Summer Upgrades To Our Home On Wheels!

We've had nothing but time this summer, as Tom recovered from surgery. We spent that time, spending money! We have purchased several things to make living in our home on wheels, more comfortable and more efficient. We are certainly ready to go now!

In the kitchen, I purchased this two tier fruit and vegetable basket. This sits on our counter and holds a lot! It takes up much less space than trying to put everything in 2 or 3 baskets. Plus, it looks great!

We also bought this bread box. I wasn't sure they even made bread boxes anymore but I found it on Amazon (where I find MANY of my treasures!).  I was putting bread in an upper cupboard but it got pretty warm up there. Then I began putting it in a drawer in the kitchen but I really needed that space for other things. So, this has been our solution and I love it!

     

I also had trouble keeping the hard water streaks from showing in the shower. We squeegee it every time we shower but it still showed hard water streaks. So, I ordered some vinyl static clings. The design is pebbles/stones and I love it! We still squeegee but the lines don't show any longer. It was super easy to install and very easy to remove. Here is a photo with one of three sides completed.

The "basement" storage is large but it was very unorganized and very hard to reach the middle area. So, we ordered a MorRyde slide for the basement. It slides both ways so no matter what side of the 5th wheel we are on, we can slide it toward us and reach everything! Here is a photo of the slide just after we installed it. A big thank you to Danny for helping Tom install it! So far we love it.

After the basement slide was installed, we needed a way to stack the camping chairs so they take up very little space. Tom built this "U" shaped storage rack out of PVC and it works great. We have a strip of Velcro on each end to hold the pieces together tightly when the chairs are loaded. Perfect!

                                               

We have been trying to figure out how to wash our new home. At first we thought we would go to a truck wash but we were afraid the water pressure would be harmful to the exterior. Most campgrounds/RV parks won't let you wash your rig at your site. Then we read about campgrounds in the south (mainly Florida I think.) that have someone who comes around and washes your rig for ..... $200. plus!!! We met Jannel and Steve  in our campground a few months ago. They are also full-time travelers originally from Derby. They come back to Wichita routinely to visit family. They told us about a dry wash they use. It was originally developed for airplanes! It is made by a company called Aero Cosmetics and it can be ordered on Amazon. It can be used on airplanes, RV's, cars/trucks, boats etc. It washes and waxes. The upfront cost is $200 and the refill jug is about $10. It comes with several pads of various sizes. The extension pole is super easy to use and easily reaches the top of any RV. Here is a photo of our clean, waxed and shiny RV!! Honalee is looking good! We love it!

When we ordered Honalee, we had them prep for a generator but Tom felt he could buy a generator himself, cheaper. And he did. We had it installed by a local RV repair shop and they did a great job. So, when the electricity goes off during a storm or when we choose to boondock. We don't have to leave the comforts of our home to start it. There is a switch inside and it comes to life! It's quiet and runs off our propane tanks.

Back inside, we found that we needed drawer space! So, we bought this 4-drawer cabinet and it fits inside the closet perfectly. Two drawers are Tom's and two are mine.

Since we are new to this lifestyle, we didn't know that our new home would come with no covering on the front door! No blinds, no shades and no curtain. When it gets dark outside, you can see everything through that door! No privacy at all! So, I made this shade that covers the entire window. We roll it up and store it during the day but when night comes, we hang it up!

If you know me at all, you know I love lots of color in my world. Well, Honalee came in one color.... BROWN. So much of it!! So, I immediately put some color in our bedroom (see previous post titled "November and December 2016")  but it needed more! So, I recently updated the hall window. This window is all alone so I only did this one window. It's bright and colorful and makes me happy to see it! You will notice that I put vinyl cling on this window so no one can see inside. That is because this window is directly across from the bathroom and I often leave he door to the bathroom open and I always forgot about this window being right there!! Well, now we can get light through it but no one can see inside!

We bought covers for our fantastic fans. The covers protect the fan from hail and other damage.

I love the living space in our new home but wanted it to be a bit more "cozy" so I purchased and area rug. It is a cream color and has swirls in it that match the swirls in the valances on the windows. We love it! Feels warm and looks inviting!

We needed a way to clean the slides before bringing them in. We needed a lightweight extending ladder and found this perfect ladder! It is called Telesteps and works perfectly.

We have a Garmin for RVers which will be installed soon. We will be able to plug in the RV height etc. and find routes that are the best for our rig. Our truck has maps and we can also use our phone maps but this particular GPS will allow us to specify the type of roads we want, where the diesel gas stations are located, the height of overpasses, etc.

We have also purchased an RVS wireless camera system for the back of the RV. This will allow us to see who/what is behind us as we travel down the road. It will allow us to see when it is safe to pass, and assist us with backing up.

We are ready for take-off! Tom has a clean and clear bill of health! He is back to his usual bike rides (15 to 28 mile rides) and is doing great! His last day of work was August 31st!

This summer was made even more difficult due to the rudeness and unfriendly nature of the USI RV park managers. It is perfectly located for us and very convenient to everything we needed so we had no choice but to stay. However, we will choose other options when we return to this area. Since we are new to this lifestyle, we were expecting friendly and welcoming behavior. We have been stunned by the aggressive attitudes and mean exchanges we have encountered by the owner and the managers. This is a weird RV park. (I hope it's not this way in other RV parks!) No one talks to each other. No one stops to chat as they walk by. Rarely do we see others sitting outside enjoying themselves. We get the last laugh though.... we get to leave here! (and they have to stay!) We get to enjoy this great land and connect with old and new friends along the way! We are ready to leave this place and explore North America!!