Pop Up Camper - Part 2

We've been making quite a bit of progress on the pop up lately. You can check out part one here. After Jason took all of the cabinets out, I scraped off all of the loose papery bits then gave it a good cleaning with a TSP substitute. I don't think this is a necessary step, but I did it anyway. I guess it can't hurt. We were originally going to reuse the hardware, but they weren't in very good shape. We removed those and I patched the holes with some wood putty. After that I gave it a coat of Primer. I used Zinsser Bullseye 123 Primer. It stuck to everything which was really nice! Then I finished off everything with two coats of Behr Dark Cavern. 

P.S. It looks like I shouldn't have stopped at the doors...our garage is in dire need of some new paint!

We really love the color. We weren't expecting it to have brown undertones but are very happy with it! We're keeping the white countertop for now. It's in pretty good shape, and I don't think it looks awful!

I'm so excited to see it come together. We had to get these big countertop/bench pieces out of the way so I can spread out to paint the doors, drawers and trim pieces.

Look - I'm helping! I think I've actually done more than Jason on the camper so far. Shhhhh, don't tell him!

While waiting for the paint to dry, I decided to tackle the cushions. We chose this awesome stripe fabric from Jo-Ann. It's an outdoor fabric so I hope it holds up okay. I used the old cushions as pattern pieces and reused the foam as well. The foam was in really great shape. I think I might wrap it in some batting though. That might help it fill out some of the corners. It seems a little loose since the cushions were already squished a bit on the corners from the old covers. I was going to use the old zippers, but we ended up finding some zipper by the yard in the upholstery section. It was about $5 to replace all of the zippers and now they match a bit better than they would have if I used the old ones.

The bottom of the cushions is a flannel backed vinyl. The original cushions used this same type of vinyl, but I'm still not sold on the fabric. It feels a little too flimsy. I hope it wears well. Note to self - next time use the walking foot like I knew I should have! The vinyl stretched quite a bit with the regular foot.

Stripes are tricky, that's for sure! I had to remember to line them up so that when the cushions are sitting on the bench the stripes will be in order. I also had the zippers all close toward the camper wall. The corners were a headache too. I could not figure them out for the bottom cushions. I finally found this post from another camper that posted pictures of what I knew was the way to do the corners. Sometimes you just need to see it. At least two of our cushions look nice and square with no puckers...we're just going to have to live with the other two! I don't think I'm going to redo them.

More camper reno to come!

Pop Up Camper - Part 1

So the Pop Up Camper Redo has begun. Here is the camper all popped out with the crazy awning/screen room. The screen room doesn't really work but the awning is nice. The camper is in pretty good shape. The canvas is relatively new and only has a few minor places where it needs to be repaired.

Before - front

Before - back

When we opened the camper and started moving things a bit, we noticed some pretty bad spots on the roof. Jason just patched the really awful spot, but we are going to wait until winter before we redo the whole roof. It's not leaking or anything so we should be okay but it needs to get fixed.

We took out all of the cabinets and made a bunch of dirt so the after photos look better. It's a good plan in my book. This is the front of the camper.

Back of the camper with cabinets removed.

I scraped all of the walls to remove the loose woodgrain paper. I cleaned it with a TSP cleaner. Then I put on a coat of primer and two coats of paint. We decided to go with Wilmington Tan by Behr. The color almost matches the canvas perfectly. We are painting the cabinets dark but I didn't want the walls to be dark as well even though you don't see much of them.

We replaced the flooring with click lock vinyl flooring. It looks so nice! What a difference it made! A lot of people use the sticky kind, but we like the idea of a floating floor a little better.

A view from outside the camper. Freshly painted walls, new floor...you won't recognize this place when we're done!

More updates soon!

Father Son Campout

From last Friday, this is the only picture I'm allowed to get of the event. Unless of course I happen to be home when they come home all stinky and dirty and dropping their clothes and gear everywhere. I chose not to be home this year!

Can't wait for next year...

1 Night Camp

We took the boys camping last weekend - just Friday night. Now if there is anything I hate, it is one night camping. There is so much work and preparation for one silly night. I like to set up camp and use it for a few days. My mom and dad came with us which was a huge surprise for my dad. I guess my mom hasn't slept in a tent since 1982. We didn't go far just over to Blackwell. After a rough start and some poor planning, things finally settled down and we were able to enjoy ourselves.

Clark - always the ham.

Boompa splits wood while Gigi tends to the fire with her battery powered fan. It worked pretty well in the wet morning fire pit.

We had our signature camping breakfast. We have yet to come up with a good name for it. We just call it our Breakfast Skillet. It's a package of hashbrowns, a package of sausage, some eggs and some cheese. Cook it all up and serve. It's pretty good. My dad made his with a southwest flair by adding some salsa.

Kent was so excited that he got to drink soda for breakfast.

Canada Part 17: Banff Bound

We decided to take a little camping trip while we were on vacation. We headed up to Banff National Park. Kent rode in style. How can you resist this kid?! He wore the goggles almost all the way to Banff, about 3 hours away.

We actually camped in the Bow Valley Provincial Park. The campground was nice, but we were given the crappiest sites in the entire place. We were just off the road and had zero cover which proved to be quite a problem. I bought our tent just before we went out to Canada and am SO happy with this tent! The poles are all attached and it goes up in 60 seconds. We were done with our tent and everyone else was still trying to figure out how the poles go. LOVE the tent.

We knew it was going to rain the first night, so we set up camp while it was dry and then headed into town. While we were away...the wind and rain did a number on the tent that housed Cam, Wendy, Brandon, Melissa, Cody and Cameron. Jason, the kids and I all got back from town before the others who had gone to see a movie. We came back to this...and an inside that was completely flooded. Almost all of the bedding and mattresses had gotten wet. It was so terrible. Jason set the tent back up, but there was nothing we could do about the rest. We sent a text to the other half of the group and hoped they could figure something out.

The next night was SOO windy. The other two tents would flap about in the wind and almost flatten out onto the ground before the wind let up. Our tent was fine. There was a lot of flapping fabric, but nothing really major. Two of our tent stakes did come out of the ground, but she stood firm. It was quite cold too. We bought tent heaters to help warm us up a little and take the chill off. Not a bad product...

Some candid shots of the food...

Tired of the SAME OLD PANCAKE?

...try some Pan Toast!

Jason was at a campout this weekend with the scouts. Turns out the guys sit around the campfire and talk about some really manly stuff - cooking! OK, so it can be manly...and if Jason comes home and makes breakfast afterwards - I'm all for it.

So...what is pan toast, you ask? Well. It's a piece of bread dipped in pancake batter and then cooked up like a pancake. And it's really good!

Here's our favorite recipe for Pancakes and it works really well for Pan Toast too! They really do melt in your mouth.

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Pancakes

by: Bisquick

2 cups Bisquick mix

1 cup milk

2 eggs

Classic version: add 1 Tbsp sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 Tbsp lemon juice

Supreme version: add 2 Tbsp sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla

Stir ingredients until blended. Pour on hot, greased griddle. Cook until edges are dry. Turn. Cook until golden. Makes about 14 pancakes.

(Did you really need the instructions? They were on the box, so I decided to write them)

We like to mix it up and switch from Classic to Supreme. Both are equally melty in your mouth!

Had you ever heard of pan toast before this? Why have you kept it a secret? :)

The Babymoon I've Always Dreamed of...

For our babymoon, I had a lovely weekend planned out for Jason and I in Door County, Wisconsin where we would go sailing and enjoy the fresh air. We could eat the famous fudge and have a very relaxing weekend.

Instead...a lovely canoe trip along the Wisconsin River.

Highlights

Jason did fall in...

Cutlass did enjoy the water...

Dave and Carin came with us...

We saw a bald eagle up close and personal (i.e. going to the bathroom)...

Shawnee National Forest

Luckily for us, Metropolis is located pretty close to the Shawnee National Forest which gave us something else to do than ogle at Superman merchandise and collectibles in the only store in town. Shawnee was gorgeous...half the time I couldn't believe I was still in Illinois. Although you would never guess it with the accents and bad food! I guess that is just Chicago.

Don't rush me, I'm canoeing. Jason is a canoeaholic. He can't stop talking, thinking, dreaming about it. I, on the other hand, need a bit more practice

Garden of the Gods - This is Camel Rock.

Our family picture on table rock

This is Cave in Rock, IL. What a name! This is where the pirates used to wait for flatboats on their way across the Ohio River. I guess they were like the welcome wagon!

More canoeing! This time we were in a Cypress/Tupelo swamp where the trees grow right in the water. It felt like we should have been in Lord of the Rings or something. This is also where I saw a water moccasin. Jason was pretty upset that I saw it and he didn't. I still can't believe he took me to a swamp where I might meet one of the most poisonous snakes in the US.

Our State Champion Bald Cypress tree that is over 1,000 years old!