Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Home Away From Home - 2004




Having been tent campers for many years, starting in a tent, trying out a pickup camper, and renting a mini motor home for one trip,  then owning a very small pull camper trailer, as we got older we begin to look at a larger unit.   After looking at various RV’s for a couple of years, we seen a new 2003, 31.5 ft. 5th wheel sitting on a lot not too far from where we live, ask the salesman to show it to us and the minute we walked in the door we both felt at home.   This was early in 2004 and we haven’t looked back since.
Agreeing on a final price, having a 5th wheel hitch installed in the pickup, and bringing it home, we made it really ours.....  First thing I did was take out all of the fancy silk curtains and flowered bedspread,  then replaced them with a more toned down country look.  Cute cotton plaid curtains, some bright sofa pillows and a plain tufted spread.   (you can take the campers out of the tent, but you can’t take the tent look out of the campers!   Jim spent hours getting to know where everything was, loading it with his tools and other items we knew we would need.   We had mirror extenders put on, and installed a rear view camera.  It was scary at first pulling that 32 ft. monster behind us while traveling down the highway, but Jim had experience driving trucks with trailers before and I soon got used to riding along as the swamper.
We’ve added more extra touches to our camper in the years since, we bought a generator for when we have the need to camp without any elect. hookups, and Jim built a rack on the back so it would have a place to ride.   We put a new flat screen television in it so when we’re gone from home for long periods of time and want to keep up with the news or watch movies in the evenings it’s a nice addition.  Behind the tv we built a bar so bottles would have a place to ride without breaking, we added a pull up counter table, we added a night stand, and have made smaller changes like a desk drawer, hat & towel hooks, and a magnet board to hold all of the magnets we collect on our travels.
This really is our “home away from home”.   I’ve fixed wonderful meals in the kitchen and on the portable grill we carry with us, and entertained a lot of people many times.   We’ve enjoyed every trip we’ve taken in it and it and it has allowed us to see parts of the world we otherwise would not have been able to visit. The great experiences we’ve had cannot all be listed here but I hope you enjoy some of them.








The Dinette area directly across from
the kitchen





It’s a bit difficult to take pictures of the inside as it’s such a small area but hopefully this will give you an idea of what it looks like beyond our backdoor of our home and inside the front door of our camper.




Towell Hook and rocks on the wall beside the fridge
I'm standing at the kitchen sink and the door
is directly across to the right of the fridge


Looking from the living room towards the kitchen and
bedroom.  The door is on the right, the living room,
couch, tv & recliners and desk area is to this end.





This is the bedroom looking toward the very front
where the closet is.  There is  also a shower and
vanity to this side of the bed with a stool room
across from it.  Steps lead down into the kitchen




Standing in the back looking at the desk, the tv
and our magnet wall which is covered with magnets
from all the places we've been
Looking from the kitchen towards the back
of the camper.....dinette, couch
and recliners in the back






Standing in the kitchen you can see the tv area
and desk.  The tv is on a hinge which allows
it to turn towards the couch and recliners in the back.




Close up of the bar area behind the tv
with bottle and wine racks




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