Vintage Camper Rally - Royal Gorge, Colorado

I seem to have lost all my pictures from the Vintage Camper Rally at the end of July. That is just wierd.

School's Out - Sylvan Lake

Betty is all dolled up!

School is out and we decided to spend the first weekend camping at our own little gem of Sylvan Lake. So beautiful and so close! Lina's best friend and her family (our friends and neighbors) went with us. We had a lovely time!

We hiked, ate, lounged, played and enjoyed a couple of storms. This one at dusk afforded us a double rainbow!!! What a lovely weekend!

New table is beautiful!!!

I mean, honestly...isn't it just to die for? It is so beautiful and glittery. Just the perfect touch of kitsch!

Steamboat Springs

Well, despite the CONTINUED crappy weather on the weekends around here, we decided to leave to go camping anyway. We were sick of postponing our trips! So we took off for Steamboat Springs. It rained on us the whole way. It rained ALL NIGHT. We arrived at dusk on Friday night, had dinner and just chilled out in the camper. It was freezing outside, pouring rain and quite miserable. Inside, it was downright cozy. We all slept great, listening to the river and the rain.

Sloaney and Lina cuddling on the bed.

Just before we got up, it started to snow.

The Yampah River from our campsite.

It proceeded to DUMP heavy, wet snow for about four hours. We didn't care, we set off for Old Town Hot Springs. It was wonderful! I don't have pictures because it was too wet to bring out my camera! By the time we were thoroughly cooked, the weather was starting to change. We walked around downtown, had a nice lunch at "Winona's"; I recommend it highly. We headed back to our campsite with some chocolates from "Fizzywigs." Also recommened highly.

Dad and Lina playing "Go Fish" with Nemo Cards.

Cushions look nice, don't they?

Betty looks good. Nice spot on the river, no?

We walked around on the other side of the river and found some lava rocks. Lina found a crystal and was so happy. We had a great dinner of leftover sushi (me), hot dog sandwich; which is what you make when you don't have hot dog buns, (Lina) and chili and fritos (John).

We all had a good night's sleep and woke up, made breakfast, packed up the campsite and took off for different hot springs. Strawberry Park Hot Springs are about 5 miles out of Steamboat. Wow. What a cool place!

Strawberry Park Hot Springs.

That's the river on the left. The pools are on the right. It was so nice on Sunday, that I got my first mild sunburn of the season. Felt GREAT! We stayed for about 2 1/2 hours and then packed up, stopped for a quick bite and took off for home. The drive home was sunny and beautiful; about 65 degrees out. Go figure!

New cushions

Okay, I know that's a small picture of the cushions, but I took it with my phone. Don't they look great? They turned out EXACTLY like my drawing! I'm so pleased. My friend Liz did a great job. She's a master with many needles; sewing and acupuncture. She had herself a little vacay to a tropical paradise, but was able to finish two of the four cushions before she left. So nice!

Okay. Another tiny photo...but can you see the new wooden screen door that John custom made? It is beautiful and functional and so cool. Very trick. He's got a great talent. I love that man. I'll get a better shot of it soon.

We have tried to go camping two weekends in a row. It has snowed (epic snow) on both weekends, so we bagged the planned trips.

See? E-P-I-C. That's the cool snowboarder word.

We are all itching to get on the road and take Betty for an adventure. This upcoming weekend is out as I will be spending time with the kids from CHLA, becoming a Fairy Godmother and treating my mom and MIL to something special. BUT, we're thinking the following weekend...maybe we can get it together and get on the road!

I hear it calling my name.

Foam

So, let's talk foam. That #$%^ is expensive! Who knew? Aparently, it's a petroleum product and therefore very expensive. We got it 50% off at Jo%nn Fabrics and it still cost $187.00 for two bench seats worth of foam. RIDICULOUS!.

Thus endeth the rant.

All in all, the whole project is turning out to be more work, more expensive and less fun by the second. We should have just bought the "standard RV dinette" except...I got a sneak peak of one of the cushions today....so cute!

So stay tuned...more to come.

Betty Interior Remodel

Yes, Betty is getting a little interior remodel. We decided that the dinette was too old, too heavy, too cumbersome and too uncomfortable to use as a bed. We are going to take them out and see what we can salvage and the re-do the whole system. We want a diner-style dinette that is still comfortable as a couch/table and as a bed when its folded down. We hope to gain a little storage; maybe a place for the little dog to sleep. We hope it helps betty lose a few and gain some style.

This is the current set up. Cute, but difficult to configure. The table is really heavy and too cumbersome to change out. While the fabric looks pretty good from far away, it is some type of chenile. It sticks to your clothes, dog hair sticks to it and its just difficult to keep looking nice. I hope to use some microsuede instead. Durable, pretty, easy to clean, not too hot or too cold.

This is what we found when we dismantled the benches. They were like twin mattresses with old fashioned stuffing and ticking screwed to a very heavy frame. Betty will definitely shed some pounds after this!

Honestly, I started to get the heebie jeebies upon tearing this stuff apart. It was full of dust and funk. I'm surprised that no visible critters had moved in. I am quite comforted to get them out of the camper. I'm sure there was mold and dust mites and god only knows what else in these. Plus they weigh a TON!

After the two of us messing around with arrangements, measurements, designs and such on Friday, John started working and has already finished the basic bench design by Saturday afternoon. Look! I have extra storage! Perfect for shoes, games and little dogs!

This is a very rough sketch of the design we are seeking.

Four 19" x 43" x 5" cushions that when laid flat make a 76" bed. When in the "L" position, we should have a nice comfy bench seat. The new table will drop down between the benches to be the support for the cushions when they are configured as a bed.

I ordered some red and black microsuede from Eaboy. I called my seamstress/acupuncturist friend Liz (I guess she's all about needles) to see if she thinks she can sew these. I need to buy some 5" foam. We need to get a table ordered. I need to order the drop leg for the table.

I have no idea how long this will take to come together but we're all the way in now! Wish us luck!

Miss July 2010

I almost forgot to tell you...Betty is an "official" pinup girl now.

Meet Miss July 2010.

She is in the Southwest Vintage Camper Association's 2010 calendar.

Betty replied "Yeah, I know I'm a hottie, that's why I'm Miss July!"

Betty is back home

We brought Betty back home from Grand Junction last Saturday. She wintered well. I need to sweep and dust and re-stock, but she'll be good to go in no time.

The house feels right with Betty parked in front, I like to keep my office window open so I can see her when I'm here. It's like a little promise of sweet freedom happens just by glancing over my left shoulder. I don't know how the neighbors feel about having her parked in front of the house...frankly, I don't care!

We've decided the theme for the summer is "Colorado Hot Springs" so you'll most likely be seeing me in a swimsuit...sorry about that! We're going to try to camp near and visit as many Colorado hot spots as we possibly can!

It's going to be a great summer!