Exciting new RV upgrade/mod - Part 2 of 3

Ever since I saw Andy Baird's post on his new pantry I've wanted one.  Then when I met Andy, he showed me some of his motor home modifications that are documented on his website, and one was the pantry.

Then last winter, Jeanne was visiting her parents in Texas and she and her Dad built a pantry for her Lazy Daze, too.  After seeing hers I really wanted one!

I printed out their posts and Andy's pantry plan for Tom to see, and we followed that plan with some adjustments to fit The Palms.  Thanks to you both for your informative posts on how to do this. 

Here are the photos of the next phase of my new RV mod - the building of my new...

Tom finished up fitting the four sides of the outer box, attached them together, and added boards on the top, middle and bottom for stability.  (He used wood glue on parts of the pantry before attaching the wood with nails or screws where he wanted the extra hold. ) 

You can see, if you look close, the holes already drilled to hold the pins that will be inserted into the frame to lay the shelves on.

Then we walked over to The Palms to place the box on the wall to be sure it fit, and it was perfect.

We brought the pantry frame back to the garage.  The second piece of plywood was used for the back, which was attached next.  When we got the two pieces of plywood, we decided to get one with a finished side, in case we wanted to use that for the inside of the pantry.   After talking it over, we decided to use the finished side against the wall and stain the unfinished side to use inside the pantry.  We were both happy with that decision when it was done.

Tom had already blended stains to match the cabinetry in The Palms, and with the final stain can and a clean rag, I started rubbing it on. 

I've never done this before, and was surprised how easy it was and how nice it looked.

While I was staining the wood, Tom prepped the shelves, sanded the edges and applied the stainable  iron-on edging.  He had already done that with the wood edges I was staining.  The cabinetry in The Palms is Honey Maple, so everything we got was maple, and the stain matched the honey color.

Then he stained the door, and once they were both dry, he did a little hand sanding.
 

When they were dry, he sprayed on the seal.  It dried overnight, and the next day he sanded it and re-sprayed the seal for a beautiful smooth finish to match the cabinetry in The Palms.

I'm not sure of my timeline here - we worked on the pantry and also did other things and had Easter with the family all during the same time, over a few days.  Sometimes Tom was out in the garage working by himself while I was doing other things.  He got piano hinges to hold the door on, and decided to attach three of them to hold the door securely.

And he got the closure hardware, double roller catches with spear spikes.  He used four of those along the door and inside the cabinet to make sure the door didn't open while I was traveling.  The ones he chose keep the door closed tight, but are easy for me to pull open.  They were attached after the pantry was on the wall.

When it was finally done and we had some time, I moved The Palms up to the driveway, opened the door, and...

In the next post I'll show you the install of the pantry and how it looks on the wall.  Plus how much it holds.  Amazing!  :)

From me and Katie, have a great Sunday, everyone!  :)

Exciting new RV upgrade/mod - Part 1 of 3

I've been looking forward to this for at least six months, and it's finally happened!  Actually I had one in my condo in San Diego, and have missed it for over four years.  But I started thinking about one seriously about six months ago.  I sent an e-mail to my son, Tom, who agreed to "help," and here we are.  YES!

First some photos to show the prep running up to the final modification.  I'm going to show you the rest of the mod build in Part 2, and then the install in Part 3.  I took so many photos, it's ridiculous!  WAY too many photos for one post.

You'll probably guess what it is, but maybe not.  ; )   So, here we go...

First Tom checked out The Palms to make sure what I wanted to do would fit.  He took some measurements.  We spent some time at a lumber yard, looking at different kids of wood, and chose two pieces of plywood.  We had his large work truck and the wood was placed inside. Tom's a general contractor and had all the tools and almost everything else we needed to complete the job.

We drove back to Tom's house and started unloading.  Tom took out the wood and the saws and grinder and tools from the truck, got set up and started measuring and cutting, trimming and sanding, drilling, staining and sealing.  I did a little sanding and staining, but Tom knew what he was doing and it was better if I mostly enjoyed watching him do his thing.

Just to prove I helped:

This little guy is a knot or flaw in the wood - what do you see? 

Yup, a Roadrunner running, hiding inside my new mod.  It's a sign...  Right?  My on-board good luck charm.  :)

So...  any ideas?  Do you know what it is?  Check back in the next post to find out for sure!

From me and Katie, totaling enjoying our new RV mod, have a great Saturday, everyone!

More family visit photos, back in Hot Springs - Part 2. And scarey visitors and a move

I took hundreds of photos during my trip - it was hard to whittle them down.  Here are a few more.

Actually, Trish took this first one of a very tired Graydin.  Those iPhones really take nice photos. He didn't have the energy to walk up the stairs for a nap:

 Is this cute, or what???

 Trish's selfie of all of us around the table after Easter Dinner - Grammy is looking a little tired, LOL

Granddaughter Kennedy at soccer practice.  She was just accepted on a competitive traveling team.  I love these photos of her.  She's competitive, smart, sweet, and beautiful - an all around a great kid.  She just turned 12 in January, and is doing so well for a girl her age.  Kennedy is the one with the Origami Owl jewelry business.  It's still going strong.  Middle School next year!  :)

Tom bar-b-qued a wonderful beef loin for us one night.  Here is everyone around the table:

You can see how well the boys get along in these two pictures. 

Trish was trying to get a good selfie of herself and Tom.  He made some faces and the photos were pretty funny.  Here's Trish showing Tom:

 I won't post the funny photos here, Tom.  You're welcome. ;)

When we left San Diego, we spent the first night at Viejas Casino in Alpine, then drove on to Hot Springs LTVA near Holtville, CA the next day. We are allowed three nights per calendar month at Viejas Casino.  I took one night coming back to Hot Springs, will stay again on my way back to San Diego for my doctor appointment, and then the third night heading east on my way to New Mexico.  Worked out well!

The Scary Part

I had a great spot, of course, when I first got here to Hot Springs.  I was right up front on a paved pad near the vacant camp host's spot.  This is at sunset:

Look how empty it is:

Most of these areas were full of RV's; some had already left when I arrived on 3/9, and more left around the time I started toward San Diego on March 24th.  I thought some non-Canadians would still be here, but only two remain.  These shots don't show all the bushes.  There aren't many trees, but there are a lot of bushes, some short, some tall, some very full, and lots of greenery. 

Here we are to the right of the entrance: 

The entrance to the camping area - this is the camp host's site on the left:

To the left of the entrance and down the road:

I had my pick of the sites.  Nice!  It was quiet, the weather is great, I was a happy camper. I could see one Class A parked down the main road a bit, but that's all I could see.  Another car drove in and out a few times, so I guessed there was another person here, too.

Then after a day or so, in this empty campground, a red car, driven by a single man, parked two sites behind me.  I took these photos out the kitchen window.  He opened his driver's door and trunk and just stood there, looking around, playing with his long dark hair. 

He sat in his car with the door open for a while, then stood outside again for a long time. I was pretty nervous, and closed everything up, just open enough to peek outside through the bottom of my lace hemmed curtains.  As it got dark and with him still there, I brought everything outside into The Palms for a quick get-away, if needed.  I knew there was was at least one RV down the road from me.  I could see it, but it wasn't that close.

In the morning, the red car was gone.  As my neighbor, Sonny said, sometimes men feel better parking near another camper, too, not just women, and maybe that's all that was going on.  He might have been more comfortable being near someone. But I didn't want to take any chances.

Then yesterday I decided to walk down the road a bit to see who else is here.  I found the man in the Class A outside  his rig and stopped to talk to him.  He said it was only him, Sonny, another man, Roy over in another area, and me.

I told him about the red car making me nervous, and he kept looking past me, then said, are you expecting company?  I said no, and he said there's someone walking around your rig.  I turned around and saw a black car parked next to The Palms. 

I didn't recognize the car.  I started running down the road, pushing the stroller.  I stopped at one point and took photos of a nice looking black man and his car - a nice looking black BMW.  He walked up to my door and looked like he was knocking or trying the handle.  I stopped again, and screamed at him - over and over - "Get AWAY from my rig!" until he walked away from the door and toward me.  Then I started running again toward The Palms.

He started walking toward me, smiling.  When I had almost reached him, I said, in a serious loud voice, "What's going on?"  He smiled and kept walking toward me and said Hi.  Very friendly.  I said, "What do you want?"  very low voice, fast and serious.  Then he tells me he just came from Blythe and left his wallet there and needs money for gas.  I said, "I have nothing to give you.  Get your car away from my rig, and out of my campsite.  Right now."  He said, "Okay - no problem."  Something like that.  I said, "Don't EVER park that close to someone's motor home.  That's a really bad idea, and really rude.  Get it out of my site, now!"  He turned around, walked back.

He got into his car and left.  Whew. What a nerve!  I got a good photo of the license plate on the back, just in case, as he was driving away. 

You know, this is a fee-only campsite.  Anyone coming in here should have a season pass or have paid for a site.  It's not like a Home Depot or Wal-Mart parking lot where people are walking around begging for money.  (Never food, always money.)  We're also eight miles from Holtville, the nearest small town, so there is NO reason for anyone to be here asking for money. 

So then we walked back to Sonny's rig and told him what happened.  He said while we had been talking he saw the guy drive in, park next to my rig, knock on the door, then walk around the rig.  When I was running toward him, he had his hand up to the door again.  Knocking?  Checking to see if it was unlocked?

Sonny said while I was running toward The Palms he got on his golf cart and started down the road, so the man would see him.  He stopped and waited a little ways away until the car was out of the campground.  He said he didn't mind at all if I moved closer to him, so I decided to bring The Palms up to his area, and parked across the road from him, behind a bush, but still visible.  No more lone men in cars near my rig.

Maybe these two episodes were nothing more than what happened, no ulterior motives on their part. But when something happens like this, and it doesn't feel right, better to listen to our instincts and take precautions.  If Sonny hadn't been here, and been so helpful, I would have left the campground.

(That's one reason I like having a small motor home and no toad.  I don't put much outside.  If I had to leave anything I have outside, it wouldn't be much of a loss, usually just chairs.  But I don't want to lose Katie's stroller, so I always bring it inside at the first sign of anything I don't feel comfortable with.) 

We'll leave on Tuesday (tomorrow) and head back to San Diego, I have three nights planned along the way to overnight at free stops.

Next post will begin the RV Mod information.  YAAAAY!  I can't wait for you to see it.

It's been a while since I've welcomed new Followers, and today's the day!  We have four new followers, all women - and none of them has any personal information shown.  Ladies, if any of you have blogs, please let me know in a comment and I'll post it so we can all check out your blog, okay?

WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST FOLLOWERS:  
Linda Chapman
Karen S
Terrie Pressman  NOTE:  I just found her blog - Ponder in the Blue Yonder - that was started on April 5.  :)
Deb Dean   (One of my best friends in high school in San Mateo, CA, was Debbie Dean. Deb, let me know if that's you.  Wouldn't it be cool to re-connect?) 

Thanks to you all for following along with me and Katie - we are very happy to have you on board!

From me and Katie, have a great Monday, everyone!   :)