Let the Purge Begin

 We've accumulated a TON of stuff in the last 15 years, so going from 1500 square feet to about 60 will require some purging.  This past Saturday, Greg and I had a garage sale to begin the purge process.  

It was VERY early..........

Getting rid of stuff you don't need or haven't used in a while can be liberating...

but sometimes it's difficult and painful, like tearing out a piece of your soul.

Good-bye, my loves

And sometimes, it's just fun to sell stuff.  Especially stuff that Greg MADE!!

He sold the cute statue in the middle.  It's a robot.....

.........here's a closer look.

After the garage sale, we went to a puppy party. 

They're just so cuuuuute! 

But no way can we adopt another dog.
We already have one too many four-legged friends around here.
We're actually trying to find a good home for Slinky, our cuddly little kitty.  

She thinks she's going on the trip.....

She REALLY likes the Tiger. 

 She's a super cool cat.  I wish she could go with us!!  

The Coffin Gets a Mattress!

Two updates on the same day!  I know!

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It's been a real challenge to find a mattress for LeTigre's overhead bunk (the coffin) that won't interfere with the closing of the pop-top.  There's only 4" between the top and the bed platform when the top is closed!  Not only that the front is rounded at the corners (for aerodynamics...) and there's a little cabinet in the way on one side and the entry door on the other (see photos from previous update).  We improvised something for the first camping trip with a yoga mat, a camping pad, and a thin mattress pad.  I dubbed it "the Spartan special".

Angie had bruised hips after the second night.
No bueno.
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So I've been looking for awhile for something that I could modify to fit and didn't want to sacrifice something new ($$$) just to find out it wouldn't work.  Well, trolling craigslist yesterday and there it was, a near new king size memory foam mattress topper 4" thick and only a mile from the house!.  The seller (thanks Brad!) was nice enough to take $50 when I told him what I was doing with it and it already had a little buggered edge which didn't matter because I was going to cut it all up.  Now we have the perfect size bed.  Once again, craigslist to the rescue.  Peruse the photos to see how to ruin (er, customize) a perfectly good memory foam mattress topper!

After rinsing and drying the garage floor I layed out my prize and started measuring.

Like butta'

No turning back now.

In and out of the van a few times, a cut here, a trim there...

And it's done!  It's so comfy, like floating on a cloud of marshmallows.

Mmmmmm marshmallows...

Interior Redeux

We've been busy on LeTigre's interior this week.  Several things to report such as removing part of the dinette to make more interior space, expanding the bed platform, carpet, and a custom knob for the faucet.  Take a look inside!

LeTigre's dinette arrangement created a bottleneck in the center of the space and made it difficult to load the camper for trips, so out with the front bench.

Fake Tigre had an L shaped arrangement so we imitated that with a simple plywood box, borrowed some of the cushions and added a few throw pillows.

Angie be loungin'!

Angie then cut some new carpet and layed it loosely, for now, until we make a final decision on the furniture layout and flooring.

View of the bunk bed.

Vampires are all the rage so we call this "the coffin".

It was only 48" wide so I added an extension to make a true full.  Finding the right mattress has been a challenge, more on that soon.  We'll see how it goes on the next camping excursion in a couple of weeks since we're used to a king...

Is that my elbow?

Custom "shift knob" added to the faucet hand pump.

10 ball matches LeTigre's paint colors and it's 2010, if you need reasons.

I just think it's cool.