Saturday, December 28, 2013

Vintage Trailer Rehab

We've finally arrived at our first stop on the road - the grandparents' in Colorado. As we spend some time enjoying the holidays, here's a little bit of what we've been doing to make my 1975, 14ft. MeToo travel trailer more suitable for full time living:



Tearing out the bunks and dinette resulted in an large open space. Now, what to do with it? The bunks from the house would have fit, but too heavy. A lightweight futon was a consideration. Yak wanted a hammock to sleep in. The man of the place came up with the idea of removing the bunk from the old RV and making it a fold-up bed. That sounded good, so he went ahead with it.





Here you can see the bed folded down, with a little bit of a shelf next to the wall. The bottom picture is the bed folded up. You can see the mattress sticking out the top and the hinged leg supports folded against the bed. I still have to add a center support and straps to hold the bed in the up position. There is now quite a bit of easily accessible storage space under the bed, and when folded up, storage boxes can be moved outside, to give me a large workspace for sewing, writing, whatever.



Another modification we made was to remove the smaller, non-working fridge and replace it with the larger fridge from our old RV. This involved removing the entire door frame and building out the cabinet to accommodate the bigger fridge. A few more cubic inches doesn't seem like much, but it really makes a difference.

A former owner upgraded the electrical system, including putting in an independent battery system, which I have yet to figure out. I still have some work to do on the heater and oven, though the stove works. The hot water system is a battery operated pump at this time, until I get the hot water pipes replaced and can check the water heater. The cold water works fine. When it's not frozen solid. I fiberglassed a crack in the gray/black water tank and have a minor repair to do on the toilet, but then I think the plumbing will be ready to use.

Right now, everything's thawing out, as I had no electricity the first few days we were here. Now I'm plugged in and have the electric heater going. Luckily, we've been warm and dry in the grands' guest room while we work out the bugs.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

If you enjoyed this post, you might like:

A New Direction
Outfitting The RV - DIY Mattresses and Drapes

   
Working and Homeschooling


Mobilizing the Homestead

Thursday, December 12, 2013

A New Direction


Sunset at Wild Horse Ranch
I have been a bit slower to post this past month, as we have been working hard on the new direction our life is taking. Preparing for full-time living in an RV and travel trailer has meant major renovation to the travel trailer, which I will post about in the weeks to come, and getting animals to the vet, to update shots and such.

The horses are now safely ensconced in their new home in Northern Colorado, under the watchful care of my daughter, the horse lover. We are taking a little break, to enjoy a late Thanksgiving and early Christmas together, and then will head back to the homestead to put the finishing touches on the travel trailer before heading up to the grandparents' in Southern Colorado, where we will spend the holidays. Both of these towns are wonderful, and I am excited to explore them and write about them in the coming year. There are lots of farms and dairies, local beekeepers and other homesteaders. As well as all kinds of activities and points of interest for travelers.

Moonrise over Wild Horse Ranch
For now, here are a couple of pictures of the horses enjoying Wild Horse Ranch. I hope to post a couple more times in the coming weeks, and then more often again after New Year's. Looking forward to sharing about our Homestead on the road.


If you liked this post, you might enjoy:

Outfitting the RV - DIY Mattresses and Drapes
Mobilizing the Homestead     



Simplifying the Homestead
Homesteading on the Road