I've Been Waiting

 I've been waiting months, since we got back in December, to go back to Pioche. We purchased the

travel trailer to live in while we're there, We've cleaned, painted

Sewn

and built

as much stuff as we could to make it comfortable to use. 

The truck is ready to go, minus the hay. Fresh oil & fluids, bearings greased and brakes checked. A new console cup holder, 3 more power sources, and the new air bags he put on after the September trip, for comfort. Its freshly vacuumed and cleaned out with clean windows.

We just can't find the silly neck pillows, anywhere. I've searched our bedroom including inside the luggage and closets, I've searched the sewing room, the buffet (that's where I thought I'd seen them last week), I've searched all the other cars and the other camper. My goal today is to get EVERYTHING remaining on the list into the truck or trailer so we can be ready to go at 9am tomorrow.

I've got my older travel journal and the new tiny one I purchased at Zion National Park in December, I've got the house journal for house things and I've got plain paper for notes or shopping lists.

Some of the cargo going down will be the electrical sockets, switches, new wire and fixtures. We're taking our bikes so we can get in a few short rides on those; there's a mountain bike ride in Caliente during the first weekend of May and it looks like fun to go watch.  We're taking a telescope with a few attachments so we can look at the stars. This morning was the 'Smiley Face' with the 2 planets and the moon, I saw the moon through the trees but couldn't see the planets and that's OK because media hyped it up to be this great thing but it wouldn't have been like that at all.

Anyway, it's high time I get my shit together, we'll be on the road in 24 hours.

Shake Out Camping Trip

We went camping in the new to us trailer last night, just the one night, a shake out, to see what needs work and so on.

We went to Belfair State Park in Washington state, its only about 16 miles away.

The heater works well, the water heater works if the propane is on (hint hint) and the fridge might or might not work.

This is the first photo I've been able to take of the painted kitchen in real light, not electric lights. I really like it. I'll be putting a backsplash up on the surrounding walls before we leave for Pioche and the rest of the walls will be painted once we arrive there. I'm 99% sure the paint will dry faster there than here in the winter cold weather.

We have a good time.

 

A Tale of Two Houses

Both these houses were built about the same time.

Obviously they have lived very different lives, have had different owners and different families living in them. Our house was built in 1926 in the town of Pioche, Nevada while the other house was built in what now is a state park. Our house is empty while the park house is full of antiques from the era. Ours has car windshield reflectors over the windows while the park house has actual curtains. Our house has newer aluminum windows while the park house has the original wood frame windows. Our house has an asphalt tab roof while the park house has a metal roof.

Our house does have an inside bathroom and indoor plumbing, while the other house has an outhouse. Ours is hooked up to city water and sewer but we aren't using it yet, as its $65 monthly whether we're there to use it or not once we get it turned on. The other house might have water, but maybe it only has an inside pump or they had to gather it in buckets and carry it to the house.

Our house had a wood stove at some point but no longer and the other one still has theirs.

I am hoping someday ours will look a little more like the other one.

 

The Trailer Awning

When we paid $1000 for this trailer we knew we were getting an extremely good deal, no matter what repairs it might need. We knew there was water damage and found out after we got it home that the awning needs repaired too so here are the before photos. We're just hoping we can get it fixed RIGHT and of course, we'll be doing the work ourselves.

This isn't going to be easy as the black material underneath is still completely intact and if we open it up we are going to then need to find a way to repair that.