Laundry Chute

OK, so it's not really a chute per se, but ever since I saw a laundry chute in the Wolfwood 5er (Hi Judy and Kathy!) I wanted to come up with something clever for stowing laundry in our new camper.  And wouldn't you know, there's a spot that was perfect for a pretty simple mod...

 inside Theo's closet!

I didn't snag a "before" photo, but the same false panel from below extended to the upper framed opening as well.  So I popped it out, cut it to size and put it back in, covering just the lower section that is visible when the door is closed.  When it is open it reveals the opening that now goes into the strorage hatch that is accessible from the outside. 

 Here's a view from inside the storage hatch.  And as luck would have it, I found a folding bin at the Christmas Tree Shop that fits the space perfectly!  The bin folds up when not in use, which is perfect since this is the space that the Weber Q rides in during travel.

CT - Hopeville Pond State Park

 This is a pretty nice state park fairly close to home.  The sites are big, but a little odd shaped and in some areas have little privacy between them.  Still, we had a great weekend and would return again.  We had glorious weather and got to swim, kayak, fish, ride bikes, do some geocaching and some trail running.

We were on site T10, which is one of two with electricity.  Since we just weren't sure if it would be hot, I booked this site...but we ended up not needing A/C.  We determined that there are some nicer sites close to the water and we'd try to get those next time and just camp completely dry.  This site was right next to an outhouse, which didn't always smell the most pleasant, and it was really tricky to back into with the trees and boulders and narrow road.  Had the nice guy who backs trailers for a living not come and guided us (and move a boulder...yeah, tiny guy)...we would have been there for hours trying to back in inch by inch.

 Not to mention, the site was set up so we had to have the camper door facing the opposite way from camp.  kinda weird walking around to the other side all weekend.  So, another site next time for sure.

Theo on his kayak - the camper's beach is in the background.  Nice little beach that we made good use of!

Kevin and Theo...and the tip of my boat.  Glorious looking weather, huh?  It really was that nice!

We've had this old open fire popcorn popper in our basement for years...since we have so much storage space in the Visa, I decided to throw it in the hatch.  The jury is still out as far as where it came from - both Kevin and I recall our parents having one at our respective lake homes growing up...and we both have the same memory of it never having been used - funny.  So either way this thing has to be at least 25-30 years old, and finally saw it's first use...aaaand it works!

Weber Q

We have a Weber Q220 at home and love it.  On Pop Up Explorer/RV Itch many people mod a Baby Q to use the low pressure quick connect on their camper if they have one...since the Visa came with a quick connect, it didn't take too long before this mod was calling my name.  I found a never-used Q100 (the little brotherto our 220) on Craigslist, complete with the rolling collapsible stand and cover - sweet!

 So you start by taking the regulator off of the grill, which leaves you with a 1/8" male fitting.  From there here is the list of parts I ordered from http://www.bigway.com/:
- Reducing coupling ¼” female to 1/8” female, item # 40-1 (from the grill to the hose)
- Hose (I went for 9’) ¼” male on both ends, item # 20-90
- Gender bender double female coupling, part # 39-10 (from the hose to the quick connect)
- Quick coupling male pin to ¼” male, item # 28-70 (to the trailer)

Here's a shot of the connection at the grill:

And here's a shot of the connection at the camper:

Of course if you plan to do this mod, use pipe dope on all connections, and leak check it before using :)

New wallpaper border and stove cover

I wasn't nuts about the diamond wallpaper border that came in the visa, so I put up some pinecones.  Not quite as fun as our camping signs in the Aliner, but still more camping-ish than the diamond pattern.

Also in this picture is the stove cover I made.  It is a bamboo cutting board which I glued a piece of the non-slip shelf liner onto using contact cement.  We've taken two trips now with it in place and no movement while on the road!

Sewer Hose Storage

Since the Visa doesn't have the standard 4" square bumper (it is 2"x4")...and from what I understand the Rhino hose fittings don't fit so well in those anyway, we kind of copied something I saw online. 

The parts list:

 - a 4.75" x 4.75"x 96" vinyl fence post cover

 - a vinyl gutter (cut down to 95")

 - two 4"x4" post toppers

 - four eye screws and four standard screws

 - two small bungees

 - and a couple of screen tabs (because I had those around from a previous project...you could use something else for the drawer pulls/bungee holders)

Here is a close up on how the bungees are attached and how they hook onto the little screen tab/drawer pull.

Here is a shot of the "drawer" pulled out.  The 4x4 toppers are screwed on to the gutter.  We also plan to get a second gutter segment and cut it a bit smaller to use as a hose support and keep it underneath the drawer.

We drilled some drainage holes in both the gutter and the fence post. 

It is attached to the frame using giant industrial zip ties through holes in the bottom and also around the whole thing just to be extra sure.

A few interior pics

NH - Moose Hillock Campground

We were on site #45 again this year, which I booked when we still had the Aliner...but it was plenty big to fit our new camper as well...we had forgotten how big the sites were here! (we had room to set up the EZ-Up awning behind the camper to keep the bikes dry when it rained, and room to spare in front of the truck as well.)

 First order of business was swimming and watersliding...and then more swimming and watersliding, and even more swimming and watersliding.  I won't bore everyone with pool pics, but I have plenty of 'em.  Theo and Kevin were best at this flip thing on the first day...after that I could tell that both of them were getting a little tired and were missing some of the "spring" from the first day!

 Theo on top of our fire pit.

 Roasting some marshmallows.

 We had one drizzly overcast day, so we went to Clark's Trading Post.  The boys had fun on the bumper boats.

 And Theo got to try a Segway.  The pic is a little fuzzy since I was trying to take the pic and stay on my Segway at the same time!

 Theo and I tried our hand at a climbing wall.

And we had a few great family hikes in the White Mountains.  No moose sightings, but we did find some hoof prints.  We'll have to try some early evening hikes next year.