Ralphie Rough Road

After leaving McCormick’s, we made a stop at our friend Troy’s house for the weekend. His neighbor was having an outdoor party with live music. It worked out for the band Shane used to play with, The Co-Pilots, to reunite and play together again. Now that we are on the road, Shane had to give up the drum kit (no place to stow that in an RV). But they are stored at Troy’s house so it worked perfect for the reunion of the band at this party. The kids flew back in that evening from their California trip and drove out to join us. We had our first official overnight guests. They reported the over cab bed was quite comfortable.

The next morning we were treated to the neighbor’s long horn cattle in a nearby field, including a few babies. Wouldn’t want to mess with these guys.

After bidding our goodbyes to Troy, it was time to head to the kids’ house. This was our first experience of parking the RV in a neighborhood. Their driveway was just long enough with a bit to spare. I’ll admit to having some doubts that it would fit.

Now you may be wondering, why did we park our RV in a residential neighborhood? Why not head off to a beautiful park? Well we had a new plan for the slide-out area. The original large black desk we installed early on, was taking up too much space. Shane found he only used half of it. After some consideration we came up with a plan. Having access to stores and Triston’s tools brought us to the Greenwood area for a bit to work on the project.

It took longer than expected. One day was devoted to getting the desk, dinette, and carpet out. We spent one whole afternoon walking around various home improvement stores looking at floor and paint samples. It made sense to take out the carpet and paint the slide-out walls while everything was out. Then masking which always takes longer than painting. The painting was easy, less than 45 minutes and it was done. The flooring and trim took some time, it was mostly measure, cut, and place. Lastly, reassembling the dinette seating into our new configuration took a bit of time but it came together quite nicely.

We wanted to reuse as much as possible, instead of building things from scratch. As for Shane’s replacement desk, we already had that on hand. Turns out my old 1961 desk I used at the cabin fit perfectly in the space. Our out of pocket expenses included flooring, paint, supplies, and our own labor. We have plans to reupholster the cushions and get a few throw pillows to make it more homey.

We love the end result. It really opened things up and made better use of the space. Time well spent and now we can’t wait to paint the rest of the walls! However, we will save that for another day.

As you can see from the pictures, Shane’s three monitor set-up still needed to go in. And we have to decide on a modular way to have a place to eat. Ideas are brewing but that part is not yet complete as of the time of this writing.

Shane added the finishing touches and organized his desk. He is happy with the new set-up. Everything fits perfectly. Even the monitors worked out. The dinette seats placed end to end left just the right amount of room for the office chair. All was meant to be.

The three dogs had to check out the new digs. They tried out the new lounge area and gave their approval.

During our stay with the kids we enjoyed daily lunches and dinners together. Amanda and I loved having dinner duties split. We spent quality time with each other and enjoyed every minute. But after 10 days of fun, work, and renovation it was time to head north. We bid them goodbye but only briefly as they would be spending the holiday weekend with us up in Michigan.

The three photos below show the various stages of the main living area. The first one is the day we picked up the RV. The second, is the first desk install. The last one is the finished renovation.

I’m happy we had the time to complete this project and make the space more our own. The new set up works better for us and looks great too!

Now Shamy, Josie, and Ralphie are headed to Michigan for the 4th of July holiday weekend. We have a few last odds and ends to finish up before we finally take off the training wheels and continue north into the UP of Michigan for the summer. (For those who are not familiar, the UP is the Upper Peninsula.) I look forward to sharing those travels with you all.