Home Improvements #1.3

Ok so the new cabinetry is installed, fit and finished. Next up is staining and finding some shorter bolts at Winks Hardware for the pulls. It looks and works like a champ! So excited. I think it's a smart upgrade. If the new buyer disagrees, take out the 3 total screws holding it in and put the bunk back in.... see if i care. It all went together smoothly - that never happens. I also didn't realize I finished damn near an entire bottle of wine. That was unplanned, it just happened. I guess I was in the "zone." I may have texted while in the "zone" so I'll apologize now and make it up to you later. You know who you are... Well better get to bed, I have to hitch up drag this thing to Beaverton in the a.m.. 

Stay classy San Diego. 

Why did I just type that? 

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P.S. Things will get more interesting like actually having guests & stories. 

Just hold tight, need to get this stupid shit buttoned up first. 

stay classy

Hitching up and moving to ... **cough**... Beaverton.

Yeah that's right, B E A V E R T O N. I'm heading over to Matt Souther's shop to get out of this rain and seal up some minor leaks and perhaps have a "blooming onion" over at Applebee's. I also hear the hotel lounge at the Pepper Tree is the place to be... can't wait! Anyway, she's almost road-worthy enough for the whistle stop portion of this experiment. I'll be hitting y'all up for some driveway / street space soon! 

Leak #4

Home Improvements #1.2

Building cabinetry for a camper is tricky for a couple reasons. 1. It has to be as light as possible - forget the traditional thinking of using big lumber. 3/4" plywood? Forget it. It's 1/4". Stuff is flimsy but if built right, it will withstand the bumps in the road. 2. The other is that there is not a lot of room for "riffing".... literally. Every inch of space is valuable. Next time you are on a flight somewhere, check out the galley. Exactly. Jscott and I made some serious progress. I worked on the facia and he milled down some hardwood for the upper and lower door tracks. These are critical. They have to be strong and compact. Pure genius. I think that it's going to work well. The glue is drying and still need to stain it. More later.

The only "real oak" in the camper.

Home Improvements #1

So I'm realizing that there is a lot of little things I need to take care of in this mansion of mine. Now that Christmas is over and I have the day off today, I'm going to take advantage of the hardware store being open again and do some fixin'. Wait, did I just drop my "G" in fixing? Oh, no. I'm turnin' into a hick! Damn it! I did it again! 

Bunk Bed Before Removal

Ok, for real, there is a lot to do. The immediate needs are the following: 

1. Fix the now warped table - I think the radiator positioned directly below has dried out the wood and is now severely bowed. 

2. What used to be the bunk bed is going to be my dresser. Figured it was clearly designed to hold only children and without it, this place will still be able to sleep four adults comfortably. I'm going to build it so it can be replaced with the bunk later if the new owner chooses to haul around the Brady Bunch. 

3. The closet needs some shelving and hooks. 

I'm very fortunate to be parked right outside a full-blown wood shop. Jason Scott's double-car garage is fully equipped with anything you would need to restore/fix in an old camper. Totally cool. Here's the attempt to fix the bow in the table. I cut strips of 3/4" plywood and built a frame. I then glued and screwed it to the bottom. If that doesn't work, I'll have to break out my welding skills and build a similar frame out of steel. 

In JScott's Shop FixinG the table

Original = Cool

Ok, so this may be dorky, but when I was fixing the leak at the water inlet, I stumbled across this gem.... replacement washers in the original packaging! I totally geek out over things like this. This camper is really preserved, it's like a time capsule, I've been finding stuff like this now and again.

Well I better sign off for now. I have to get stuff done.

Why am I doing this?

Well, why not? What straight guy hasn't thought of this? People that I've shared this with have one of two responses. One is: "That's fuckin' awesome! I would totally do that if I.... (Insert kids or something here)" The other is: "Really? What the hell? Why would you want to do that?" My gut reaction to the later is that these people never camped.

I'm going to try and explain to the non-fuckin'-awesomers / non-campers.  I would like to say that it all has to do with the little metal plaque my Grandma Krzmarzick had in her kitchen that read: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." I remember asking her; "Why? I don't like lemonade?" In her German saltiness she quickly came back with "You just do, you make lemonade. That's what you do." Thanks grandma, that made no sense at all, I'm four. If I had my hands on that plaque, I would hang it in my kitchen here, if I had the room.

Ok, so that's kind of why. The full explanation is lengthy so you should probably get up now and get yourself a fresh cup of coffee. There are several things that dove-tailed the situation so nicely. The first is that I REALLY missed camping. Another is that I bought this camper with my girlfriend so I could, well, get her to go camping. It worked! She got the camping bug! Right on! What didn't work was the relationship. WAIT! Don't get all sad and go running for the Kleenex™, it's all good. I'm fine, she's fine - we are cool about it. So that's the initial inspiration. The other is that I'm so sick of moving. The last I checked, my move-count was close to 30. Yeah, that's too much. I was getting bummed out at what's for rent out there and what started as a little internal joke, became reality. I would look at a place and then would think, "Damn, this place sucks, I would rather live in the camper." By the way, Portland has the least amount of places available for rent in the U.S., yes, even over New York. Google it. So I visited the camper and scoped out the first campsite: Jason Scott's yard. Ok, this is doable. Time to rent a storage unit.

At first I gave myself a year but that freaked me out. So the plan is to camp until May or June and then throw it up on Craigslist and sell it. In the meantime, I'm going to save as much dough as I can and put it towards buying a house. That's if I don't go bat-shit crazy. To help prevent "crazy," I'm doing fun stuff like journaling and writing this blog. I have a practice pad and my Syncopation book. My guitar and sketchbook is close by too. I'm also planning on changing locations as much as possible, by visiting friends and using their shower. I'll cook y'all dinner and serve cocktails for exchange. Who knows. It gives me the perfect excuse to catch up with friends AND it will allow me to check out different neighborhoods in preparation for the house purchase. See? dove-tail...

Click on this photo to how the bed is made

Hooked Up

I live in a fort. It's the adult version though with things like a French press and a MacBook Pro. There's a bowl of fresh fruit, books, hi-fi, wi-fi, and vintage throw pillows and reading lamp. It's more like a cool bachelor pad from the '60's than a camp trailer. It smells like coffee and freshly washed clothes and right now Neko Case is singing her heart out through old-school Apple speakers. Billie just finished her breakfast and is passed out on the sofa. The coffee is perfect. It's a good morning.

The first few nights have been interesting and fun. I even overslept Monday, first time in years. Still figuring out little things like when I come in at night and it's pitch black, don't lean over too far when reaching for the first light switch because you'll hit your head......HARD. First time I did that I hit so hard I saw a white flash. Second time, smaller flash. The first morning I learned that I should go outside the night before and turn off the propane tank.... it was a little gassy. Another thing is the door needs some weatherstripping replaced. It rattles like somebody is trying to get in - a book of matches jammed in the door frame will work for now.

But what I've found most interesting so far is how little one really needs to live on. It's like that trick some people do when packing for vacation - pack everything you think you need and then leave two thirds behind and you'll be fine.

I have more to share but I must get ready for my corporate job and leave the campsite. I'll be writing more frequently and with greater detail as I pick up momentum.

Back To Nature

Hello- Today is the first day of the "Urban Camping Experiment" or UCE for those who prefer acronyms. So here's the deal, I'll be moving out of a REALLY nice place and into a cool vintage travel trailer. My goal is to do this for five months, do some creative shit and not go crazy. I have a lot of set-up to do so these first entries will be short. Today, I'll move the trailer to it's new spot and hook things up. Tonight will be the first night sleeping in it. I can't guarantee that all these blog posts will be written while completely sober or caffeine-free. I can, however, guarantee pure entertainment.

The Set Up: '73 Sportsmaster 16'  (proposed new color scheme soon)