Planning for Alaska, Quilting, New Totes, Vet Visit for Nick

 

Now that the holidays are over, our serious planning for our summer trip to Alaska can begin. Not that we plan with any reservations and timetables and schedules. No no no!

But we are planning routes:

---adding what we would like to see

---which way to go up 

---which way to go back 

---which loops to make 

----which way to go so we don't repeat ourselves! 

What we really find most helpful is watching YouTubes of other RV people traveling up to Alaska. We are taking notes and marking maps of places they stayed, boondocking spots, campground rates, and interesting things to see along the way. 

So if you have a favorite or an unusual thing that isn't just a normal "tourist trap", please post it in the comments below?? 

We like the natural things, we like the beautiful things, we like the out of the way things. No crowds, no tourist stuff, no high fees to do crazy things like ride a zip line or fly up to the top of Denali in a plane. Lol!

We are working on a project later today that I will take the time to photograph. We have to wait for our Amazon delivery for the parts and the pieces. More on that later. 

One of the other things that we did this month in the motorhome was to reorganize some of our storage. Aldi, in our favorite "Aldi Finds" aisle, had something new two weeks ago. 

They are very sturdy baskets, I will call them totes. Actually the tag said laundry basket. But they're not like any laundry basket we've ever seen before. These are very sturdy and solid. The upper rim is actually reinforced with the secondary piece of plastic snapped into place. They are a little larger than the fabric totes I already had up on the top bunk. The best part about these is that they have a sturdy bottom and we can use them to haul items in and out of the house when we load and unload. Especially things like groceries, canned goods, dog supplies, or my sewing stuff. We bought five of them, but only four seem to fit very well across our top bunk.  The extra one off to the right might be used for our next project... Stay tuned for that.

We put down a rubber non-skit mat that is the thicker type used for under throw rugs, rather than the thinner shelf liner. Nothing moves around and we haven't had a problem. It's a great storage solution for us.

Incidentally, we removed the mattress for the top bunk and only put it in if the grandkids are coming along. We hang it along on the garage wall sideways in a sling made from a new plastic tarp so it stays clean.

At the same time, Aldi had matching hampers for the bathroom. This hamper seem to be sturdier and has a smaller footprint than the one we had before. The only problem was the matching top did not match. Shoppers before us had taken all of the dark tops and last one was the lighter gray top matching the rest of the hampers on the shelf. Oh well, I guess that we have a contrasting top in the bathroom but it really doesn't matter. 

We are still debating on whether or not we will take along our small portable washing machine to Alaska. It is very, very handy, especially for people who hate laundromats like we do. It only weighs 28 lb. We lift it out to take a shower and set it in the aisleway by the kitchen. Otherwise it just rides in the shower stall out of the way.

The only thing is that we have to plan accordingly with our limited freshwater tank capacity when using it. We have to know when we will be able to refill our fresh water supply right afterwards. It uses about six to eight gallons of water to wash and approximately the same amount again to rinse. I can do about six to eight shirts and a pile of underwear and socks per load. Towels or jeans take more water and longer wash times.

It normally rides right in the shower stall. I'm hoping that both the washing machine and the new hamper will fit in the same spot. I haven't carried out the washing machine to try the new arrangement out yet. The washing machine is winterized and stored in our garage for now. 

Here is a pic I took last summer of the washing machine in the shower stall.

Remember in yesterday's blog where I talked about actually baking the wooden artwork that we found in the woods? I couldn't find the photos yesterday but I found them now today. 

Youngest granddaughter Claire helped me on this project. We decided to bake it on a long low temperature to make sure there were no bugs or eggs hidden in the wood. Claire helped wrap it up in tin foil. 

We set it on a baking sheet in the oven for an hour on 150°. We didn't see any bugs in the tin foil. 

After it had cooled off I gave it three coats of polyurethane. I think it's absolutely amazing as a piece of natural artwork!!

Speaking about artwork---

Now that the beautiful quilt is finished for the bed in the motorhome, I am also working on finishing up these blocks of maple leaves. I was inspired on a trip out to New England last year. I saw a beautiful quilt like this hanging in a Vermont Visitor Center. I changed it up a little bit and now I've been working on it one block at a time while we travel this summer. Because it's in small pieces, I can work on a little bit at a time. Soon it will be put together into a larger queen sized quilt. I think I will either sell it or I could keep this one on the love seat in the motorhome for cuddling up during movie time.

It's so easy to piece together and just using three or four different prints per block, it makes a nice variety. There is a balance and theme to each piece with a certain placement of each color. But really, each leaf will be slightly different.

I'm debating about arranging it in patterns this way with every four leaves going out in opposite directions, or putting a brown strip in between each block called "sashing". 

And since we are on the topic of quilts, my sister always gives me quilting magazines. She works at a library and gives me the outdated ones. Then I can page through and look for interesting patterns that appeal to me. I actually rip the pages right out and save them in my files. It's a lot easier than saving a whole magazine when there's just one quilt that I like.

I happened to see this one last spring. Again, it's one of those quilts I can work on in small spaces with small pieces until I assemble all the blocks. As opposed to a large quilt that needs big areas for sewing. Perfect for traveling.

In the magazine, they only showed four blocks for a small wall hanging. Instead, I will make it as a large queen size quilt. 

When we stopped last spring at Missouri Star Quilt Company, I invested in a big hunk of 34 pieces of this beautiful Chickadee Landing fabric by Moda. The tiny prints will work out very well for small 2-inch squares in these blocks.

One other thing we need to prep before going traveling is to make sure our little Nicholas is updated on all of his shots and gets another year of flea and tick and heartworm medicine. Going over the border now has new rules with a form printed out regarding the dogs health certificate, micro chipping and proof of rabies vaccine. It was time for his yearly checkup. We have now had him for 1 year!

He wasn't too happy about being at the veterinarian, but he did well and let her examine him and he got three new shots in his butt!

It's amazing that he was only 12 lb when we were able to trap him out in the woods 1 year ago. He was skin and bones and severely dehydrated, malnourished and on his very last legs. If we hadn't been able to trap him when we did, he surely would have died within another day or two, according to the vet.

Now he is up to 23 lb and is full of muscle and flesh and a good full coat. 

If you are interested in reading his story, here is a link to the blog post from last year:

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2023/12/st-nicholas-came-and-hes-not-who-you.html

Well, it's time to get a couple things done today.

We will see what I can blog about tomorrow 

on our newest project in the motorhome!!!!