Motorhome Modification, a New Camper, and Outta A Slump

Slump.   Blah.

I have been in a slump on my blog lately... since we got back from our trip ---  and then back from 2 weeks of camphosting, I have not gotten as many blog posts done as I want to.  It's not like I don't have anything to write about.  I have lots of ideas each day.  I have lots of stuff happening.  Gosh knows, I take enough pictures!

Sooo kicking myself in the butt and going to post each night.  Even if it's fiber stuff, dogs stuff, grandtots stuff, or camping stuff.  I know most of my readers are RVers and enjoy the motorhome modifications and repairs.   Sooo I will hop back on the horse with that.


A while back, while on vacation, we decided to mount our flat screen tv from the overhead cabinets directly across from the loveseat.  We bought a bracket from Lowe's and put it up while camping. It made sense and free'd up the little round table that it sat on when parked.  Also it free'd up having to lay the tv on the bed each time we drove.  Now it just hangs there and looks pretty!

(how we used to do it) )                                 (how we have it now) 

 And now the little round table can go back by my side of the loveseat!

Now this leads us to why we did this next thing.... see..... we have another TV up in the front over the driver's cockpit.  It's a digital/analog tv but it is still the huge CRT type, not a flat screen.  And I might mention, it's awfully heavy!  But ...... It also doubles as the monitor for our built-in backup camera.

We want to take it out and do some modifications!

See how the cabinet hangs down 6 inches more into the driving area?  It is known as a "headbanger" ... each time Steve leans over to sit down in the cockpit, he bangs his head on that danged cabinet! So it is Steve's bright idea is to remove the tv, and then remove the cabinet, cut it down to size and hang it back up even with the other cabinets.  hmmmmmm

 (this is an old photo from when parked at our log house) 

Since the backup camera works fine, and the wiring is all in place to flick a switch on the console by the drivers seat to operate it, there wasn't any reason to replace any of that.  We didn't need a new camera set up. We only needed a monitor for the camera. Found a little 12 volt monitor on Amazon for $50.  Easy Peasy to run the old camera video cord and power line down along inside the trim and post and across the dash to the new monitor.

We can swivel it for either the driver or passenger to view it.  

I seem to use it more from the passenger seat to check on the Tracker being towed behind.

This cabinet modification became more of a two or three day project instead of a one day zinger like Steve is used to.  He started it last month and only got it so far.

Here is the blog post about how he got to the point of removing the cabinet, cutting it down, and mounting it back up again.....

http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2015/04/motorhome-modification-custom-campfire.html

The next step was to get a new piece of plexi for a matching door... and finding some matching hinges. The hinges are big black circles that extend through the glass to the outside and are a design feature.  Hmmmmm   Trying to match the same color, tone, shine of 20 year old plexiglass plus matching the type of hinges might be a bit tricky?  

Off to check on my Safari Group on Yahoo called SafariCoaches  One of the members, Bill Edwards, happened to have a door he had removed from his motorhome during a modification he made!  He bundled it up with about a mile of bubble wrap, and shipped it to our home!   Yay! now we have a perfect match! 

We had to do a few minor modifications of beefing up the wood on the left inside surface of the cabinet for the hinges to attach to. We had to remove the little tweeter speaker for the surround sound on the right to make a bit more clearance and shift it over about 1/2 an inch.

There!  Done! 

Sure looks great and improved our view out the front. 

Visually it makes our rig look wider....

but most of all, Steve won't bang his head on the too-low cabinet! 

And now to the third part of my title....  a new camper???? 

Not for us, silly readers!  Our oldest daughter Erin and her fiance Waylen mentioned they would like a lightweight popup for going camping. The tow limits of their vehicle would allow for towing a small popup. Our oldest son has a truck and larger camping trailer, our youngest daughter has a tent, and all of our kids and grandkids enjoy camping. 

Long ago, we started with tents, the a popup, then various rigs... Now it is time to see our children go through those stages with their own families. Erin and Waylen have two kids Clayton age 3, and Chelsea age 5, and a new puppy Biscuit, all eager to go camping! 

Steve saw a good popup Sunday morning while perusing the ads on Craigslist (his favorite past time)  and emailed the link to the kids....  It was a nice one located in a small town just south of us, and seemed to be what they were looking for.   They were travelling 4 to 5 hours north on an adventure, but they called on the ad and made an appointment to come all the way down here to see it. 

Here is a blog post from our future son-in-law Waylen with the whole story: 

http://www.changingmorethandiapers.com/2015/06/the-one-day-that-wasnt.html

They hooked up and hauled it home... 

all set up in their driveway! 

 The kids (and Erin) got in... and didn't want to come out! 

Just look at those happy faces! 

(the puppy dog too) 

Here's to more years of fun, family and 

camping memories!