Camp life

[NorthernRedneck]

The sofa and ottoman arrived from wayfair yesterday. I just knew my years of Lego building as a child would come in handy.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I brought out my table saw and nail gun and ripped the back of one of the old benches apart to repurpose and make a box to cover and hold the electrical.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

A little project done this morning. The tv stand was a 7" depth which didn't allow to turn the TV to face directly toward the sofa. I repurposed the back of one of the benches and the trim piece from a side. The trim presses into a groove. The mdf only had a groove along one edge. So I took my reciprocating saw and carefully cut a groove along both sides. I had my jigsaw here so I used that to round the corners.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Since I have my tools out and all of the materials I need, I built some shelves to go in the closet on my side of the bed. I reused the back of one of the benches and some of the edge trim from the old dinette.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Chilly morning at camp as it was one degree above freezing this morning. I figured it was a good time to pull the boat out and bring it back home for a good cleaning before the snow flies. Then it's going into storage.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I can't believe that it's almost time to close up for the season. I took a bunch of pictures for reference before closing up next time I come out. I pressure washed the deck two days ago and applied a coat of Thompsons water seal yesterday. I had also built a shelf for the sink house I didn't use and was looking at it all summer trying to figure out what I wanted to do with it. Yesterday, I found a nice spot over the garbage in the kitchen and built some brackets to hold it.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I took my daughter out hunting twice. We came back with a limit both times and put close to 300km on the sxs.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I headed to camp for the last time this season to finish closing up yesterday and spent the night.

Of course the hydro went out at 2:45 am. When it goes on n off for a few seconds there's a beeping sound notifying that the power is back on. That woke me up for an hour. It came back on at 6:45am in time for a planned outage for maintenance at 7am. So I was up and drained the water system then ran plumbing antifreeze through everything. When I got home, I gave mom's motorhome the same treatment. All four rvs are now ready for winter. Camp, two fifth wheel campers and moms motorhome. She's storing it somewhere else for the winter.

 

[m1west]

Yep, the time goes by too fast, like you, I have maybe time for 2-3 more trips to the work cabin before the snow flies and sits me down

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Somehow I got suckered into going back out to camp for one night to celebrate a camp friends 50th birthday . I hauled out my sxs thinking that I would go hunting. When I got to camp mid afternoon, it was only +5 celcius with the wind howling. I quickly decided against going hunting but still offloaded the sxs to get around the campground over to my buddies place.

The camper slides were already in for the winter. I just connected the power and popped them back out then turned on the heat with an electric heater as I had removed the propane tanks. I later connected a 20lb tank to the camper to kick on the furnace as the electric wasn't enough.

When I arrived, the entire deck was covered in ice. Lovely. Oh well. I had fun. I was up at 6:50am running for an outhouse as the camper was completely winterized including the toilet. After a frosty morning sit n $h-t, I packed up the truck in the dark and loaded the sxs. I pulled the slides back in and disconnected the electrical for the winter. On the road by 7:15am. Camp closed up for the season again.

 

[m1west]

I see you had time for your own version of BurningMan

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Lol. That's Tim. He always ends up ontop of something at the fire.

 

[Big T Gutters]

This is as far as I've gotten. I still need to frame the roof and install the metal roofing.

The water system is simple. The taps on the camper run through a hose to a diverter valve. One side is the shower. One is the sink.

What kind of pressure are you getting with that?

 

[Big T Gutters]

Careful with that cast iron cooking, it can become a passion. My wife still cooks with cast iron cookware that she had in college 55-years ago. My SIL belongs to a Dutch oven cooking group that meets once a month at a local State Park to cook lunch. Anyone can eat, you just leave a donation. The Rangers eat for free and they're all there. It always amazes me just what you can cook in a Dutch oven over a charcoal fire.

Cast iron cooking is awesome!

 

[NorthernRedneck]

What kind of pressure are you getting with that?

We get full pressure. Same as at home.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

So it begins. I've been busy the past few weeks getting 3 rvs ready for the summer. Plus 2 boats. My mother has a boat and motorhome which were stored at my place for the winter. So we have our seasonal campsite which I went out to inspect and open last week. We also have a fifth wheel trailer for traveling. All the water systems have been filled with water and checked for leaks including the hot water tanks. The propane is full. Gas is filled. All camping gear is checked over. I fired the chainsaw today. All systems are go. The rest of the family is dealing with the groceries.

I've greased both axles on the fifth wheel and checked the tires. The boat trailer has brand new tires installed this morning. I just need to buy .

We're heading out in the morning 3.5hrs drive northeast to my hometown for the annual opening of walleye fishing. We will be offgrid out of cell service for the weekend. My mouth is watering.

 

[m1west]

You beat me to it, got a mountain trip planned for the end of next week to open up the work cabin for the season.

 

[FrancSevin]

I haven't been to Hippie Ridge for two months now. My son and his family are there.
However, they are moving here to live with us for a while.
Maybe now would be a good time?

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I came out to camp to finish opening up and stock the camper with food. I was bored and recalled a totally genius idea my camp neighbor showed me last fall. Guys...you will love and appreciate this!

First off, here's what he built. Guys...use your imagination.

That's right. He built a pisser spot! Well, my redneck spidey senses kicked in this afternoon and.....

There is the beginning of my own pisser at camp. I need to get some materials to finish it but this is what I could find in my scrap pile of wood.

 

[FrancSevin]

I came out to camp to finish opening up and stock the camper with food. I was bored and recalled a totally genius idea my camp neighbor showed me last fall. Guys...you will love and appreciate this!

First off, here's what he built. Guys...use your imagination. View attachment 191824

That's right. He built a pisser spot! Well, my redneck spidey senses kicked in this afternoon and.....

View attachment 191825

There is the beginning of my own pisser at camp. I need to get some materials to finish it but this is what I could find in my scrap pile of wood.

Well, it's better than a flat rock!

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Well, it's better than a flat rock!

And...no more pissing into the wind with the neighbors watching.

 

[bczoom]

Before you frame it in, should you dig a hole and fill it with gravel or something so the urine seeps into and underground faster to avoid smells and such.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

That's the plan. I will dig out a pit and fill with rocks and gravel.

 

[FrancSevin]

That's the plan. I will dig out a pit and fill with rocks and gravel.

Limestone is best.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I've been busy working on our fifth wheel camper getting ready to hit the road in a few weeks for a 5k trip to the west coast. Yesterday I cleaned and repaired the awning with fabric tape and changed a broken awning bracket. I also cleaned the roof and waited for today to coat it with rubberized roof coating. It went on easy with a roller.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I also did the slide roof.

 

[bczoom]

Looks great!

 

[bczoom]

Hmmmm. 5000 miles with a F-150... How much does the 5th wheel weigh (with all your stuff in it)? Are you going to quit and turn around as soon as you see the mountains? I drove a 24' RV into the Rockies once. Going up hill, I don't think I could get above 30MPH with the pedal to the floor (and constantly worrying about overheating).

 

[NorthernRedneck]

You'd be surprised how much that thing pulls. The fifth wheel is actually an ultra light weighing in at roughly 6800lbs dry. Even with our stuff loaded it's around 7800lbs. The truck is rated for 125000. Our expedition has the same driveline and had no problems going to mount Rushmore. Different terrain I know. But the 3.5l turbo barely went above 3k rpm in the hills there and held the speed limit climbing. The biggest thing is not riding the brakes all the way down the hills.

 

[bczoom]

Glad to hear the truck can work for you! Yea, the Mt. Rushmore area is a lot easier terrain than scaling the Rockies. Those are baby hills in the Black Hills region of SD.
Downshifting is your friend when going down hills. Does your truck have "descent control" or whatever they call it on a Ford so you don't have to use your brakes?