Bounder on The Brain

     When we first bought the Bounder we were super excited about the possibilities of it. "We could live in it!" was the first thought, obviously. Like any other house or apartment you might be thinking about living in, we started imagining where things would go and how we would make it our own. At first that wasn't so easy since the day we bought it was filled to the brim with ECU Pirates paraphernalia and all we could see was purple and gold, distracting us from being able to think of how we could make it better.

 anywhoo

     As we thought about living in it more and more, we wanted to fix everything. The roof, the walls, replace the sconces, replace the curtains, put new carpet down, re-upholster everything, make the walls look better, etc, etc. We've decided to stick with a good bit of those things to conquer, but we've tried to do the things we can without getting in over our head. 

    Just riding in the road whale {pretty clever, eh?} makes me feel free. It's sits up so high and like Dave tried to explain in the most recent post, you can feel everything. We bounce a lot while going down the road and it's awesome. The wind shield is huge! The hugeness of it makes me feel like I can see everything. It's kind of like when you go from a regular tv to a wide screen tv, everything is in view and you can see the whole movie. Except in this case it's the landscape you can see without that pesky blind spot getting in the way. So good.

   We've had the Bounder on our brain a lot lately, thus a blog is born. We didn't and don't want to get loaded down by it though and we don't want our friends and family to get tired of hearing about it. Dave explained it best the other night while we were driving in the car.

Be prepared. This is about to get biblical.

    He said that we thought about the Bounder a bunch and that before having an RV he wouldn't have ever been up in Barnes and Noble peepin' the Trailer Life magazine. Not only because it'd be a pretty random thing to look for, but because of the title of the magazine alone. Trailer Life. It has a certain ring to it, ya know? Anyway, he compared that to knowing God. There's probably a slim chance that he'd be reading the Bible if someone didn't take the time to get him acquainted with God and help him to know how to go about having a legitimate relationship with God. The Bible and God aren't very popular subjects in some circles and it's pretty easy to see how Trailer Life could get a joke or two. If we just chunk a Trailer Life magazine at someone walking past us, they aren't very likely to be interested in it's contents, much like the Bible. I clearly understand the difference between the Bible and Trailer Life, but it is kind of the same idea. Throwing tracts or scripture in someone's face and letting them hash it out for themselves isn't the most effective way to help people understand what's so good about God. 

    Dave is good at metaphors. At least I think so. 

    You should check out Trailer Life though, it's cool. The Bible is legit too. 

Class A

Quite a few people that have rested their gaze upon the glory of the striking magnificence that is the sight of our aging motorhome have been completely surprised that we can drive it about.  Of course we can!  I'll fill you in on the basics of motorhoming.

Recreational vehicles come in several different styles or categories.  They include:

-Class A Motorhomes -- Basically these are shaped like big rectangles.  More specifically, they are constructed on bare frames that are used to make things like bread trucks, busses, UPS trucks and the like.

-Class B Motorhomes -- These are like conversion vans.  They are built on van chassis.

-Class C Motorhomes -- These are built on heavy duty truck frames. They look like U-haul trucks.

-Truck Bed Campers
-5th Wheel Trailers
-Toy Haulers                  } All the rest are just pulled about by big pickup trucks and are clearly less cool.
-Trailers
-Park Model Trailers
-Pop-up Trailers

Our Bounder is a Class A!!  Sounds pretty awesome because it is.  Since the home is built on a bare chassis, the living space and the driving space are not separated.  Class A RV's are also self contained, meaning that they have all the necessary tanks and batteries, etc to operate without hooking up.  This is called Boondocking in RV lingo (camping without hooking up to say electricity, water, etc.).  I am stoked at the potential to boondock in some great wilderness with an awesome view.

Another thing that makes the Class A my favorite is that they drive like you are driving around a house.  This is thanks to the fact that you drive in the living space, so as you look around you can see your sink and stove and curtains and bedroom along for the ride.  Remarkably, though, its quite easy to drive!  Power steering and an automatic transmission make it just like driving anything else really.  Yes, it is slow and lumbering and long, but that just makes it fun.  Katie and I both agreed that it seems scary at first, until you realize that it is not that hard.  Backing up is tricky, but not impossible as long as you know how to use mirrors.

The best part though, is going over a bridge whilst sitting in the front.  Its similar to sitting on a swing set except the swing doesn't go back and forth it just goes up and down.  That probably doesn't make any sense.  Just come along for a ride, I'll show you.

Real speak.  If you have any questions about anything, even if it sounds as dumb as that last statement, just let me know.

Motorhome Improvements pt. 2

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!  I got a new laptop for Christmas!  This post is brought to you in part by all those who contributed to the Get Dave A Macbook For Christmas Fund.  Thank you!

So as I concluded my last post, I headed out to the Bounder and rolled up my sleeves.  Here is a look at what went down. Note: these were taken with my BlackBerry and without flash they look kinda lame.

 The Kitchen floor had already been pulled up, so we started there and worked back towards the cab.  It was a messy process as the carpet was full of dust and dirt, which slingshots into your face as you pop the staples up.  Fun fun!

Here is a closer look at those blasted staples.  They are 1 inch long staples, common to mobile home construction.  Katie and I both got nasty blisters from pulling the 8000 little suckers up.  Even though they drove us crazy, I was glad that they didn't use glue to put the carpet down.

Katie put herself to work cleaning the walls of the coach whilst I fought the staple war.   We were both surprised/disgusted at the amount of dust that was removed from the walls.  She did good, and I'm glad that its cleaner.

Tadaa.  Here's a look at the new carpet and vinyl!  So far, the living room, kitchen, and dining rooms are the only rooms with floors finished.  We put down the carpet with staples and the vinyl with some glue that was graciously donated by our siblings.  I've started installing quarter round trim as a baseboard, which really makes it look sharp.  My favorite bit is the transition strip.

A closer look at the transition.  We chose a berber carpet that looks nice and is durable.  Hopefully, it will last the rest of the life of the motorhome.  You can see in this picture a new socket set that we had to purchase.  I'll tell you why:

So to rip up the carpet in the bathroom, we need to pull up the toilet.  The toilet installed in our motorhome is made by Thetford and seems to be an industry standard.  Anyways, to remove the toilet one must use a super long extension with a 1/2" deep socket to reach the mounting bolt which is only accessible via a tiny hole in the back.  No big deal, right?  Well dad-in-law had a set of deep sockets, but just happened to be missing the 1/2" socket.  So we searched and looked and asked brother-in-law, but to no avail.  Katie and I ended up running to Walmart to see if we could pick up a cheap set, but somehow Walmart was out of only deep SAE sockets.  BAH!  We were able to find a 1/2" deep socket, but it was just included in a big box set so we bought it for $25.  Oh well, at least I have more tools.

We haven't done any more work since Christmas, but we did take it for a drive to Roper and back.  The thing runs like a champion.  It is so fun to drive and share with other people.  K bye.

Motorhome Improvements Pt 1

As you may have well guessed, a super cheap vintage motor home usually comes with some things that need a little love and elbow grease.  I have actually been pleasantly surprised at how much is still in good shape, however.  We don't really know much about the history of our Bounder, but we do know that it was at one time smashed by a tree during a hurricane.  It apparently took out much of the bedroom as we noticed a different and newer wall and ceiling material. Whoever did the repairs seems to have done a pretty good job, so that was cool.

Apparently, the hurricane damage must have "totaled" so we have what is known as a "salvage title".  These terms don't really mean much to me since I am the product of my grandfathers and father.  We fix stuff and make it work.  It is in our nature, and I am proud of the men in my family who have taught me how to be handy.

So here is a little rundown of the things that Katie and I first decided to fix or upgrade on the Bounder:
-CLEAN EVERYTHING
-New coat of elastic roof paint
-New carpet and vinyl flooring
-New window coverings
-Fix rear window latches
-Fix screen doors
-Install switches on various 12 volt applications
-Replace light bulbs and lamp shades
-Get appliances running clean and smooth

Dang that sounds like a lot!  Its not really that bad though, since we will be living in the comfort of out apartment (which is really not that much bigger than the RV) until July.  In the meantime we just take trips down to Jamesville where we visit the in-laws and do some fixin.  We have made a couple of those aforementioned trips and here's what has gone down:

The first thing we wanted to fix was the roof.  The seller told us that it was due for a new coat of elastic roof paint and that there were a couple of minor leaks that we should be able to patch up.  So I went to Lowes and picked up the best and most expensive roof coating that they carry.  I did some quick math and realized that it would take an enormous amount, so I went ahead and got a 5 gallon bucket.  Katie loves to paint so I got her set up and let her do her thing.  She did a great job, and as you can see it looks way better.

The 88' Bounder is the only motorhome to have a flat roof.  That was a terrible idea.  Oh well, at least we got her all painted up.  I also went over and caulked up some seams where the vents and AC come through.

Katie found herself a nice little project-the futon.  The futon's cushions were all limp and really saggy.  Not fun.  So we picked up some upholstery from Ollie's and whipped out the staple gun.  She was able to get the old foam out and tediously stuffed the new, thicker foams in.  After slapping some staples in it, we had a revived and much more comfortable futon.  Good job babe!  (sorry I don't have a picture of that but trust me its better)

Just this past week, Katie and I were able to pick out the exact carpet and vinyl we want to redo the floors with.  We ended up getting them from Lowes, even though it was a little cheaper at Ollies.  The Bounder comes with carpet all around.  Even in the bathroom.  Our Bounder even came with dog-scented (and haired) carpet.  woot!  Even after much vacuuming the smell remained.  So I bought an 8'x12' roll of carpet and a 8'x 12' roll of fake wood vinyl and some trim stuff to make it look legit.

One of my greatest worries about the floor projects was that I would find rotten floor or wall to wall carpet.  *wall to wall carpet is where they build a motorhome's floor then carpet it, THEN build cabinets and walls ON TOP OF THE CARPET!  This construction technique is stupid but it happens from time to time.  PTL that this Bounder had its carpet installed with staples and not under anything!  So far it has come up with little to no fuss!  Currently, I am about 45% finished with pulling the old carpet.  In fact, I am about to go pull up the rest right now!  I'll try to remember to take some photographs of our progress.  

How in the heck?

Down yonder, there are a few pictures of the Bounder in its "as is" condition.  I had to park it at the church for a night until Katie and I had time to drive it to her parent's house in Jamesville, NC where there is room for it to park and tools to get our fix on.  We actually drove it to my grandparent's houses in Roper for Thanksgiving to show it off to all the folks and to give Katie a chance to ride/drive in it.  Surprisingly, all the family seemed to really like it!  In fact, uncle Paul wants to rent it from us so that their family can take a road trip!  It was very encouraging to hear all of their approvals.  I was a little worried that someone would give us a hard time for spending our money like that.  Speaking of money...

"How the heck did we pay for this thing with cash we're only young married college kids?" you may ask?  Well here is the "big secret".  Since we are young married college kids, we received some grant money for school.  Furthermore, one of my classes was canceled rather last minute, so we were able to receive some refund money for the difference.  This money we quickly and carefully placed in a high interest checking account, by the recommendation of our awesome financial adviser.  Since this money is being saved for school and not  being used as our income or general spending money, it accrues sweet interest.  Anyway, this purchase is our housing for school next year so the money is not only going to still be used for school, we should be able to sell the Bounder when we are done-unlike an apartment.  

Long story short, we want to have a fun way to live and try to save some cash at the same time.  No, we aren't trying to be hippies or crazy minimalists.  No, we aren't trying to say that everyone should live in a motorhome, or that everyone should sell all there things and live on the road.  But, maybe that stuff is for you and you just didn't realize it.  Perhaps you have just wondered about the possibilities of living cheap and small.  

Well cool, glad we figured that out.  Up next, I am planning to do some posts about motorhome improvements and the challenges and rewards thereof.  

1988 Fleetwood Bounder 33'

So this is my first blog!  I decided that since Katie and I were deciding to do something out of the ordinary, (imagine that) we might want to make us a fancy shmancy blog so that people could possibly be inspired to also do things out of the ordinary.  We have also been planning an EPIC ADVENTURE that we will definitely posting about once things get more official-get stoked!

So first of all, here's some background information:  Katie used to live in Wilmington, NC and her house for a while was a shack.  In fact, she was evicted from her shack because it was not suitable for full-time living.  It was a sad day for her because she greatly enjoyed living there in that simple little box.

Fast forward a few years-Katie and I got married!  Then we moved to a small apartment here in Greenville, NC where we currently reside quite comfortably.  We are only here for a year, after which we will have to move back to Elizabeth City, NC to finish our degrees.  Being a sailing enthusiast, I thought it would be awesome if we could buy a cheap sailboat and live in it whilst at school.  One of Katie's life-dreams was to own a camper.  Well as you may know, marriage is about working together so we found a beautiful way to combine our dreams and goals!  On craigslist!

I was a big fan of scrolling through interesting adverts on craigslist, looking at neat old cheap stuff when I happened upon an add for a 1988 Fleetwood Bounder motorhome.  Now, usually I shop for things simply by price (lowest to highest of course) and this price was certainly one to catch my fancy.  $3400 would by Katie and I our first home!?  My heart rate literally jumped when I saw the picture and immediately I started thinking of all the possibilities.  Also, I wondered about what could be missing or wrong with this thing to make it so cheap.

As soon as Katie got home from work I told her all about it and she was super amped.  She had been a little uneasy about the thought of living on the water so the sight of the wheels was comforting for her.  The advert said to call OR TEXT the number, which blew my mind.   It was definitely meant to be, as I have a great disdain for using a telephone as a telephone.  I texted the seller and set up a time to meet him and his motorhome.

Katie and I were so impressed at the condition of the vintage motorhome and the honesty of the seller that we immediately drove out to the nearest ATM.  We were forced to pay for it over two days due to the limit for our debit cards, but I would say it sure as mess beats monthly car payments, let alone a mortgage!  I met the seller at the DMV place to hand over the last of the cash and sign over the title.  Just like that BOOM  we were motorhome owners!

So that is the condensed version of how we received the rig.  Here's a quick look at the luxurious amenities that it has to offer:
-Chevrolet chassis with a big block 454 carbureted engine
-Futon
-Sink
-Gas stove and oven
-Microwave oven
-New Fridge/freezer
-Dinette (folds into bed)
-Closet
-Full overhead storage
-Bathroom with shower
-Two single beds (will become one queen for us marriedfolk)
-6500 watt Onan generator
-Coleman Mach 3 Roofmount AC
-Atwood 6 gal. water heater
-Suburban forced air Furnace
-Fresh, Grey, and Black water tanks
-Built-in LP tank
-90 GALLON GAS TANK with a slightly smaller aux tank
-Sweet roll-out awning

Pretty swag right??  Now, remember that all of that is from 1988 and must be cleaned and tweaked for proper full-time living, but I'm the kind of person that greatly enjoys fixing things and having a fun project to work on and look forward to.  I'll post some "before" pictures to give you an idea of how she looked when we first got her.  And, if you read this far, thank you.  I promise this will get more interesting as it goes.  Go go gadget pictures: