It should be no surprise that my worst fears were realized. A stomach bug has set in at the Holder household and I was first notified of this at 3AM Friday morning. My wife brought the baby into the guest room where my daughter and I were sleeping soundly. The baby had been throwing up most of the night and now my wife had joined in. She had been just laying down towels over where the baby was sleeping after each vomit episode forming a sort of vomit sandwich there on my bed. She was handling this as well as can be expected until she started getting sick herself and turned the chore over to me at 3AM.
When it was time to get the 2yo and 3yo up for the day, I entered my daughter's room where they were sleeping and was treated to what looked like a frat house on Sunday morning after a big party. There had apparently been some sort of vomit explosion.
From this point at 7AM on Friday, I, so far unaffected by the bug, was running solo with four sick kids for the next 24 hours. My wife was in bed useless battling her own let's just say "internal demons." They seemed to be in pretty good spirits and were outwardly appearing to feel sick so I did was anyone in my position would probably do, I dressed them and took them to daycare.
This worked, of course, until they got sick at daycare and I had to pick them up. Now don't judge me too bad here. I happened to know that other children at the daycare, including the lady running it, all had this same bug so it wasn't like I was using my kids as little typhoid Mary's. Still, it's every man for himself out there and I've probably done a lot worse elsewhere. My conscious is clear.
It did give me a few hours reprieve to attempt to catch up on laundry. My washer and dryer probably think that they have been sold to a Chinese laundry because they have been running non-stop for 2 days now. I should thank my mother for putting the idea in my head that NOW would be a rotten time for one or both of these appliances to break down. That, by itself, is enough to move it into the near inevitable list of catastrophes to befall us.
Despite all these troubles. My daughter and I managed to feed all the kids, get their teeth brushed, and in bed asleep by 830PM. It was a miracle that I had trouble believing. We turned in early. We managed well until about 1:30am when my daughter woke me up and reported that her stomach hurt.
I suggested that go directly to the bathroom.
She vomited there on the floor.
At that point I realized that the red kool-aid I fixed for her as a reward for helping out was probably not my greatest idea.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Never, NEVER think that things couldn't get any worse
My strategy is generally to attempt to think of the worst possible outcome and prepare for that. This way I am never especially surprised or disappointed. I'll go on the record again and point out that things can always get worse. Recently, I've had to really dig down to find that "worst possible outcome." Terrorist explosion, floods, and nuclear Armageddon might have to be added to my list.
Last night we were nearing 24 hours with the children. The kids slept for 5 or 6 of those while I had a fitful night of, let's just call it, laying down. We actually managed 2, yes TWO, sit down meals for the kids. The kids really, Really ate well at supper (This will be important to remember later!) which included chicken fingers and mac & cheese. My daughter, 9yo, asked for blue cheese dressing to dip her chicken in. The 2yo and 3yo immediately chimed in that they wanted some as well (This will also be important to remember later!).
The baby, we realized thanks to the insight of a neighbor, was teething and having a terrible time. She brought us some teething equipment and some medicine for her. Fortunately, the constant crying subsided a bit.
With supper behind us, my wife decided that the kids needed a bath. Now, I would have been perfectly fine not rocking the boat any and putting that chore off for later. The kids weren't stinking or anything. My wife, however, has a thing about baths and was adamant about this. I couldn't really complain since she does 99% of the bath work anyway.
We have a garden tub off of the master bedroom which is pretty large. We started with the 2yo and 3yo in the bath at the same time. My daughter has left literally a toy box full of toys around the edges of the tub so there was plenty for them to do. Noticing that there was still plenty of room, I suggested that we throw the 1yo in as well so we could knock out all the baths at one time.
Mass confusion ensued. At one point, I can't be quite sure, I thought I noticed the 2yo drinking the bath water(This will be important to note later!). I alerted my daughter who was doing a good job watching them while my wife was busy getting the baby dried off and lubed up. My daughter informed me that the cup was empty and she wasn't drinking. In hindsight, I realize that it is more than possible that the cup wasn't full of water "that time."
Once the kids were out of baths, dried off, oiled up, dressed in pajamas and such, I stupidly thought that the "hard stuff" was behind us and we could settle down for the evening while the kids, freshly scrubbed, could drift off to sleep.
yep.
Just as I was about to sit down, chicken, mac and cheese, blue cheese, and dirty bath water were literally hurled out of the mouth of the 2yo onto our living room couch. My daughter, never one to endure things she considers *gross*, disappeared into her room and was not seen again for 2 full hours. I'll admit that I was more than a little jealous that she had that option open to her.
About 15 minutes later, after cleaning up the 2yo, dressing her in new clothes, and cleaning the couch, the same thing happened again. I suppose we were fortunate in that the volume of vomit was significantly less this time.
We decided to make a pallet on the floor in the bedroom where Tina was going to sleep with the baby. This was so Tina could hear if there were any problems. The 2yo went right to sleep, thank christ!
Next we tried to put the baby to sleep. Tina rocked her and got her asleep in her arms. We tried to lay her down but she woke up every time and started crying. Fearing that this would wake up the sleeping 2yo, I left the room with the baby and paced and bounced for a while. Eventually, appeared to go to sleep. I managed to lay her down without waking her.
Just as I was pulling my hands back from the sleeping baby, I heard the 2yo stir. What happened next I realize now was inevitable considering my luck. There was a feint cry followed by the unmistakable sound of what my daughter calls "barking." We have three cats so this sound is fairly common in our home. Our cats bark all over the place. After barking, the 2yo started crying. Before I could get to her, the baby woke up and joined in.
Tina got the 2yo cleaned up and replaced the bedding. I volunteered to rock the now screaming baby to sleep in the living room so Tina could go to bed. This took a considerable amount of time. Is there anything more grating to the nerves than a baby crying? After a good hour of it in my lap, I can honestly answer "I don't think so." The baby did eventually get to sleep and I did manage to get her in the bed without waking her.
Walking towards the bed I hoped to sleep in, my wife reported another barking incident. We changed the bedding and cleaned up the 2yo. She, by this time, had no trouble at all returning to sleep. I estimated that we had enough supplies for one more bark before I would have to get creative and start raiding other beds for bedding.
Sure enough, that final bark happened about 5 minutes after I laid down. Our laundry room is literally filled with vomit-stained comforters, blankets, and sheets. Yes, things can definitely get worse. It will be such a joy to wash and dry all that this evening where, for all I know, the same thing will happen again unless the Gods of Barking smile down and give me a break tonight.
What I'm secretely bracing myself for is the terrible certinty that it is a stomach bug that has now spread to the other 2 kids.
Last night we were nearing 24 hours with the children. The kids slept for 5 or 6 of those while I had a fitful night of, let's just call it, laying down. We actually managed 2, yes TWO, sit down meals for the kids. The kids really, Really ate well at supper (This will be important to remember later!) which included chicken fingers and mac & cheese. My daughter, 9yo, asked for blue cheese dressing to dip her chicken in. The 2yo and 3yo immediately chimed in that they wanted some as well (This will also be important to remember later!).
The baby, we realized thanks to the insight of a neighbor, was teething and having a terrible time. She brought us some teething equipment and some medicine for her. Fortunately, the constant crying subsided a bit.
With supper behind us, my wife decided that the kids needed a bath. Now, I would have been perfectly fine not rocking the boat any and putting that chore off for later. The kids weren't stinking or anything. My wife, however, has a thing about baths and was adamant about this. I couldn't really complain since she does 99% of the bath work anyway.
We have a garden tub off of the master bedroom which is pretty large. We started with the 2yo and 3yo in the bath at the same time. My daughter has left literally a toy box full of toys around the edges of the tub so there was plenty for them to do. Noticing that there was still plenty of room, I suggested that we throw the 1yo in as well so we could knock out all the baths at one time.
Mass confusion ensued. At one point, I can't be quite sure, I thought I noticed the 2yo drinking the bath water(This will be important to note later!). I alerted my daughter who was doing a good job watching them while my wife was busy getting the baby dried off and lubed up. My daughter informed me that the cup was empty and she wasn't drinking. In hindsight, I realize that it is more than possible that the cup wasn't full of water "that time."
Once the kids were out of baths, dried off, oiled up, dressed in pajamas and such, I stupidly thought that the "hard stuff" was behind us and we could settle down for the evening while the kids, freshly scrubbed, could drift off to sleep.
yep.
Just as I was about to sit down, chicken, mac and cheese, blue cheese, and dirty bath water were literally hurled out of the mouth of the 2yo onto our living room couch. My daughter, never one to endure things she considers *gross*, disappeared into her room and was not seen again for 2 full hours. I'll admit that I was more than a little jealous that she had that option open to her.
About 15 minutes later, after cleaning up the 2yo, dressing her in new clothes, and cleaning the couch, the same thing happened again. I suppose we were fortunate in that the volume of vomit was significantly less this time.
We decided to make a pallet on the floor in the bedroom where Tina was going to sleep with the baby. This was so Tina could hear if there were any problems. The 2yo went right to sleep, thank christ!
Next we tried to put the baby to sleep. Tina rocked her and got her asleep in her arms. We tried to lay her down but she woke up every time and started crying. Fearing that this would wake up the sleeping 2yo, I left the room with the baby and paced and bounced for a while. Eventually, appeared to go to sleep. I managed to lay her down without waking her.
Just as I was pulling my hands back from the sleeping baby, I heard the 2yo stir. What happened next I realize now was inevitable considering my luck. There was a feint cry followed by the unmistakable sound of what my daughter calls "barking." We have three cats so this sound is fairly common in our home. Our cats bark all over the place. After barking, the 2yo started crying. Before I could get to her, the baby woke up and joined in.
Tina got the 2yo cleaned up and replaced the bedding. I volunteered to rock the now screaming baby to sleep in the living room so Tina could go to bed. This took a considerable amount of time. Is there anything more grating to the nerves than a baby crying? After a good hour of it in my lap, I can honestly answer "I don't think so." The baby did eventually get to sleep and I did manage to get her in the bed without waking her.
Walking towards the bed I hoped to sleep in, my wife reported another barking incident. We changed the bedding and cleaned up the 2yo. She, by this time, had no trouble at all returning to sleep. I estimated that we had enough supplies for one more bark before I would have to get creative and start raiding other beds for bedding.
Sure enough, that final bark happened about 5 minutes after I laid down. Our laundry room is literally filled with vomit-stained comforters, blankets, and sheets. Yes, things can definitely get worse. It will be such a joy to wash and dry all that this evening where, for all I know, the same thing will happen again unless the Gods of Barking smile down and give me a break tonight.
What I'm secretely bracing myself for is the terrible certinty that it is a stomach bug that has now spread to the other 2 kids.
A new adventure has begun . . .
At least the title sounds better than "My wife and I have descended into madness." On Tuesday, we took in in three foster children. There are 2 girls and 1 boy and their ages are, get this, 1, 2 and 3! Yes, I know, our tether on reality is pulled taunt and rapidly fraying. Despite what the future holds due to this decision, I'll go ahead and get on the record now by saying that, at the time, it *seemed* like a good idea.
We got a call from DCS around 8:30pm and tentatively stated that it would be *OK* to be considered as a placement. An hour later we received another call from DCS confirming us as the placement they chose for these children. An hour later, a DCS worker was at our door with the children. We talked briefly, signed a lot of papers, and the DCS worker made her escape. Less than three hours after quickly deciding to accept the placement, we were alone with three children with nothing but the clothes on their backs and each one holding a toy.
The little boy, 3yo, was just fine. He is potty trained and didn't appear especially upset at the chaos his day had turned into. The middle girl, 2yo, loved our cats but cried for her mother a good bit. She is semi-potty trained and knows how to say "gotta pee pee." That isn't really all that helpful since she says this every 5 minutes or so but I can see the possibilities. The baby girl, 1yo, seems like a typical baby. I'm sure she was affected by the chaos of the day as well.
Once we got the kids to sleep around 1am, I was able to catch my breath and, like everything else I jump blindly headfirst into, realized how stupidly incompetent I was for the situation at hand. Just to add to the stress of the evening, it was terribly cold. We had been letting our 2 outside junkyard dogs sleep in the house. The kids were soundly sleeping on a pallet I made for them on the living room floor so letting the dogs stay in the living room was out.
I quickly thought of a solution and decided that we could create a makeshift corral that would lead from the back door to the garage door. I set up a heater in the garage for them. We set up bar stools and chairs and other objects along the way to create a path toward the garage and posted my wife and daughter at key locations to direct traffic. I felt like a cowboy. I opened the garage door and ran to the back door to let the dogs in with the intention of shooing them into the garage.
Typical of my ideas that *seemed* like a good idea at the time, things didn't go exactly as planned. Mutt #1 made an immediate left after coming in the door between the recliner and the couch and started barking at the sleeping kids on the floor. I quickly grabbed up the dog in my arms and found myself trapped behind the barricade that was supposed to keep the dogs moving in the right direction. I eventually managed to dump her in the garage and closed the door.
Mutt #2 followed the exact same path as Mutt #1 but, thankfully, no barking this time. Mutt #2 is too heavy to pick up so I had to scoot him by the butt into the garage. I'm lucky that he didn't step on one of the kids.
Amidst the confusion, two of our inside cats managed to get herded into the garage themselves. We didn't realize this until the next morning when we tried a repeat of the corral technique the night before. I opened the garage expecting the dogs to come running out (they hate the garage, by the way) but was surprised by 2 cats charging in like they were on fire. This time, of course, the dogs didn't want to leave the garage so I had to push and prod them like cattle to get them moving. The cats didn't like the garage at all but I figure it serves them right for not staying out of the way.
My wife, Tina, and I both stayed home from work on Wed. so we could get some needed supplies and secure daycare for all the kids.
I used a vacation day but, trust me, it was no vacation.
We got a call from DCS around 8:30pm and tentatively stated that it would be *OK* to be considered as a placement. An hour later we received another call from DCS confirming us as the placement they chose for these children. An hour later, a DCS worker was at our door with the children. We talked briefly, signed a lot of papers, and the DCS worker made her escape. Less than three hours after quickly deciding to accept the placement, we were alone with three children with nothing but the clothes on their backs and each one holding a toy.
The little boy, 3yo, was just fine. He is potty trained and didn't appear especially upset at the chaos his day had turned into. The middle girl, 2yo, loved our cats but cried for her mother a good bit. She is semi-potty trained and knows how to say "gotta pee pee." That isn't really all that helpful since she says this every 5 minutes or so but I can see the possibilities. The baby girl, 1yo, seems like a typical baby. I'm sure she was affected by the chaos of the day as well.
Once we got the kids to sleep around 1am, I was able to catch my breath and, like everything else I jump blindly headfirst into, realized how stupidly incompetent I was for the situation at hand. Just to add to the stress of the evening, it was terribly cold. We had been letting our 2 outside junkyard dogs sleep in the house. The kids were soundly sleeping on a pallet I made for them on the living room floor so letting the dogs stay in the living room was out.
I quickly thought of a solution and decided that we could create a makeshift corral that would lead from the back door to the garage door. I set up a heater in the garage for them. We set up bar stools and chairs and other objects along the way to create a path toward the garage and posted my wife and daughter at key locations to direct traffic. I felt like a cowboy. I opened the garage door and ran to the back door to let the dogs in with the intention of shooing them into the garage.
Typical of my ideas that *seemed* like a good idea at the time, things didn't go exactly as planned. Mutt #1 made an immediate left after coming in the door between the recliner and the couch and started barking at the sleeping kids on the floor. I quickly grabbed up the dog in my arms and found myself trapped behind the barricade that was supposed to keep the dogs moving in the right direction. I eventually managed to dump her in the garage and closed the door.
Mutt #2 followed the exact same path as Mutt #1 but, thankfully, no barking this time. Mutt #2 is too heavy to pick up so I had to scoot him by the butt into the garage. I'm lucky that he didn't step on one of the kids.
Amidst the confusion, two of our inside cats managed to get herded into the garage themselves. We didn't realize this until the next morning when we tried a repeat of the corral technique the night before. I opened the garage expecting the dogs to come running out (they hate the garage, by the way) but was surprised by 2 cats charging in like they were on fire. This time, of course, the dogs didn't want to leave the garage so I had to push and prod them like cattle to get them moving. The cats didn't like the garage at all but I figure it serves them right for not staying out of the way.
My wife, Tina, and I both stayed home from work on Wed. so we could get some needed supplies and secure daycare for all the kids.
I used a vacation day but, trust me, it was no vacation.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Fixing the Damage from Paris Landing
While the camping trip last weekend was wonderful, it was not without damage to the camper. I'm hoping that this "damage" every trip will start to lessen as I am *hopefully* just finding weaknesses and fixing them stronger than before.
Last weekend the storage door to the door side dinette bench caved in thanks to my wife's knee and the attachment for the outside table was nearly ripped off of the side of the camper when I tried to remove it. Both of these things were 100% due to poor patching by a previous owner and poor design on Starcraft's part.
That and 30 years of wear and tear, I suppose.
For the storage box door, nothing was actually broken except for the plastic hinges. The wood supports, I discovered, were simply stapled gunned to the underside of the top and they all pulled out of the wood. The door itself was not broken, fortunately.
Here is a shot after I removed the broken door:
The hinge hardware now could sit flat against the door. Again, this is blurry (stupid camera!) but you should get the idea:
I did these for three spots, installed the hinges, and put the whole thing back in Frostbite:
I went for three hinges to replace the two plastic ones that were there already. I also added the wood support dowels by screwing them to the underside of the bench top for added support for the door. The previous supports were stapled in place.
Here is a shot of it open just in case you wondered if it still worked:
from the inside:
That joker is in there to stay.
There was one final thing that I fixed that day. It wasn't a repair from the weekend but rather a left over from when I initially put the camper back together. The electric outlet in the galley side box was sitting loose in the opening.
There were holes in the cover for it to be attached to something but there was nothing for a screw to actually screw into. The holes just opened to empty space. I put this off for months because the answer wasn't obvious to me. I decided to search though the bin that contains all the parts left over from putting Frostbite back together. Everybody has one of these after a project, right? I happened to find a couple of plastic pieces that, upon close inspection, were actually brackets and screws that allowed the outlet cover to be attached to the box.
Glad I didn't throw any of that junk away. I suspect that I will have to dig through this bin a few more times as unexpected problems arise.
Frostbite is now fixed and stronger than ever. Next weekend I hope to install a couple of drawer/shelves that I haven't gotten around to reinstalling in one of the storage boxes. There is also a shelving modification I read about on the popupportal.com that would provide some shelves above the sink which is desperately needed. Currently, we are using the dinette table for storage of kitchen stuff while we are camping which sort of makes it a pain to actually use the dinette table for anything else. I'm hoping that for our next campout will actually be able to use BOTH sides of the dinette.
Next trip scheduled for October 16th, 17th and 18th which is my daughter's fall break. We are going to Natchez Trace State Park. We had originally planned to go to Pigeon Forge, TN but got scared of the potential wear and tear on Bluebell tugging Frostbite up the hills of East TN without having a transmission cooler. It's a nice flat shot to Natchez Trace.
Last weekend the storage door to the door side dinette bench caved in thanks to my wife's knee and the attachment for the outside table was nearly ripped off of the side of the camper when I tried to remove it. Both of these things were 100% due to poor patching by a previous owner and poor design on Starcraft's part.
That and 30 years of wear and tear, I suppose.
For the storage box door, nothing was actually broken except for the plastic hinges. The wood supports, I discovered, were simply stapled gunned to the underside of the top and they all pulled out of the wood. The door itself was not broken, fortunately.
Here is a shot after I removed the broken door:
Here is a shot of the storage door, itself:
I went to the Tool Box hardware store and picked up some hinges. I intended to replace the wood braces for the door with screws which should be stronger than the staples that it had previously.
Back home with the new hinges, I realized the purpose of the flat plastic hinges. They could sit directly on top of the door and act as a hinge. The new metal hinges has a mechanism where the two pieces fit together that had to somehow fit between the door and the edge. Note that this door fits inside the hole exactly with no gaps around edges.
Unwilling to try to go out again and find a different hinge design, I opted to jerry rig what I had to make it work. I took a hammer and screw driver and carved out a small square on the door edge so that the hinge would fit properly.
This pic is a little blurry but you should be able to make out the cut out I had to make for the hinge:
The hinge hardware now could sit flat against the door. Again, this is blurry (stupid camera!) but you should get the idea:
I did these for three spots, installed the hinges, and put the whole thing back in Frostbite:
I went for three hinges to replace the two plastic ones that were there already. I also added the wood support dowels by screwing them to the underside of the bench top for added support for the door. The previous supports were stapled in place.
Here is a shot of it open just in case you wondered if it still worked:
Good as new!
Next, I tackled the attachment for the outside table. Previous owners apparently had trouble with this also and they fixed it by nailing the thing to the side of the camper. These nails pulled out last weekend when I was fighting to get the stupid table off. Here is a shot of the aftermath:
I first thought I could get some larger wood screws and screw the thing back onto the side so I went back to the Tool Box and got the screws I needed.
Didn't work.
I then relented and decided to nail the thing back on to the side.
Didn't work.
Frustrated now, I decided that, since all the holes are stripped, I could run a bolt through and attach it with nuts from the inside. I went back to the Tool Box and got the hardware I needed.
It was a pain getting the things attached tightly but it did work and man, it worked good! This thing won't be coming off again anytime soon.
Here is a shot from the outside:
from the inside:
There was one final thing that I fixed that day. It wasn't a repair from the weekend but rather a left over from when I initially put the camper back together. The electric outlet in the galley side box was sitting loose in the opening.
There were holes in the cover for it to be attached to something but there was nothing for a screw to actually screw into. The holes just opened to empty space. I put this off for months because the answer wasn't obvious to me. I decided to search though the bin that contains all the parts left over from putting Frostbite back together. Everybody has one of these after a project, right? I happened to find a couple of plastic pieces that, upon close inspection, were actually brackets and screws that allowed the outlet cover to be attached to the box.
Glad I didn't throw any of that junk away. I suspect that I will have to dig through this bin a few more times as unexpected problems arise.
Frostbite is now fixed and stronger than ever. Next weekend I hope to install a couple of drawer/shelves that I haven't gotten around to reinstalling in one of the storage boxes. There is also a shelving modification I read about on the popupportal.com that would provide some shelves above the sink which is desperately needed. Currently, we are using the dinette table for storage of kitchen stuff while we are camping which sort of makes it a pain to actually use the dinette table for anything else. I'm hoping that for our next campout will actually be able to use BOTH sides of the dinette.
Next trip scheduled for October 16th, 17th and 18th which is my daughter's fall break. We are going to Natchez Trace State Park. We had originally planned to go to Pigeon Forge, TN but got scared of the potential wear and tear on Bluebell tugging Frostbite up the hills of East TN without having a transmission cooler. It's a nice flat shot to Natchez Trace.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Another Success!
We survived the weekend at Paris Landing. The weather was wonderful; there was not even the hint of rain. Despite issues with the campground itself, Frostbite performed wonderfully.
We arrived around 4PM on Friday and chose a campsite. The pickings were pretty slim not because the campground was crowded but because the campsites were so poor. They were small. The pull ins were in terrible condition and we had trouble finding one that was somewhat level and in good enough shape for me to be willing to back Frostbite into. We eventually decided on one that was in semi-good shape, close to the playground, and semi-close to the restrooms.
Of course, I only realized AFTER setting Frostbite up that the @$%^ water was AGAIN too far away from my water hose to reach. This water hookup was actually meant to be shared by two campsites. We didn't have any neighbors and the camp host told us that he would get a Y connection for us if neighbors did arrive but it was still an unnecessary pain. Another night with no water.
Also, my hope that the lift cables would magically retain their adjustments after being removed and put back on last week was dashed when I realized that the front left lift pole still had a couple of inches to be raised to full height. I'll have to crawl underneath the camper next week and try to adjust the cables.
The pad for the camper was very short. The bunk end end went over the concrete picnic table a couple of feet. And also, of course, the stupid safety bar jammed while trying to raise the camper. I slid underneath on the rocks and lined the bar up the with lift cable and the roof raised fine. Man, I wish I could devise a way to fix that!
The weekend was not without damage either. My wife put her knee through the door side bench while trying to put the curtains up. It wasn't really her fault. Inspecting the damage, I realized just how flimsy the lid to the storage area actually was. The wood didn't crack, it just broke the plastic (yes, plastic!) hinges that held the lid on and pulled out a support brace. I could fix it fairly easy and will try to make it even stronger after the fix but, for this weekend anyway, it would mean another camp-out where we just get to use one side of the dinette. This time, though, we get to use the short one that I fixed from the last camping trip. Oh, the joy.
More serious damage was done while trying to break Frostbite down on Sunday. The outside table hooks onto the camper by sliding into a piece of metal nailed to the side. It was difficult to slide in and it was almost impossible to get it to slide out at the end of the weekend. I beat and tugged on it and managed to bend it up pretty good. I'm not even sure if I can repair the connections good enough to use again so I may have to devise a completely new way of attaching the table to the outside. I do like having the table outside so just leaving it off isn't really an option.
We ate that the park restaurant on Friday night and I was shocked by a $15 seafood buffet. It was pretty good but not $15 good. We ordered water to drink with the meal and vowed to pack food for Friday nights on future trips.
Saturday morning we fried up some bacon, scrambled some eggs, and toasted some bread all on Frostbites galley stove. It was wonderful. After that we went into town a bit and visited with my friend Tom and his mother. They had some pizza delivered and my wife, hell-bent on a weekend of destruction, broke one of their plates before we left.
After the visit, we hit Wal-Mart. Determined to actually use the sink in Frostbite, I picked up a 50ft water hose (actually one of the last two they had in the store) and a 7gal water container that I planned to use for gray water.
Back at the campsite the hose worked fine and the tank collected the gray water perfectly. I heated up a pot of water on the stove and washed dishes for the first time in Frostbite.
We were much better organized this trip and had most if not all things we need for camping. My daughter exclaimed at one point "This is the best camping trip ever!" Now, we've only had 2 camping trips so far so she doesn't have much to compare with but she did seem to have fun and we had some great campfire time together as a family on Saturday night. My wife seemed to especially enjoy the evening. Believe it or not, the evening was exactly as we imagined last fall when we started thinking about getting a camper.
That afternoon, my daughter met a friend she called Steve.
We arrived around 4PM on Friday and chose a campsite. The pickings were pretty slim not because the campground was crowded but because the campsites were so poor. They were small. The pull ins were in terrible condition and we had trouble finding one that was somewhat level and in good enough shape for me to be willing to back Frostbite into. We eventually decided on one that was in semi-good shape, close to the playground, and semi-close to the restrooms.
Of course, I only realized AFTER setting Frostbite up that the @$%^ water was AGAIN too far away from my water hose to reach. This water hookup was actually meant to be shared by two campsites. We didn't have any neighbors and the camp host told us that he would get a Y connection for us if neighbors did arrive but it was still an unnecessary pain. Another night with no water.
Also, my hope that the lift cables would magically retain their adjustments after being removed and put back on last week was dashed when I realized that the front left lift pole still had a couple of inches to be raised to full height. I'll have to crawl underneath the camper next week and try to adjust the cables.
The pad for the camper was very short. The bunk end end went over the concrete picnic table a couple of feet. And also, of course, the stupid safety bar jammed while trying to raise the camper. I slid underneath on the rocks and lined the bar up the with lift cable and the roof raised fine. Man, I wish I could devise a way to fix that!
Frostbite set up at the campsite
The site was not level either. Not even close to level actually. I rolled Frostbite on a 1/2 inch board and then added a piece of 2x4 on top of that and she still wasn't level. It was close enough for government work though and made me vow to get a BAL leveler before the next camping trip.
The weekend was not without damage either. My wife put her knee through the door side bench while trying to put the curtains up. It wasn't really her fault. Inspecting the damage, I realized just how flimsy the lid to the storage area actually was. The wood didn't crack, it just broke the plastic (yes, plastic!) hinges that held the lid on and pulled out a support brace. I could fix it fairly easy and will try to make it even stronger after the fix but, for this weekend anyway, it would mean another camp-out where we just get to use one side of the dinette. This time, though, we get to use the short one that I fixed from the last camping trip. Oh, the joy.
More serious damage was done while trying to break Frostbite down on Sunday. The outside table hooks onto the camper by sliding into a piece of metal nailed to the side. It was difficult to slide in and it was almost impossible to get it to slide out at the end of the weekend. I beat and tugged on it and managed to bend it up pretty good. I'm not even sure if I can repair the connections good enough to use again so I may have to devise a completely new way of attaching the table to the outside. I do like having the table outside so just leaving it off isn't really an option.
We ate that the park restaurant on Friday night and I was shocked by a $15 seafood buffet. It was pretty good but not $15 good. We ordered water to drink with the meal and vowed to pack food for Friday nights on future trips.
Saturday morning we fried up some bacon, scrambled some eggs, and toasted some bread all on Frostbites galley stove. It was wonderful. After that we went into town a bit and visited with my friend Tom and his mother. They had some pizza delivered and my wife, hell-bent on a weekend of destruction, broke one of their plates before we left.
After the visit, we hit Wal-Mart. Determined to actually use the sink in Frostbite, I picked up a 50ft water hose (actually one of the last two they had in the store) and a 7gal water container that I planned to use for gray water.
Back at the campsite the hose worked fine and the tank collected the gray water perfectly. I heated up a pot of water on the stove and washed dishes for the first time in Frostbite.
We were much better organized this trip and had most if not all things we need for camping. My daughter exclaimed at one point "This is the best camping trip ever!" Now, we've only had 2 camping trips so far so she doesn't have much to compare with but she did seem to have fun and we had some great campfire time together as a family on Saturday night. My wife seemed to especially enjoy the evening. Believe it or not, the evening was exactly as we imagined last fall when we started thinking about getting a camper.
That afternoon, my daughter met a friend she called Steve.
My daughter holding Steve
Also on Saturday afternoon, we drove and walked around the park a bit. My daughter especially liked collecting shells around the lake. I snapped a picture of the park Inn from across the lake. I'm no photographer but this one accidentally turned out pretty good.
As I mentioned earlier, the weather was great for the weekend and on Saturday morning we opened all the windows on Frostbite. We left them open all day and all night and yes, we actually turned off the AC. With such perfect camping weather, I wonder why the campground was so sparsely populated. There were two large 5th wheels, three or four tent campers, and a single small travel trailer camper. No other popups. Where were all the campers? This is a fairly big tourist area with the lakes and there were numerous private RV parks and campgrounds we passed on the way in. Surely camping season is not over for everyone.
Heck, for us, it has just started.
We made it home around 2pm on Sunday. We raised the garage and were treated to the smell of rotted food and a puddle of nasty water around the freezer we keep in the garage. The circuit breaker had popped over the weekend and everything inside had thawed and was ruined. We spent the next hour cleaning up the floor and the inside of the freezer. All of the food had to be thrown away. The large bag of fish that my sister's boyfriend gave us was the primary source of the smell and nasty water.
I'm not sure why the circuit breaker clicked off. The freezer is pretty old and could be on it's last legs but we cleaned it up anyway and I plugged it back in empty to test it out and see if it continues to work.
My next few posts here will address the damage to Frostbite I need to fix before the next trip in October. I'll also need to order a BAL leveler before the next trip because the boards I used to somewhat level the camper are still at Paris Landing since I stupidly drove off and left them where they sat.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Green for launch - Paris Landing State Park!
My wife and I both are only working a half-day today so we can get home and pack our weekend bags, feed/water the animals and pick up a few supplies for the trip so we can get an early start to Paris Landing State Park. Once packed and ready, I'm going to pick my daughter up from school early so we can go ahead and leave. I wanted to leave early so that I would get to the park and be able to set Frostbite up before it gets dark.
I'm going to bring a cooler with some bacon and eggs for Saturday morning breakfast but that's all the food we are taking with us. Friday night we will be eating at the Park Inn. Saturday we are going to visit my friend, Tom, who lives in the area and we will pick up something for supper while we are in town.
Frostbite is Go for travel *I hope*. I'm pretty sure I can deal with any jams while raising and lowering the roof and I'm fairly confident that I tightened the lift cable connections to the whiffle tree enough so that the roof won't come crashing down on us. Since the last trip, I've packed Frostbite with camping staples like bedding, cooking utensils, pots, pans, towels. Since I've fixed the galley side bench we will get to use both sides of the dinette this time. I also packed up both table legs so we will get to use the outside table this trip as well. I still don't have a weather radio just for Frostbite though so, hopefully, I'll remember to grab the one we use in the house. I would like to get a wind up radio just for Frostbite so we can keep one in her. I have one for the house but we do use it from time to time and I don't want it to be packed up in the camper when I want to use it. Maybe I'll try to pick one up this weekend during the trip. Fred's has wind up radios for $10.
I also hope to actually use Frostbite's water system this trip. If you remember, I screwed up on our last trip and chose a campsite that was too far away from the water hookup for my water hose to reach. I cut a 2 foot piece of hose off of an old hose to use as a drain for the gray water from the outlet on the side of Frostbite. I really need a collapsable water tank to collect gray water but I don't have one. Instead, I'm bringing the water bucket we use to wash cars and such. Not classy but it will have to do.
The weather is supposed to turn cool this weekend. We plan to bring some jackets *just in case*. We may even decide to open up the windows instead of using the AC. This, of course, is if, and only IF, it gets cool enough. As much work and money I put into that AC for Frostbite, I have no plans of breaking a sweat inside her. In fact, I have no plans of being warm in ANY way inside of her. A big part of me almost likes Frostbite's AC better than anything else. However, knowing my wife as well as I do, the heater might even get a first-time use on Saturday and Sunday mornings if the night temp gets cool enough.
I'm shooting for hitting the road around 2pm this afternoon so, right now, we're talking T-5 1/2 hrs.
Wish us luck and let's hope that this weekend is thunderstorm free!
I'm going to bring a cooler with some bacon and eggs for Saturday morning breakfast but that's all the food we are taking with us. Friday night we will be eating at the Park Inn. Saturday we are going to visit my friend, Tom, who lives in the area and we will pick up something for supper while we are in town.
Frostbite is Go for travel *I hope*. I'm pretty sure I can deal with any jams while raising and lowering the roof and I'm fairly confident that I tightened the lift cable connections to the whiffle tree enough so that the roof won't come crashing down on us. Since the last trip, I've packed Frostbite with camping staples like bedding, cooking utensils, pots, pans, towels. Since I've fixed the galley side bench we will get to use both sides of the dinette this time. I also packed up both table legs so we will get to use the outside table this trip as well. I still don't have a weather radio just for Frostbite though so, hopefully, I'll remember to grab the one we use in the house. I would like to get a wind up radio just for Frostbite so we can keep one in her. I have one for the house but we do use it from time to time and I don't want it to be packed up in the camper when I want to use it. Maybe I'll try to pick one up this weekend during the trip. Fred's has wind up radios for $10.
I also hope to actually use Frostbite's water system this trip. If you remember, I screwed up on our last trip and chose a campsite that was too far away from the water hookup for my water hose to reach. I cut a 2 foot piece of hose off of an old hose to use as a drain for the gray water from the outlet on the side of Frostbite. I really need a collapsable water tank to collect gray water but I don't have one. Instead, I'm bringing the water bucket we use to wash cars and such. Not classy but it will have to do.
The weather is supposed to turn cool this weekend. We plan to bring some jackets *just in case*. We may even decide to open up the windows instead of using the AC. This, of course, is if, and only IF, it gets cool enough. As much work and money I put into that AC for Frostbite, I have no plans of breaking a sweat inside her. In fact, I have no plans of being warm in ANY way inside of her. A big part of me almost likes Frostbite's AC better than anything else. However, knowing my wife as well as I do, the heater might even get a first-time use on Saturday and Sunday mornings if the night temp gets cool enough.
I'm shooting for hitting the road around 2pm this afternoon so, right now, we're talking T-5 1/2 hrs.
Wish us luck and let's hope that this weekend is thunderstorm free!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Well, at least the roof goes up and down
Wednesday afternoon, I decided to tackle Frostbite's latest troubles. I tried raising to roof secretly hoping that magic faeries had come during the night to fix the roof raising problem.
Nope.
I squatted and looked underneath. The safety bar, which is not rigid in the track that the lift cable runs, was pushed to one side. I reached in and simply pulled it even with the cable and tried raising it again.
Success!
It raised up fine and hooked onto the frame where it was supposed to. I wish I could think of something to ensure that the safety bar stayed centered as the rood if being raised but at least I know I can do it myself by hand as necessary. I chalked this fix up as completed. Hopefully, I'll be inspired later as to how to permanently fix it.
With that problem solved, I then set out to install the shelves and door threshold which were little projects that needed done since the rebuild but were not critical enough to stop us from camping.
The threshold went down fine. It would have been better if I had screws with rounded heads as there is the potential to cut/scrape bare feet but I didn't have any. I decided to use what I did have and pick up some replacements at a later date.
I actually had to use 2 thresholds on the door. Due to the way I laid down the tiles, there was a gap exposing the floor that was about an inch wider than the threshold already in Frostbite. I had intended to replace the original with a wider one which would have solved the problem. However, the wider one that I found turned out to be too tall for the door to close over it. The 2nd and shorter one I got was not wide enough to cover the gap between the tiles and the edge of the camper.
I opted to put the original one back on and the new threshold over the exposed gap. It doesn't look as bad as it sounds. * I hope *
Nope.
I squatted and looked underneath. The safety bar, which is not rigid in the track that the lift cable runs, was pushed to one side. I reached in and simply pulled it even with the cable and tried raising it again.
Success!
It raised up fine and hooked onto the frame where it was supposed to. I wish I could think of something to ensure that the safety bar stayed centered as the rood if being raised but at least I know I can do it myself by hand as necessary. I chalked this fix up as completed. Hopefully, I'll be inspired later as to how to permanently fix it.
With that problem solved, I then set out to install the shelves and door threshold which were little projects that needed done since the rebuild but were not critical enough to stop us from camping.
The threshold went down fine. It would have been better if I had screws with rounded heads as there is the potential to cut/scrape bare feet but I didn't have any. I decided to use what I did have and pick up some replacements at a later date.
I actually had to use 2 thresholds on the door. Due to the way I laid down the tiles, there was a gap exposing the floor that was about an inch wider than the threshold already in Frostbite. I had intended to replace the original with a wider one which would have solved the problem. However, the wider one that I found turned out to be too tall for the door to close over it. The 2nd and shorter one I got was not wide enough to cover the gap between the tiles and the edge of the camper.
I opted to put the original one back on and the new threshold over the exposed gap. It doesn't look as bad as it sounds. * I hope *
yea, I guess it does look as bad as it sounds
I will keep my eye out for a better fitting threshold but until then this will have to work.
I then turned my attention to the shelves. There is a shelf that goes underneath the sink and over the wheel well. I decided to start with that one. The other "shelf" in the door-side cabinet is much more complicated. It is actually a couple of plastic tubs which sit on metal runners in the cabinet and act like drawers. Installing them will require installing the metal brackets properly which will require accurate measuring and such.
I'll save those for next time.
The sink cabinet shelf went in fairly easy.
After getting the shelf in, I goofed with the fridge so that it set correctly without wobbling. It needed to sit more inside the opening than I had it. Eventually, I found the perfect resting place.
During this process, I opened the fridge door to get a better hold of the thing and was immediately hit with a funky smell. I thought at first that we had stupidly left food in it from the last trip but I couldn't find any. There was some water in it though and that had gone sour.
I left the door open for a while to let it air out. I need to remember to clean and dry it out before packing Frostbite up to return home from a camping trip.
All in all, the evening was a great success. I packed up Frostbite for our trip this weekend and she won't be raised up again until we arrive at the campsite on Friday. THIS time I tried to organize things much better and hope that Frostbite is loaded with everything she needs.
We'll see.
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