Leaving Today!

Today is the day.  Frostbite is just hours away from embarking on her first adventure.  As predicted, I had wonderful intentions of packing the camper last night before I lowered her for the last time but I spent all the daylight doing other things to get her ready so all my intentions went straight out the window.

First, the awning.  Yes, it is in one piece.  There is about a 2 -3 inch tear near the front edge.  I'll do a quickie duct tape repair this weekend.  All the things I've read about awnings being complicated and non-intuitive to set up were completelyy correct.  There were telescoping poles of all sizes and no obvious way to put them together.  Once unrolled, there was a large metal bar that ran the length of the font end.  Attached to this bar were two sets of metal poles that folded out.  One set folded down to ground, the other folded back towards the camper.  The ones that folded to the ground were each in two pieces.  They connected via a small button that popped through a hole in the larger of the 2 poles;  the common way poles attach. 

The poles that folded back towards the camper were three to a set.  On each set, the three poles slid into each other telescope style but the lacked both the little buttons and the holes in which they could connect together with.  I figured it was safe to assume that they weren't meant to connect this way and it wasn't a case of the poles being damaged.  There was Velcro along the length of both sides of the awning that didn't seem to attach to anything.  I never figured out what that was for.  I hope it's not important.

I goofed with this thing for half an hour mixing and matching poles trying to see how they could be assembled so that the awning would stand by itself.  I did notice that the side poles without holes or buttons had strange end pieces.  There was a little metal circle, not quite round, that spined around loosely at one end of each pole.  Continuing to goof around, I FINALLY realized that if you inserted that end into another pole and TWISTED it, the poles would lock together.  I also FINALLY noticed that there was a canvas "pocket" in the corners where the awning attached to the camper that the poles could set in. 

I manged to get it set up and attached to the camper.  I angled the front poles enough so that it could stand alone (remember, my driveway is on a hill.)  I need to have some rope and stakes to secure it when actually camping but I think it will work. 

I also put the strip decals on the side of Frostbite.  This, believe it or not, was extremely easy.  A neighbor let me borrow a pop-string that when stretched across the side of the camper at the right height (yes, I did measure this time!) and then pulled and "popped" against the side, left a straight blue chalk line.  I attached the decal along each side just underneath the chalk line and then wiped the chalk away.  It looks perfect.  I didn't take any pictures since light was slipping away but I plan to take a nice pic today of Frostbite attached to Bluebell just before the leave for the park.

I am very glad I did this today as I'm quite sure I looked like an idiot flopping around underneath the loose awning and staring stupidly at two poles in my hands wondering how in the hell they fit together.  I have no doubt that I'll be comic fodder for everyone at the campground this weekend but setting up the awning will be one less thing.

There is still a problem with the stupid awning bag.  As I mentioned in the post where I repaired the awning, the zipper is not present and there is nothing to keep the bag closed.  I did purchase some Velcro last night at Fred's but it was too dark to put it on last night.  Also, I rolled the awning up wrong and it was really too long to fit in the bag well.  I decided to use the stuff-it-in-anyway technique and it had the added bonus of wedging the awning in the bag so well that it won't come out despite not having the bag closed.  Sunday when we pack up to leave I hope to roll the awning up more carefully and correctly and attach the new Velcro to the bag so it will be more secure.  I sort of doubt that the self-stick aspect of the Velcro I bought will be strong enough for the heavy awning so I might have to sew it in.  I need to see if I can find some chain-mail gloves first, though.

Also at Fred's we bought a cheap coffee maker, some cooking utensils, and a cheap pot/pan set.  I found some rope that I can use to secure the awning but no tent stakes.  We picked up some simple spices and condiments to keep in Frostbite and some food items for the weekend.

Here is our menu for the weekend:

Friday supper:
hot dogs,hamburgers, chips

Saturday breakfast:
eggs, bacon, orange juice

Saturday lunch:
Park restaurant

Saturday supper:
Hobo dinners (beef patty, potatoes, carrots, onions wrapped in tin foil and laid on coals)

Sunday breakfast:
moon pies (yea, I know, we're not big breakfast eaters)

Curious as to our camping activities scheduled for Saturday?

We plan to go to wal-mart and get the tires rotated on Bluebell, she is long overdue.  While waiting for the car to be done, I hope to pick up some type of plastic containers to better organize and store our stuff in frostbite.  Not exactly "getting back to nature" I know but it needs done and sometimes you just have to do what needs done.  Future camping trips will hopefully involve more campground activities such as fishing, boat rentals, hiking trails.  This is all in my plans.

This weekend, though, is primarily just to break Frostbite in.

Friday/Saturday evening?

We plan to sit around on our butts, drinking, and listening to some Delta Blues.  We hope to get our netflix movie in the mail today so we will watch that on a laptop inside the air conditioned camper.

Is this really camping?

It is for us and, let's go ahead and get this out in the open right now, I don't give a rat's butt if anyone claims that it isn't.  I have no intention of sleeping without AC.  I have no intention of sleeping on the ground.  I have no desire to be without a laptop.  To be honest, if I had a more money, a bigger tow vehicle, and even more money, I would have bought a hard-walled trailer camper.  Frostbite, despite the fact that I've grown to love her, is a compromise of necessity.

My pre-packing plans were shattered last night so we will do the typical Holder style of grabbing up things at the last minute and throwing them in the car.  Frostbite is down and I'm not going to set her up this afternoon to pack her any better.  I hope to leave as early as possible to be sure that I have enough time to set her up completely before it starts to get dark.  I also have to factor in an extra half hour for cursing and backing the thing up into a campsite.

I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures of the inside and out.  Especially, to show off the new curtains which are perfect.

If we survive the weekend, I'll consider it a success. 

Wish us luck!