The Days Dwindle Down

The weather is changing. We are wearing more jeans, boots and jackets. The leaves are turning beautiful colors and falling off the trees. It's definitely the season of change and change is exactly what we need!

Our time is coming to a close here in North Georgia, we've got about 2 weeks left and we'll be back on the road, living our lives again.

In the past month, we have gone through our stuff that sat in a moldy 'grave' for the past two years, sold some of it, thrifted the stuff that didn't sell and threw away the rest.

These next two weeks are all about buttoning up; putting furniture back (due to renting a fully furnished place), making sure everything fits where we are expecting it to and preparing ourselves for a life back on the road.

This time around we are doing things a little differently and we are both pretty excited about the change. While talking to each other, a few months back about what our plans were for getting back on the road, we both were getting major heartburn over the stuff inside of the van aka our living space. I think for two peeps & two pups we do pretty well with a small area but we are always shuffling tons of stuff around at different parts of the day to make for more room. The things we don't have on the inside of the van usually sit up in the cargo basket on-top, making it very of difficult to get to and it's actually just a really big pain in the butt! When we park, we would put everything from the "living room" into the driver seat and down in the pedal area, making it about a half hour of puzzle building with the toilet paper going here and these books going there, etc. It became a very big and daunting process and needed some rethinking. We would, of course, love to have a bigger rig to stand up in and be able to move around more easily, but right now the van is what we have, so we tossed around ideas to make the van more liveable for all of us. We finally came to a decision of getting a trailer, nothing huge or big, but enough to take the stuff off the top and out of the living space of the van. We talked about it for a few days before going through with it and we are both totally stoked about it. When we received it, Jamie built it out and then added some things to make it more suitable for our travel needs; putting pressure treated plywood down and some I-hooks for straps. It's a beaut!!

The measurements are 40 in. x 48 in. and it can carry about 1,200 lbs. We also bought a double hitch since we have the bikes too.

It's going to be interesting to see everything put together. We now have the van, the trailer, two bicycles, one dirt bike, one scooter and a partridge in a pear tree! haha

We bought a cute lil' scooter, an 80cc Honda Elite, for me. I will be taking a two day motorcycle class so I can get a motorcycle endorsement on my license... That in itself should be interesting since I've only 'driven' a bicycle!! I may have to get a little basket on the back so Chili Moon can ride in style! haha

We will be making a small detour, to Florida, to spend some time with family & friends before heading back West, but we are totally ready to get back to the life we live so well on the road.

Great things are happening and before we know it, this whole stix 'n' bricks in North Georgia thing will just be a blur...

[caption id="attachment_5647" align="aligncenter" width="551"] ...[/caption]

Crazy the things life throws at ya!

PEACE

Learning is Fun! Our "Awning"

Welcome back to the Learning is Fun! Series.

Today we're going to have fun with a little bit of our camp set-up. I might miss some things you might want to know, and if I do please let me know...this is our lifestyle so the things that we look at every day have become the norm and I don't even notice half the stuff anymore!

Today you will have the pleasure of hearing all about our tarp/awning. Lucky you! (Dan this is especially for you!)

We are getting better at this lifestyle all the time!!

Last Summer we camped with a tarp up...but we used live trees (that were still standing) as well as trees that had fallen... with lots of bungees, to hold the tarp/awning up. When you need shade, you get very creative!

This Summer, we figured we'd do it "right" and get the few items needed to make a great awning for our Summer camp(s)...plus you never know when it's just going to be you and the van (no trees).

We went to The Home Depot and bought 2 x 10 ft. PVC pipes that are 1 1/2 inches, they cost about $5.50 a piece. We also bought a 9 x 12 brown tarp, that averages in price around $14.00. That was pretty much all we bought, due to already having rope, rebar and a drill.

Once we found a place we knew we'd be "living" for a minute, it was time to try out our new buys! First, we cut the 10 ft. PVC down a foot...then two more to 7 ft., keeping the larger scrap pieces. J' drilled a hole through the top of the long PVC, then tied a rope inside of the middle of the tube. The rope will now be on the PVC until untied. The pieces of rope, that are attached to the pole, are fed through two corner grommets of the tarp.

[caption id="attachment_4918" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Up close[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4919" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Farther away[/caption]

On the opposite end of the tarp (closest to the van) the tarp is hooked onto the "Z" bracket of one of our solar panels and the other side is hooked onto the milk crate on the top of the van (where we keep our solar shower). The "hooks" we use are actually just bungee hooks taken off of the bungee cord and tied to a piece of rope.

[caption id="attachment_4922" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Z Bracket Hook[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4923" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Milk Crate Hook[/caption]

Now, are you asking yourself...."Okay... but how does it stay on the ground and not fly away when a gust of wind comes?" I betcha you are...and I have an answer! See Learning IS Fun! In the pictures you will see a Blue piece of rope going the opposite direction of the tarp...this is where (half of) the magic happens! Once the tarp is in place at all four corners and the poles are where they need to be, to have a nice taut tarp ("taut like a tiger"~ Gold Member), we loop the blue rope over the rope that's already attached to the PVC. We then take two pieces of rebar (about a foot or so long), one piece we put inside of the pole that's actually holding up the tarp,

[caption id="attachment_4930" align="aligncenter" width="224"] This goes inside![/caption]

with the other piece we tie the blue rope around it, pull it taut, then stake it in the ground. This is how it stays on the ground and doesn't fly away like a hot air balloon on a windy day. We've had some raging winds and it's held up to every single one of them! This brings up why we drilled the holes and tied the rope inside of the PVC...No knots + No untying = Super easy take down, especially when it counts to be fast!

These days, and I think it might just be the time of year, it has been pretty windy almost everywhere we've camped for the last two months, so we decided to do something a little different with the awning. This new way helps with the big wind gusts as well as the afternoon sun not blazing me to death!

I bet you're asking...."What in the world did these crazy kids think of now!?" haha And if you're not...C'mon man, get with the program...you're supposed to be having fun!

Alright, alright, I'll tell you...

We brought one side down! gasp Life changing right!?

[caption id="attachment_4925" align="aligncenter" width="350"] We brought it down![/caption]

 Remember those 2 ft. "scrap" pieces of PVC? We use one of those instead of the long ones for this artistic beauty of an awning.

[caption id="attachment_4926" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Short Poles need love too![/caption]

 We've also started putting up one of our older tarps as a wall...it helps with the sun, the wind and my afternoon...it's a win-win-win! We just tie the two together with, yep...you guessed it blue rope!!

[caption id="attachment_4928" align="aligncenter" width="350"] The Cool Camp[/caption]

To keep the "wall tarp" from flapping all day, we use more rebar!!! Super simple, right!? We just put the rebar in the ground where it needs to be and tie rope around it, we make sure it's tight enough to not flap...then make sure that there is plenty to see around the rebar so clumsy over here (pointing at me) doesn't trip, fall and break her face! (There are 3 of them back there).

[caption id="attachment_4935" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Back Bar[/caption]

So, did you ever think it would be that much fun to learn about tarps and awnings!? I bet you didn't! But now you know where to come for the fun! haha And yes, I'm a total dork!

This concludes this portion of Learning is Fun! Join us for our next segment on Laundry at Camp!! It's sure to be a nail biter! haha

PEACE