remember my Vintage Winnebago?

Yup that one. We've been living in it for about a year and half and we feel fine.  Tiny house living isn't for everyone, but if you are ready to ditch a lot of possessions and spend a lot less time cleaning house, a tiny house might be for you.

Most people who get a trailer or an RV decide to paint it inside and spruce it up with all new fabrics, and the results are just fantastic!
I like leaving my Winnie pretty much like how it was built in 1973. But.... that dinette just had. To. Go.
Finally did it. We unscrewed it and stored the 2 benches and the table in case the new owner (someday in the future) wants it back.
We put in 2 of our vintage bamboo chairs and I love all the extra room.  Also, since we don't really use the oven except for storage, we turned it into a laptop holder to watch movies and stuff.  Next indoor project --- all new flooring to replace the mish mosh of vinyl tiles and bits of original awesome green carpet.
Here are the AFTER pics...

Here is the laptop on the stove door. Silly.

A few BEFORE pics from the deconstruction which was just unscrewing it from the frame.

 We unscrewed and dismantled the propane heater tube and vent and are storing that too for future use.

Also, a BEFORE pic or 2 from years past when we ate at the dinette.

Next up... different curtains and a slightly different arrangement of all the stuff that must be stored away.
I'm years late describing what we did in the last year! Changed out the black water tank open/close handle (fun, not fun), replaced the heating coil in the refrigerator.
I bet you can't wait for the Youtube videos!

the patio is much more bohemian

..this year than last.  This year, honestly, only because these 40s barkcloth drapes were the easiest to pull out of my great big box of old fabrics, did they make the cut for this year's fashion in decorating the trailer park patio.

 More color, more pattern but it is the same furniture. I moved the dresser to the side, and hung a big piece of black shade cloth as the "front door". Soon, once it heats up towards 80+ everyday, we'll need to toss the big BIG shade cloth over the roof, aka Big white tarp.

Last year I used a lot more neutrals... canvas, raw silk, faded vintage fabrics.
 Here is before...

When you live in a tiny house, an rv, a trailer or a camper or van, the outside spaces become much more important. That's the best part of living tiny, is you spend more time outside.
so, the 99.00 patio was destroyed in the hot sun, so we bought a 50.00 white tarp and tossed it over the frame, tied it down with bungie cords, and beefed up the legs with the bamboo poles we had on hand. The floor is pallets, and the big wood box is made from pallets and scrap wood and holds tools. It locks, and it is really nice to have them all together, and out from under the Winnie in blue bins.
All the furniture is the same, with just different fabric tossed over the cushions. There's still more tiny lights.... from yard sales.... to hang up around the edges to light it in the night. 

The fireplace on the patio is from yard sales....  sitting on some marble squares.


I love hearing the birds twitter, the buzz of the bees that visit my flowers and the sound of the breezes.
I am not a fan of traffic, stupid kids with sub-woofers or loud misogynistic rap noise.
But, outside, is where I spend a lot of time. And in California, shade is so very important. It's cooler under there.


The garden is all in pots, and this year I'm trying out #5 bins from the hardware/thrift store to grow the tomatoes in.

I move the potted plants around but I think this is the best garden for the day...

I made a trellis around the front of the shed to hold morning glories and a lot of cucumbers.

Those big #5  Sterlite bins will hold the tomatoes and herbs. The black pots will hold the peppers, the okra, tomatillo, and eggplant.

The first sweet peas of Spring 2015. Cheri Amour from Renee's Garden seeds company. Sweet, pastels and two-tones.

The Victoria blue blooms came back, and the nice little merlot pansies go well with a faded pink flamingo.

I'm letting the weeds grow. They are food for the bees, and they are actually really interesting, but more about them another time.

Living the Full Time Vintage Camping Life. 1.

This here's the first in a long long series of posts about living full-time in a 1973 Vintage Winnebago Brave. To see more, when we first bought it and some of our trips for the first 3 years we had it while living in a real House... just click over there on the right side,  the Winnie posts, and you'll see them all line up.

(don't know where that pic came from, but it is so cool)
On Pinterest, and all over the interwebs you see lots of trailers and rvs, those cute vintage ones, with pretty pretty adorably accessorized staged sets. Glamping is what the kids call it.
All those pots of geraniums, those tables and chairs, those teapots, saddles, vintage crinolines, umbrellas, coolers, lounge chairs, rugs, banners and so on, have to be packed in the trailer, and then set up for the pretty pictures.



Here's a cute Sisters on the Fly photo:

 

So for a 3 day camping trip, you would spend a half-day just loading that stuff in ... never mind the food! and then at least 2 or 3 hours packing it outside, setting it up and then you do it again before you head home. Inside a vintage camper (I'm gonna call all RVs, 5th wheels, tiny houses built on towing frames, and trailers, just campers, for brevity), it is small. That's half the charm!

 Here's a pic of the 73 Winnebago Brave, in the kitchen.

That refrigerator is 1/3 the size of a normal home refrigerator and holds about 1/3 of a weeks food. The cute stove/oven is darling and boy does it work, but it is hard to cook for a lot of people, or to bake or boil a large pan of anything. and. Counterspace!

See that  7" space between the stovetop and the tiny sink? yup. That and the cover over the sink is your counter space.  The sink in most small campers is exactly the size of a little bar sink you might have in the basement rumpus room. Small. 10" x 13" is the inside measurement. Just large enough for a dinner plate.

Yes, you can use the table but if anyone is doing anything there..... it becomes difficult. They have to move, or you have to use another space. So...
Doing anything in a camper that resembles doing something in a real bricks and sticks house, requires thought, cleverness, skill and a different way of thinking about routine chores.

Not to say you can't have the perfect life (We do), and super-excellent delicious meals...
because you can. And do. It just changes. And part of the point of going camping.... in a teeny tiny house, is to change your life, at least for a few days.
It's Great! it refreshes the mind, and hopefully, you get to relax and just sit. Or hike, or fish, or just sleep ;-)

The first change you have to make if you are gonna live in a camper full time, is to get rid of Stuff!  Campers have a small amount of storage (at least vintage ones do!).
This is actually a very good thing. I mean really, what do you need? Why do you have thousands of place settings? Do you entertain all the time? Have a large family? Well, then full-time living in a smallll space may not work for you.
Just things to think about.

We entertain outside in the patio, and use paper plates and real silverware. We keep service for 6 in the Winnie. That's too much really, but we do want to have a few friends and family over, so that seems the right amount. We ended up using all the damn dishes just for ourselves, and then have to wash service for 6. That's stupid! We decided we need to be washing dishes more often.... and using them again and again during the day, rather than reaching for a new dish or glass or spoon all day long.

Here's the arrangement for washing dishes we worked out. Once a day! And getting in the habit of washing as you use a dish or glass, is getting easier.
And even this arrangement  is different now. Trial and Error, my friends! here's the current look.....

We bought the smallest drain tray that Rubbermaid makes.... made in the USA! and set our vintage wire dish rack on it, and clipped it securely with clothespins. We use clothes pins a lot.... so handy!

We added a white wire rack to get things off the counter, and we hang the dish brushes up on the curtain rack.  Gosh, we've moved the fire extinguisher too!

Mostly we wash with a soapy sponge after letting them sit in some soapy water for a few minutes to loosen whatever.... and then drain the sink, wash 'em and stack 'em. On a hot day, they'll be dry in an hour, but sometimes we'll just dry them with a dishtowel and put them away immediately. Then just hang the rack on the wall. Works for us! We do have a small plastic bin that sits in the sink perfectly, but we don't use it often (it lives outside under the Winnie in the "basement" aka, under the Winnie).

 

A note about the coffee pot maker. Yes, that's a 4 cup machine that's missing its glass coffeepot. When we were driving around before we "landed" we stopped for lunch, and someone forgot to secure the coffee maker. That meant, putting it inside the sink so it wouldn't roll around. And fall. And break.
Well, as Mark was driving the Winnie, and I was following in the car, the pot went flying, crashed on the floor, busting the glass pot into a million pieces of tiny sharp shards of glass.
Going around a corner, trying to not get caught by the Red Light Camera (grrrrr) to have the pot Smash on the Floor and KaBoom! was frightful.
I spent a half hour cleaning up that mess. It was my fault, because as navigator and security agent, I didn't do all I needed to. Lesson Learned. Now we have a perfect use for this sweet little vintage pot. So, it turned out OK.
Let's start in the beginning when we first arrived at our sweet little trailer park. First we just set up our folding table and chairs outside for breaky in the sun! I think it's really important to use tablecloths or placemats, and to set a lovely table, because Art adds to Life!

So this is where our full time life started. The spot in our trailer park, the Winnie, and one vintage Volvo.
We drove the Winnie down to Cali, then took a rental car home. Loaded up a big U-Haul, and towed this vintage Volvo. When we arrived a month later, we put a lot of stuff in a storage space, and moved into the Winnie.

A friend drove our Vintage Volvo wagon down the next week, and so we entertained and put up our friend in the upstairs bunk.  
Like this.......  Guest quarters.

We've added a lot of important stuff to our life..... a pop-up patio, a metal shed for my sewing room, and lots of pots of vegetables and flowers. You can take the girl out of the country garden, but you can't take the country garden out of the girl...... oh, yes, we live in the perfect neighborhood. A nursery is One block away!

What did we do for the first month? We arranged and rearranged the inside and outside.
We had to get rid of more stuff, and maximize our room and our lot.  There was the buying of a million things...... the right size poop hose, shower curtains, water hose, pots and potting soil, plants plants plants, and tomatoes, hooks, nails, screws, finding of pallets for steps and other stuff, we moved and removed, we bought lots of small stuff a person usually keeps in the junk drawer and out in the garage.
We found we got rid of the right stuff and the wrong stuff when we were packing to move. Oh well, and more details on that in a later post, if you are interested.

We miss only our family and friends. We don't miss Washington at all, ever.
See ya next post about Living the Full Time Camping Life. 2.

Moving on. Thanks for taxpayer-funded roads and parks!

Moving from Washington to California..... this here's the Oregon coast.... I never tire of seeing the Pacific Ocean..... and the Oregon edge of the continent is rough and dreamy and soft .... Hwy 101 is mostly a series of snakey curvy panic attacks interspersed with serene beauty.

So we packed the Winnie, and we drove her away for the last time from Tacoma. So excited to finally be living inside with my faux bois, the tiny bathroom and all the comforts of home. A teeny tiny home... we're gonna live full time in this Winnie, but still be Washington people until we decide where we will live (park) full time.

Veer right and head for Portlandia!!

One last look at stunning, cold, crazy Mt. Rainier. We shall be relying on the wisdom of government to tax y'all for the interstates, the National Parks, BLM land, and for State Parks too. Your tax dollars make interstate commerce efficient, and provide for mobility and the modern world.

Leaving Tacoma...... down the ugly and too familiar I-5. It's all Applebees, McDonalds, Walmart, Arco gas, Subway, Walmart, Jamba Juice, Chevron gas, Walmart, hatred for Obama, guns, Walmart, Adult Shop, Walmart.
I've traveled up and down the I-5 for the last 5 decades, and the small mom and pop gas stations, the small diners, and the little clothing stores and 5 and Dimes, have almost completely disappeared.

Roll On Columbia! Wahooooo......... here we go Pa....Orygun! the land where they pump your gas, (to preserve minimum wage jobs), and hate Libralls, while collecting unemployment checks, drive on government roads, buy viddles with Food Stamps, and believe we are doomed to hell and tarnation because a "darky" is in the White House. The White House, is for white people, men, that is. Oh Orygun. Once out of Portland it is pretty scary until Eugene.

We took the Hwy 101 turnoff in Portlandia.  We chose Hwy 18 to get from I-5 to Hwy 101. You see a few short hours of rolling land, and farms, and cows, and a bit of the vineyard in the Yamhill, which makes for a nice little "country weekend escapes" for the Nike middle management crowd.... Of  the view. ...you see a lot of farms and barns for about 3 hours. Bucolic. Idyllic. Some real America......Until it spits you out just above Lincoln City.
What you pass thru is a valley on your way to the ocean side of the Oregon Coastal Range of small mountains and hills.
The rise of the Coastal Range put a permanent end to the 3 or 4 times the Pacific Ocean covered the West coast of this continent. Oh about a 3/4 million years ago or so..... volcanic and plate tectonics created a barrier to keep the waters out in their basin, once the glaciers released them. The oceans ice up, melt down, ice up, melt down, & has happened maybe 5 times or so in the planet's history. We are in another melting phase and consequent rise of the oceans out of their basins and up on to the coasts.

 We pulled into Devil's Lake State Campground...... sure are a lot of Devils in Oregon. There's the aforementioned Devil's Lake, Devil's Punchbowl, Seven Devils....... why so edgy and nervous Oregon?? The devil isn't real.

and then Newport.......

The second night we stayed at Bullard's Beach State Park. So lovely.

In the morning after coffee, and a righteous hot shower........thanks Taxpayers!

Look!! Go see the OCEAN VIEW.   I love the painting on the street. THIS WAY TO THE OCEAN.

We stopped at Arizona Beach State Park Rec Area, to eat lunch in the Winnie. You circle around under a very low bridge...... 12.6 feet or so........... Yikes and park out near the beeeeech!
Then back on the road........... Look!
Roadside Attractions!!
We didn't stop, but you should. No real dinosaurs ever roamed Oregon, but some pretty sweet pre-whales, sea serpents and marine reptiles swam in the Pacific Ocean about 25 million years ago. The Pacific Ocean filled in and subsided, time and time again, and was finally lapping against the Cascade Range, a long chain of mountains from British Columbia thru Northern California. They pushed up in the Plioscene,  about 7 million years ago, give or take a few mill....

Them's is Mt. Rainier, Mt. St Helens, Mt. Hood, The Sisters..... Crater Lake! and Mt. Shasta, Lassen Peak....  and so many more.

PREHISTORIC GARDENS !!!! 

Self-guided tours wind through an ancient Oregon Rainforest and transport you back in time to see 23 life sized dinosaurs!  Discover the prehistoric animals of the past nestled among 300 year old trees and gigantic plants of epic proportions.  It’s almost as if Jurassic Park was inspired by this place!
Family owned and operated, the Prehistoric Gardens has been a famous roadside attraction since 1955!

Visit the World Famous Dinosaurs...... really you should.
Next, we'll head into the Promised Land.
Califor-ni-aaaaaaaaaa...........