My Trailer Redo - Day 176- Two Trim Items

  I actually did the first of these a week ago, but decided to lump the two jobs into one BIG ITEM on my list, so, yeah!!!! I can cross one off today.

It had to be below 65 degrees to put the striping tape over the place where the yellow and white paint lines meet. It was pretty easy. I did stretch it too much on one of the bumps, so it's not perfect either. Had to cut that and patch it.

Here's one side of the trailer with the tape in place. The paint job was good enough that this wasn't a crucial item, but I had the tape and wanted to do it. You can see inside and tell that I did this before the kitchen area was done.

The other item was more time consuming. I needed to cut a piece of aluminum angle iron to make a new threshold. I don't have tools or skill to do much metal work. However, this was pretty basic. I would like you to notice that little notch at the edge of the door. I did OK with that.

I was determined to finish this today, and finished just as it was getting dark.

So now I can stop being concerned that I'm going to catch the edge of the floor vinyl and rip it. We did have a piece of a pool noodle snuggled over it. That did the job, and made the door seal at the bottom, but it was a total pain. There is still going to be a pool noodle involved in insulation for now because I guess the only solution for the sprung door is to rebuild it. But, the door edge looks tidy again.

Biggest headache was that I broke the sabre saw (I guess they call them jig saws now). Our first one lasted 40 years. This one has lasted less than 15. I got a Craftsman. The one that broke was an Hitachi. I never liked it, so my heart isn't broken. Here's my criteria for my purchase... It had the smallest handle. Apparently power tool companies think that small people should not want to build anything. Personally, I think it's not very safe if I can't get my hand around the grip of a power tool. Anyway, I went to the store and got a new one. No sense prolonging the agony... I have to have a saw to get the trailer done.

In other news: I worked on food in the morning and the trailer all afternoon. I'm at the point where I do what I can on any of the remaining projects until I have to let something dry or cure or whatever, and then I find something else I can do. 26 BIG ITEMS to do (36 done), and 33 small ones to do (21 done). 25 days to go.

See Kitchen Walls

My Trailer Redo - Days 173-175 - Kitchen Walls

  Today was packed to the gills! First, let me tell you that I do get to cross off one BIG ITEM from my list, and it's the next step in the trailer. I finished the backsplash walls of the kitchen area.

First of all, I was determined to overcome the problem that made the back window so difficult to fit wall board around. The windows are at an angle to the walls, and that angle is out at the bottom and in at the top. So my solution was to build a frame that brings the trailer walls around the window back to vertical (as close as I could get- more on that later). This created a little window sill. Might be useful... might not... it will be behind the curtains.

I also needed to move the electrical outlet, because hotplate cords are short. Just annoying, since I had thought I had that all planned. Oh well, no real biggie.

I decided to use FRP board (fiberglass reinforced plastic) for the wall because it is so flexible. Here is the first try at dry fitting the cut piece into the space. It looks better than it was.

Then I guess I just got focused on dealing with all the things that didn't go right because I didn't take any more pictures until I was done. But I will tell you that the whole project got held up big time because I discovered that I had to do everything I needed to do on this closet wall before I could proceed. We'll talk more about the closet in another installment of this saga. But, as you can see in this picture, it also has an electric outlet mounted in it. That has been planned all along.

There were many, many dry fittings to get the board cut just right and the window and outlet openings in the right places. There was the usual placing small, odd framing pieces, and adding foam insulation where I could, and filling shallow gaps with fiberglass batting.

As it turned out, I had to cut the FRP board into two sections anyway. The final wall was just a tiny bit not "flat," and with going around the curve I had to cut it so it wouldn't buckle. That actually worked out fine. You can see one of the problems in the upper corner by the closet wall. The fact that the corner of the FRP had to bend there threw the opening for the window out of square.

The subway tile is stick-on sheets. Mounting them had a little more of a learning curve than I anticipated. Since I was only doing a small area, I was almost done before I really got it figured out. So it's not as perfect as I would like, and even so, the wall wasn't perfectly square, so I had to fudge things a tiny bit, but it's pretty good. It needs to have trim around the edges which will help it look better, but that's not happening before this trip.

And I had to break down and put some screws on the top side. I was hoping to glue the FRP to the framing. But the whole issue of fastening the stuff down ended up being a question of weighing all the pros and cons. If I glued it in, then it was there permanently, without option to remove it easily, if necessary. But as it turned out, the wall was just not consistently vertical enough, and I realized there was going to be too much torque on the board, and I'd need to screw it.

So then, I wanted to put the screws under the subway tile stickers, so nothing would show. But then, if I needed to remove the wall later, I would sacrifice a tile sheet to get to the screws. Also, the FRP board is a bit brittle, and I can believe the vibrations of towing the trailer might make the screw heads break through. Also, the screw heads left bumps under the fake tile sheets. In the end, I compromised. I screwed the board under the tile near the windows, and put a few screws with trim washers through all the layers. You can see three of the screws in the next picture.

I'm pretty happy. It definitely needs trim... but that will give me something to do in a couple of years, right?

And, AND! Today was a totally get-'er-done day. Monica came over at 8:30 this morning and stayed all day helping with food.

We worked together all morning and packaged up a gazillion (actual number) of meals and snacks.

In the afternoon, I finished the trailer kitchen walls, and Monica mixed and packaged up 127 trail shakes! Yippie!! THANK YOU, MONICA.

There is no other news, but I get to cross off one of the BIG ONES- the trailer kitchen walls, and I also managed to do one small thing. 27 BIG ITEMS to do (35 done), and 33 small ones to do (21 done). 26 days to go.

See Kitchen Countertop

Who is Ralph?

  Bell Choir is having holiday fun this year with secret pals. We each filled out a questionaire about various things we like. Then we wadded the papers into balls and had a paper ball fight until the director called "stop." Then we kept the paper we had. We were to give small gifts to the person we got.

My gifts are coming from "Ralph." I suspect someone has a grandson! But I'm getting much more than some simple gifts. Week One, I got a small bag of trail mix (which I put in my trail food), and a letter with a picture of a pathway lined with flowers. The words are adapted from "Going on a Bear Hunt." It says:

You are going on a "Trail" Hunt!
You're going to find a loooooong one...
When it's a beautiful day
You'll be sure to find your way...

You are going on a "Trail" Hunt!
You're going to find a loooooong one...
But when obstacles pop up,
It might be hard to find your way!

But before you hit the "Trail" Hunt!
Going on that loooooong one...
Your Mystery Ranger "Ralph" will be
Here to help you on your way!

Week 2, I got a picture of a lovely red bug in the grass, and some decorative table fringe. It may have to be saved for "some" post-hike celebration. The picture is grass- like the green swishy fringe.

The new parts of the poem are:

OH OH... Grass!
Can't go over it...
Can't go under it...
You'll have to go through it!

Swiiiish
Swiiiish
Swiiiish
Swiiiish

After you are home from your "Trail Hunt," this will remind you of the wonderful fields of grass you were able to swish through.

Last week, I got fish jumping in a river. It came with a single packet of really good coffee. I drank it on my low energy day and it perked me up.

The new words are:

Oh Oh... a river!
A deeeep cold river!
Can't go over it,
Can't go under it,
Will have to go through it!

Splash splosh! 4 times

But at the end of the day there's nothing like a hot "cup-o-Joe to help warm you up. This one's on me.

And yesterday, I got a whole orchard full of apple trees, and a little apple pie. I had the pie for dessert last night.

Oh, Oh... an orchard!
With big red juicy apples!
Can't go over it,
Can't go under it,
Will have to go through it!

Pick some! (4 times)

Just think of the yummy pies you could make with all those wonderful apples.

I don't think anyone is getting any better gifts than I am! Thank you Ralph- whoever you are. (I'll know who my pal is before I leave on the hike.)

In other news: Dang! I REALLY wanted to cross off the next big item on the trailer. I did a little accounting, and a little bit on food and then worked my tail off on the trailer. But I discovered that I had to do part of the next piece before I could finish this piece, and then I had to wait for stuff to dry, so I also worked on yet another piece. I would have worked past dark if I could have finished, but I had to fiberglass in another brace, so it has to dry overnight anyway. But tomorrow is looking good. Seriously. I managed to do 2 small jobs, but I added several more.

27 BIG ITEMS to do (35 done), and 34 small ones to do (20 done). 27 days to go.

See Bell Choir Day

Trail Dreamin'

  I met with Rob Alway of Mason County Press today to talk about my upcoming hike. Came away with a couple of nice pictures of me. Here's one. We drove some back roads to get home from the trail. Always a treat.

Yesterday, the sunrise was stunning. Today it's the sunset. Even in the Meijer parking lot, it was pretty neat.

In other news: It's all other news. I did get to cross off one big item and one small one by meeting with Rob. I worked on accounts, I did a little bit with trail food. I worked on the trailer all afternoon. However, I still don't get to cross off the next item because I had to do some fiberglass work. Turned on my little heater to get the temperature inside up enough for the resin to set. Even without the insulation completed yet it does the job. But... since I have to wait for that to dry before I can continue on the part that's almost done... I spent the rest of my time doing any little things I could think of to make progress that weren't involved in waiting for that to dry. We also got surprise intermittent rain which hampered things. Then I went to bell choir practice and the hardware store.

27 BIG ITEMS to do (35 done) and-gasp, I started adding small jobs, 29 small ones to do (18 done). 28 days to go.

See Thinking Wintery Thoughts

Thinking Wintery Thoughts

  Spectacular sunrise this morning, but with the calendar changing to November it's no surprise that the days are colder. Oddly enough, this seems to be the first November sunrise I've ever posted!

I've been hoping for over a year to get this pair of snowshoes for my hike. I wanted them last winter to test them out. Nope. Out of stock. I figured I was going to be up the creek, and wasn't sure what I would do about it. I was checking the web site about once a month all year. At the beginning of October, they suddenly said they could ship on October 18. Got me a pair!

These are Crescent Moon Luna shoes. They're made of foam. In fact, the pair weighs under 2.5 pounds!

I made sure they will work with my small feet, but it's all good. No way to predict if I'll need them in Ohio, but I don't want to awake some morning to deep snow and not have this option. They are light enough that I can just bungee them on my pack if I hit a space where they aren't needed.

I also broke down and bought a 15-degree liner for my "sleeping system." I did add a zipper to my Enlightened Equipment Revelation quilt, which turned it into a sleeping bag. But I just don't think that even with removing the draftiness that it's going to do the job on really cold nights. The liner is Sea-to-Summit Reactor. It weighs 9.4 ounces. More than I'd like, but then again, I don't want to freeze at night.

The real issue may be that it's polyester. If you've been hanging around me long enough, you know that polyester tends to give me a rash. But I'm hopeful that my pajamas will keep me separated from it enough to be OK except for maybe my neck. I currently have a rash on my neck which I suspect is from wearing a 50/50 cotton/poly sweatshirt, so this is a real issue. I suppose I can tie my bandana around my neck.

It feels slightly fuzzy but not like fleece. I will sleep outside one night this month when it drops below freezing to test everything out.

In other news: I did accounts and trail food all morning (with, of course, another trip to the store), and worked on the trailer in the afternoon. I unrealistically thought I might be able to cross off the next big thing in the trailer, but it really was too much to expect. I made good progress, though, and worked till my hands were so cold they were clumsy. Then I did three of the small jobs from my list, which included putting away the hoses- a miserable job that I hate, so I get to pat myself on the back. High of 42 degrees today. Same predicted tomorrow. OK to work on the trailer for a few hours at that temp.

28 BIG ITEMS to do (34 done) and 21 small ones to do (17 done). 29 days to go. I need to start adding stuff to the list of small things. I'd REALLY like to get the big ones done with enough days left to actually think about being ready to leave. But, that's not looking good, right? I'm already thinking about which of those items I can ditch and "blow off" for a whole year.

See Enlightened Equipment Revelation Review