Hello All! I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather! I know we are!! We recently decided that since our Saint isn't working in the timely fashion that we would prefer, we would go ahead and make it easier for us to explore a little. We bought an old pop-up camper for a steal. It was still structurally sound but was in desperate need of a facelift. Our son has dubbed it the "Sample Camper". We've taken it out a couple times now and it works great for the time being. Here are some before and after photos...
Before:
Old, outdated fabric and wood color = yuck
Old, outdated flooring = yuck
Droopy, saggy window closures and these weird elastic things that I'm guessing were supposed to hold them in place = yuck
Old hand pump sink = yuck
More outdated cabinetry, and the stove top which we decided we wouldn't be using inside unless necessary.
Such pretty curtains ..... or not
After:
So nice and bright! Bright new curtains, white cabinetry, matching bedding for both beds!
New faucet! Aaron installed a water pump connected to our internal tank for the right handle and the left handle turns on the external water when we are hooked up to a water system.
This is a the cabinet under the faucet. The 5 gallon tank is on the left....
Next to the tank is the water pump and behind it is the battery which powers the pump. I just realized I didn't take a picture of it, but Aaron also installed a switch on the front of the cabinet to turn on the water pump when we are ready to use it and turn it off when we're done so we aren't wasting any energy.
Look at that beautiful white cabinetry and those gorgeous floors!!!
So in case you weren't aware, pop-ups don't have a ton of storage. So I picked up a hanging shoe organizer from Target to store some of our food items. It doesn't hold everything, to say the least, but I can fit kid snacks in there as well as some cooking supplies.
The all important smoke/carbon monoxide detector. Since doing all of our research for full-time rv-ing, we've discovered how quickly these suckers can burn to ashes. So, we decided we should equip ourselves with some notification measures. It works too! We discovered that this last weekend when I had the windows open and our camp fire was getting pretty smoky from some wet wood. It's nice and loud, that's for sure!
I re-upholstered the dining cushions and added a table cloth for some added coziness.
I just love how bright and cheery the curtains are!
Both of the beds are full size. We both sleep with a kid and it helps us all fit in there comfortably. The mattresses are original... which means they are 19 years old. I couldn't make peace with sleeping on them, but I didn't want to spend the $$ to buy brand new mattresses for a temporary camper. So I added 1.5" foam mattress toppers and wrapped them in these cool bed bags that protect against moisture, allergens, and bed bugs. So now it's comfy and I feel that it's safer to sleep on.
More clever storage. This is our closet. Again, I purchased this hanging organizer from Target, along with the drawers. We each take a drawer and the empty space is for swimsuits and our hat supply. You'd be surprised how many days/nights worth of cloths you can fit in one drawer! I've been impressed so far!
Since there are limited outlets in our pop-up, Aaron installed a new outlet that can hold usb's too. Now we have plenty of outlets and can still charge our phones at night!
This is my allergy arsenal. These three things are very important for our family, and they work GREAT in the pop-up. On the left is our air purifier. Another Target purchase which cleans allergens, smoke, dust, etc etc out of the air. In the middle is my essential oils carrying case. It's filled with oils to help our family with allergies, bug bites, upset stomachs, headaches, sleep issues, bleeding, and on and on and on. I LOVE essential oils! On the right is our essential oil diffuser. At night I put in the oils for allergies, though I've been adding eucalyptus too since it helps with bug repellent and is anti-viral since we've had a little bit of nastiness running through our house. I wouldn't EVER choose to camp without these three things.
Our pop-up has an ice chest instead of a fridge. We fill it with our food and ice and it stays cold for a long time! As the ice melts, the water drips out of a hole in the bottom of the camper. No dumping needed! (Look at those beautiful floors!!!)
Our ice chest, packed to the max! I was able to fit almost three days worth of food in there. If it hadn't been for all the beer and other adult drinks I packed, I probably wouldn't have needed the extra cooler.
We decided to put on some new tires. The old ones still had good tread, but they were five years old and we really didn't want to risk having to deal with a blow out on the side of the road.
Aaron replaced the old jacks, and put in some super stable ones. This is him grinding off the old ones. He DID NOT enjoy doing this, but it has made all the difference in the world!! The camper no longer moves and I don't feel like I've been on a cruise ship anymore after being in there for a while.
One of the four new jacks. It used to only have two in the back, but now it has two in front and two in back. SO MUCH BETTER!!!
We replaced the spare tire cover. I know it's silly to show, but hey, I was taking pictures of everything we did so why not include that too!
Our grey water system. The hose drains from the sink, and into these buckets. I love having running water in the camper!! So much better from when we used to tent camp!
Our cook station! Grill on left, stove top on right.
The camp all set up this past weekend. I should add we also cleaned the awning. It was NASTY!! So nasty in fact that we were going to pitch it. It rode around in the back of the truck for about a week because we kept forgetting about it. We were going to just go without, but after a weekend camping without it, we decided we really did want one for when it gets really hot out. So I decided to buckle down and clean it up rather than buying a new one. It's pretty amazing what some bleach water can clean up!
Again, it's silly to show, but it's all good. A sticky level. A few bucks, but makes it so much easier to get set up.
Camp is set up. Fire is going. Pictures taken. Now time to relax!! This obviously won't work for the long term with our full-time rv-ing adventure, but it sure works for now! We LOVE it!!
