I went from having no camper to becoming a Good Ol' RV member times two.  A close friend asked that I find a cheap camper for him to live in while he was restoring an old oyster house in Virginia. I found a 1978 camper in below average condition for $500.  My buddy promised to pay me the next week. While waiting for my payment I decided to spruce up the little camper a bit and placed an ad in the local "Trash to Treasures" Facebook page, asking if anyone had any extra camper parts for…

 Mornin gang, I have been absent for a while too busy updating my latest RV. While I don't currently own a good "old" RV (its a 2006) that's all I had for like 40 years lol so I feel right at home here.

  MY SOLAR UPDATES

 So, we do a lot of dry camping and in my last RV I had 400 watts or solar which kept my four deep cycle 6 volt golf cart batteries well charged. However, in my latest 2006 29 ft, Class I initially installed 470 flat rooftop solar watts (with…

Things that still need to be done:

1. Replace the ball hitch and move the jack forward. This year before using.

2. Repaint the frame and tongue. This year.

3. Finish scraping and repainting the roof. Hopefully this year!

4. Remove the inside shelf and overhead cabinet and finish the ceiling, then put everything back together. Maybe next year.

5. Refinish the inside paneling or replace it. Maybe next year while the shelf and cabinet are out.

6. Remove…

The finished ramp being painted:

As my wife was laid up for several years I built this access ramp in 2015 so she could get in and out of the camper. It bolted onto the steps and came apart so it could be stowed inside while moving. Now that she is up and around we no longer use it.

She's dead fred.

Came over Loveland pass, no problemo and down through Denver heading home and east from Southern California on Interstate 80. Misfiring started in Nebraska and plenty of oily smoke out the exhaust.

Well not good because I'm headed for home in northern Wisconsin.

Walmart, oil and prayer.

35 quarts of oil later I am back, a little shaken and  tired as the leaves are coming fast on the trees here in the north.

The…

and replaced the disintegrating particle board countertop with plywood.

At the same time I replaced my Dad's hand-built 12v transformer setup with a shore power supply to keep the battery charged and run the inside 12v lights when we were camped in a place with electricity.

Here is the nearly finished ceiling. Some staining left to do.

and installed a new roof vent with a fan.

While I had the ceiling open, I put some styrofoam in to insulate the roof.

In April of 2014 after the roof had leaked and finding the rafters had been pushed down by the snow load over many winters, I pushed them back into place and fastened them there, at least in the center. The front has to have the cabinets removed and the rear the shelf you can see here. I hope to get to that…

This is our Avalon Camper. The first thing I had to do when we got it in the 1980's was to rebuild the green storage box on the back. I have no photos of that, but it looked exactly the same except I used aluminum for the top rather than the fiberglass my Dad used. Of course, this was not original to the camper. The door had also been replaced, as had the axle and wheels and…

Ok peeps,,, I have to rant on this one.

When you are going to TOW a bumper pull trailer, Please Use the correct Hitch ball. Never ever expect a 1 7/8ths ball will work where a 2 inch or 2 7/8ths ball is required. And That break away cable... Dont attach it to the safety chain. Use the correct hitch ball,, put in a lock pin on your hitch, criss cross BOTH safety chans and connect the break away cable to the reciever hitch,, and make sure your lights are plugged in and…

I get a nice cheerful ring of the phone around 3;00 a/m, (Yes I'm still up watching something on TV and writing on my netbook). I hear,, wuzzzz up ya old fart!!!. (Its an old friend who runs a Hot Shot company. I reply,, umm contimplating the meaning of quatum physics and its effects on dehydrated drinking water,, why, wuzzz up on your end? A brief silence as the caller is trying to figure out what the heck I just said.He asks,, is your truck set up for some hauls? What a stupid question,, …

Can I say yeehaw!  I'm finally off the roof!!  

The new ac shroud came in last week (Camping World order took about a week direct from manufacturer).  Fixing the old one became an exercise in futility.  I did learn a lot about fiberglass, though, from my mistakes.  I don't regret my decision - it looks great.  The old shroud is going to become a little goldfish pond.

So, confessions.  I have come to despise dicor with a passion.  Stuff didn't set up fast, I was…