Ho-hum.............YAWN..........

Well, 2 weeks have dragged by since my last post, and even though I really don't have anything new to report, one of my readers poked me yesterday and reminded me that I should post SOMETHING!! OK OK OK.....geez!! The remodel of the new STEALTH camper is pretty much complete, and I really like what I have done with it! The new fridge will be in next week, which means I'll have to do some minor re-arranging to get it in its place....the microwave will set on top of it, and the coffeemaker on top of that, but it will free up more room for other things. A new 100 watt solar panel is on the way from AM Solar in Oregon as well, along with mounts and tilt bars and the wiring that goes with it. That will bring the solar capacity up to 180 watts.....then later on in the summer will order an additional 100 watt panel and tie them all together, for a total of 280 watts of solar charging capacity. And that will be plenty! I continue on hiatus from the Ace Hardware project, though we are hearing from the company that we can expect to be called back out as early as 6/11, with work lined up through the end of the year! Awesome opportunity to save back serious cash in travel fund! It would be great to work non stop through next spring, then hit the road!! So many possibilities on where to go.....my inbox gets several workamping opportunities a day from all around the country.....its just a matter of picking where I want to go!!! The wind turbine experiment is over, and in my case it was a failure....yes, it produced power, and yes, the air actuated mast worked great!! But, the major drawback was that it produced an inordinate amount of vibration through the frame!! In the desert of Arizona, when the wind got to howling, the turbine itself performed very well!! But the mast was secured to the tongue of the trailer, and the vibration was extreme.....I tried several different ways of insulating the mast to the frame, padded foam/rubber plates/shock absorbtion......but irregardless of what I tried, that trailer would literally vibrate terribly all night long in the wind......I just could not isolate it!!! So, the turbine and mast have been sold to my pal Pat Bonish in Cedar Key, FL who will install it at his gulf front Tiki Bar!! I just have to get it to him...... On a brighter note, was informed last week that a class action lawsuit that I was a plaintiff of, has been settled!! There were 665 plaintiffs and we sued for 65 MILLION!! Well, we won!! But, we settled, and I'm not sure for how much. But the lawyers get a third, and we split the rest.....at this point, irregardless of the final amount, its kind of irrelevant and will just go into the travel fund! Even if its just a thousand bucks, I don't care! An extra grand is an extra grand!! I continue each day to read several travel blogs from fellow full time RVers, most of them being in the western US....A few of them in the higher altitudes to escape the heat. And then theres Glenn out in LA doing his thing with his sax....me thinks he will be hitting the open highway soon though to escape Southern California.......who knows where he will end up!! So good readers, I bide my time here in the midwest, waiting for the phone to ring to go back to work!! Time for a nice nap!!

Signal and shade..........

Hello campers!! Yes, it has been a week since I posted anything, but in my hiatus from actually working I have just been relaxing and chilling here in the midwest. Yesterday though was a different story here at the STEALTH camper base camp!! I am happy to report that I got my new Winegard Hideaway tv antenna installed, and its working perfectly!! Pulling in strong digital signal from 6 different tv broadcast stations!! I even got to watch the NASCAR race in Darlington last night!

And if that little install wasn't enough, my friend Mike who is very handy with tools,stopped by and said he had heard about my plight with the awning I had bought, and after assessing the situation promptly suggested I mount it on the OPPOSITE SIDE of the STEALTH camper!! You see, if it was mounted on the entry side, the door would open, but it would damage the awning!! This awning comes out at an angle.....and yes, I know there is a little wheel you can buy and mount to the top of the door that pushes the awning fabric out of the way when opening and closing the door, but there was simply not enough room above the door to mount the awning to. So, we went to the other side.....and here is the completed job!!

I thought the finished job was AWESOME!! We went to the local lumberyard and bought a 2" x 6" board 10' long, 4 carriage bolts each 6" long, washers and nuts, mounted the 2" x 6" to the inside of the camper wall, and double nut the bolts! Whole process took less than an hour, and it cranks in and out in less than a minute! And the shade will be greatly appreciated as summer approaches! I had been looking at an awning for the original STEALTH camper when out in Arizona, but a vandweller that I knew there told me she thought it was a stupid idea....of course, this same woman thinks that going to a local free pancake breakfast EVERY SINGLE DAY and snarfing down FREE food is a "handout", yet she went EVERY SINGLE DAY for something like 3 months....there are some real nuts out there folks, and they are not all in the trees! But I digress.....my antenna is up and working great!! My awning is up and securely installed, and I think it looks GREAT!! Not sure what the next project will be for the STEALTH camper.......but I saw an interesting trailer roll by me on the road a few days ago, that had a mural painted on the back doors of a train winding its way down a mountain pass...it was airbrushed I think....which got me to thinking yesterday after we got the awning up..what if I found an airbrush artist to paint a beach scene on the awning side of the STEALTH camper?? You know, sand and the ocean with a soft blue sky background and a few puffy white clouds....then, when parked and setting out under the awning in camp chairs and enjoying the shade with an ice cold Coors Light...why, the backdrop of the beach mural would make you think you were actually there!! Hmmmmmmm.....possibilities abound!! Hope everyone has a great week!!

Rats!! No tv signal....

I goofed and in my rush to get the new rebuild done before the weather got real hot, failed to get an antenna installed on the STEALTH trailer for the tv!! DOH!! Solved the problem though with a quick visit to Ebay.....

I had one of these before on a Coachmen truck camper, and it worked great! Its a Winegard brand, and when you are rolling down the road the antenna slides down into the tube and no one even gives it a 2nd look.....it has a cap on it to keep the rain out. When you get ready to watch tv, you pop the cap, push it up from the bottom and you're all set! You have to manually rotate it to get stronger signal but it works really well! Thinking of mounting it on the right front corner and just run the coax thru the hole in the floor where the power cable goes thru....the fewer holes I drill in the trailer the better! This little hideaway antenna only cost $30 and will be money well spent!

Move in day!!!!

Decided that it was time to get the ball rolling yesterday, and actually get things moved into the new trailer....since the panelling is in place, next logical step was to get some creature comforts in it!! First up, the 8" memory foam bed and tulip poplar bed frame...

Note the handy under the bed storage!! Frees up more floor space....and floor space is at a premium! Even found a little corner that will hold all 4 corner stabilizers...

And, since I'm not a total barbarian, a nice little 32" flatscreen TV with DVD player built in...

Clothes take up a lot of room, and in a trailer that is no exception! Found these neat little hangers with multiple hooks at Amazon.com, they just screwed right in to the wall.....

With the new setup, actually have room to place a folding camp chair in the front if I decide to just set and read....which I often do since I like to read!

And before anyone asks, no...I do not just plop myself down on a bare bed....actually have sheets and a cool little spread that I picked up in Arizona last winter...

So there you have it!! The STEALTH trailer is basically ready to roll out on its first trial! Theres several things you don't see, i.e. the solar batteries/inverter tucked away under the bed.....the LP fired heater....the mini fridge/microwave/coffeemaker will go next to the TV...the 3 legged portable loo for #2 use when necessary....the 5 gallon solar shower....the charge controller/battery monitor for the solar.... When its time to break STEALTH mode and roll on, getting things ready takes less than 5 minutes!! Set the tv on the bed, set the coffeemaker inside the microwave and then set it on the floor, set the lamp on the bed with the tv, and away we go!! Nothing that can break is in a position to get broken! What do you guys think? Will this do the job? Can I be comfortable? Any suggestions to improve?

What a difference!

Finally, progress on the new trailer mods.....remember this?

Just a bare floored cargo trailer....until I added the carpet.......

The carpet will keep things from sliding around during travel. Plus, it will keep the floor a bit warmer! But, over the weekend, I transformed the interior and took it to the next level!!

Another view....

I thought it came out looking pretty nice! Total investment about $250. including the carpet! I insulated the ceiling with 3/4" Celotex with foil backing, which will reflect the light better, though am thinking about putting in white melamine over the insulation. Was getting tired of looking at bare plywood walls, and this panelling is going to be a great difference! Got the new inverter, and also the new wiring harness for the solar panels. All re-wired and hooked up and batts are charging in the sun and the inverter shows 15.5 v after just 2 days with no load on them!! We are on hiatus until July with the Ace projects, so I am thinking about taking off and trying everything out in the new STEALTH camper! Maybe just a run down to southern Illinois and the Shawnee National Forest for a few days, with a few Walmart lots at night to do some boondocking!