it only took two of us to set up the "A-Pace." I liked to be the one to crank up the top! And when you cranked up the top the beds popped out of both ends. It was the coolest thing! And it didn't smell like mold!
Our family eventually migrated up to a couple pick-up truck campers. But by that time I was distracted by cars, a job, and girls; I was almost through High School. I really did not camp much with the family in the truck campers (though I recall my father bringing the smaller one on Boy Scout camp outs several times -- I was never invited to sleep in it).
I blame my father for my love of travel. And he taught me about RVing long before RVing was popular. In a way, though he was not alive at the time, he contributed to our inspiration to purchase a motorhome. There is a bit of irony here, since he cursed being stuck in traffic behind any kind of over-sized RV. I think that is why my brothers and sister do not agree with me on this: I believe my father would have really liked traveling in our motorhome. It is not hard for me to imagine him sitting in the passenger seat with a "tall, cold one," a strategically re-folded road map, and a movie camera hopefully poised and "...pointed over the next brow...."
I missed the opportunity to ever have a chance to camp with him again. Or to have the grand kids go on a camping trip with him. There were lots of states between us and time always passes too quickly; I guess I never thought it was important enough. And then he had "the" stroke -- he never recovered, and eventually passed. A far cry from camping, his last activity with his two grandsons was his funeral, where the two boys were presented his naval ceremony flag.
I'm sorry that we never got the chance to go camping again, dad ... I know that me, you, and the kids would have had a great time RVing together.
I missed the opportunity to ever have a chance to camp with him again. Or to have the grand kids go on a camping trip with him. There were lots of states between us and time always passes too quickly; I guess I never thought it was important enough. And then he had "the" stroke -- he never recovered, and eventually passed. A far cry from camping, his last activity with his two grandsons was his funeral, where the two boys were presented his naval ceremony flag.
I'm sorry that we never got the chance to go camping again, dad ... I know that me, you, and the kids would have had a great time RVing together.
