Organizing the Basement

I spent a couple of days this week getting some of Craig's things organized in the basement of the Alfa.  When we started putting things into it, I gave Craig a couple of big bins that I had used for storing art materials. I told him they were probably not the right size and shape, and that he should think about what he wanted.

Plastic bins were not high on Craig's list of things he wanted to think about. When it comes to tools he has always had the "leave it on the workbench" philosophy.  His usual way of finding what he needs is to ask me to look for it.  He has gotten better over the years as I became more and more reluctant to be his "gofer", but his first words about almost any project are: "Merikay, please go get the ..."

The other day he said the two bins he was using had too many things in them and could I move some of it to another container.

Aha!  I knew if I imposed some sort of system on him he would ignore it, but since he asked I went right to work.

First I measured the space I wanted to use and the existing boxes in it.  Then I went out to shop, stopping at Home Depot, The Container Store, Walmart, and Staples.  I found I had several options.  The best was from Staples.  Several same sized, handled,  stackable, click-close bins available in different colors.

I bought them and spent Monday sorting things out.

Three of these stacked up takes the same amount of floor space as one of the larger ones.  

The empty larger ones are still behind these, or in the other bay, along with a couple of other empty smaller colored ones. Hopefully he will be able to put things back into the correct container.  I have also made notes of what each color contains, so when he asks me where something is I can tell him to look in the designated color bin. We will see how long this lasts!

I have also reorganized a couple of the kitchen cabinets this week. Amazing how a little organization can yield more room and easier access!

Can you tell I have too much time on my hands?

Why Camp Driveway has been a good thing

We have been living full-time in the Alfa for almost three months now. Some of that time has been out on the road, and some of it has been here at Camp Driveway in the forest at the top of our property.

It is one thing to "dream" about living full time in an RV while still living in a large home, and quite another to actually live in the RV. Although I didn't plan on this "test" time, I'm glad we are going through it.  

When we came back from our last trip, there were only a couple of things that I brought up from the house that I had not transferred to the Alfa before we went.  One was a couple of slotted and serving spoons and a cooking pot lid that fit a particular pot that had not come with one.  Craig is still adding tools.  We know we will fit in a ladder, and bringing our bikes along is a question we have not yet addressed. The interior is pretty well organized, but the large basement bay still needs work.  I had several sturdy bins I had used to store furs and fabric, and we have been using them in the bays, but they are not quite the right size and feel like they waste some space.  I wanted to wait until Craig had brought up most of what he wants before I go out and get different bins.  This is the sort of job I really enjoy: packing things to fit a space!

I think we have come to the point where we need none of the stuff that is still in the house. We are in limbo on getting rid of more stuff right now.  Everything is either part of the staging or packed away in closets or the garage. When the house sells we will have the motivation to make a clean sweep.

I will say there are a couple of things I will miss. One is my Electrolux double oven, and the other is the rotisserie on the large Weber grill we have on the deck.  

 The Alfa has both a combination microwave-convection oven and an LP oven.  Craig uses the LP oven frequently to bake his frozen rolls and frozen French tarts that he eats for breakfasts.  It is hard to get up to temperature and is very small. I have nothing against convection cooking.  My Electrolux was a convection oven, but I just treated it like a regular oven with excellent results. 

I just haven't really explored the convection feature yet.  

I really like to make roast chickens on the Weber rotisserie because I almost always get three or four meals out of one large chicken.  I do not like the rotisserie chickens sold at groceries, Costco, or Walmart.  They are usually small, and because they have been brined have a higher salt content.  Tasty, easy, but not healthy. I'm sure once we are on the road I will learn how to do a whole roast chicken.

I am quite surprised that I don't mind hand-washing the dishes. They seem to get much cleaner than in a dishwasher, and washing up after dinner doesn't seem to take as long as it did to empty the dishwasher, rinse and load it, and then do the pots and pans.  I am cooking most of the same things that I did in the house.

Because we are being careful about filling up the tanks, I have been practicing low-water-use dish washing by wiping dishes off with paper towels, rather than rinsing them, and dumping the dish water down the hill outside instead of pouring it down the drain. 

We have also been taking showers and doing the wash at the house. We are not quite used to having only one potty, so some mornings I walk down the hill to the house for a bit of private time.  I've done this at campgrounds too; it is not a real problem.

We will be going down to town to dump the tanks every seven days. They don't get completely full, but we don't want to risk sloshing on the steep hills we need to go up and down to get out of our property. If we had access to a shower house, and if Craig would be willing to use it instead of the shower in the Alfa, I think we could do ten days at a power-only campground.  This is good to know, because many State and National park campgrounds do not have water or sewer hookups.

As the weather gets colder in the evening, I find I am cuddling in the bed and reading or watching Netflix more often. It's warm and comfortable. It's getting too chilly to sit outside. We have spent the last twenty or so years of winter evenings sitting in front of a cozy fireplace in our comfy chairs.  I will miss that a bit, but not my daily chore of cleaning up the hearth and floor.

All in all, I am so ready to leave this place and set out on our full time adventure.  

My emotions fluctuate between hope and despair about the house selling for a reasonable price in a reasonable time.  We have lowered the price, but there has still been very few showings.  But every time I go down there and walk thru I think: "What a wonderful house this is." 

We leave for a month in San Diego soon. It sure would be a great holiday gift if we got an offer while we were gone.  Then we could come home in January, clear it out and be on our way.  

It will happen, it's just a question of the right buyer coming to see it.

 (Note to robbers: there is nothing in the house worth taking.)

Another way to install sliding drawers in a tight spot.

For those of you who are interested in putting in sliding shelves or drawers in a hard to use cabinet, here is another way of doing it:

http://greatescapefromnj.blogspot.com/2011/10/busy-busy.html

Debbie included this URL in her comment on my last post.  They used hardware she found at Lowes.  Looks like it worked perfectly for them. 

 If anyone else has done something like this I'd be happy to pass on the information in a post.  

Shelf Improvement

No, I didn't make a typing error, this post is really about shelf improvement, not self improvement.

We've had the Alfa for two years, and have lived in her for over three months. I have to say that there are very few things I would want to change. But nothing is perfect.

This is my wonderful kitchen area. I like having the windows behind the sink and stove.  It gives me lots of light and I can look out while I am cooking or washing up.

On the other side of the coach is a cabinet that has three humongous drawers and two big shelves. Great accessible storage for canned goods,  snacks and miscellaneous cooking tools. I keep small hand tools like spatulas and wooden spoons in the drawers by the sink.  

The less-than-perfect cupboard was the one to the lower left of the sink.
The bottom shelf is deep and narrow. I had to go down on my hands and knees to get anything from the back of it. With the bottom of the sink taking up part of the upper space, it was not good for tall bulky items.

I asked Craig if he could make some slide-out shelves for it. Last week we went out and looked at existing hardware and pre-made shelving. Of course nothing was quite right.

When we got back, Craig searched the Web and came up with a company in Arizona that made custom size pull out shelves for a quite reasonable cost.  It is called Shelves That Slide. They have several standard sizes for depth, but the width is cut to your measurements.  We ordered two and they arrived within a week.

The company has locations in Arizona and Nevada. They will also install the shelves for you for a reasonable cost.  

Craig said he ordered the wrong type of hardware, but with a little modification it worked just fine.

I wasn't thinking when I made my counter-top holder for oils and balsamic vinegar. They really should be kept in a cool dark cabinet, not on a sunny counter. Now they are, and are still quite available when I'm cooking. The needlepoint holder will keep them in place when we are moving. 

Another plus is that this shifts just a little of the weight to the right side of the coach. The Alfa seems to be left side heavy because that is where her slides and closets are. 

Every little bit of weight balance can help.

So, that's the news from Camp Driveway, where the squirrels have fluffy tails and the bucks are following the does around waiting for the right moment.

Bobcat At Camp Driveway

This is a Web picture, but the one I saw this morning gave me the same look!

I saw our resident bobcat this morning when I went out to flap our throw rugs. He jumped out of a tree just a few feet from the Alfa and gave me the most disgusted cat look as he quietly slipped away down into the forest.  

I am very glad to see him and to know that our living in the Alfa has not chased him off.  We have only caught one mouse in the bays this fall, and have had no other "signs."  I think it is because we have this excellent guy on the job.  

Other than that, there is not much to blog about.  The weather here has been excellent.  We are comfortable in the Alfa, and are planning a couple of local hikes. I think we are going to the movies this afternoon while the Realtor holds yet another Open House.  

The house has been on the market for more than two months now, and waiting for something to happen is a bore. 

I know, it only takes ONE buyer. 

But I wish they would show up soon. 

Back to the House, RV Budget

Well, we are back at the house and parked up in Camp Driveway again.  

Not counting the repairs both expected and unexpected, our budget numbers came pretty close to what I expect for full time living. 

I've never been one for making and keeping day to day budgets, and Craig isn't either, but we both try not to spend more than we have, and keep track of the big things in life.  This has worked fairly well for us because we have always had a pretty good income.

But I wanted to get a better picture of our day to day expenses in this new lifestyle we are planning.  During the last few trips we have taken, I have been developing an Excel workbook to keep track of everything.  Craig has been very good about keeping receipts and or telling me the amounts of each purchase. 

Once the house sells, I want to set things up so that we have a set amount per month for all of our regular expenses, and a fund with starting "large" lump for future repairs, maintenance, and dental or medical expenses, and as well as annual expenses like registration or insurance. For example I know we will buy four new RV tires in the next year or so. If I start with a nice lump sum at the sale of the house, I hope to be able to add some to it each month so the repairs and maintenance are not a burden. 

I know a lot of you keep financial records and share your budget. I have found them interesting and helpful for me to get a rough idea of what to expect.  But each couple or individual has different priorities. For some, eating out is a big part of your life. For some boondocking as often as possible is a must. A small class C is going to use less fuel. 

If RV plans are written in JELLO, financial plans must be set in Ice.  They seem to melt away in nothing flat!

At this point, I do not feel our numbers would be helpful to anyone, and my Excel template still needs some tweaking.

I remember being a 19 year old new bride trying to figure out how to make the dollars and the days match up.  Keeping track of every penny for the first few years really helped. I've been amused looking at my record books from those days.  Our first rent was  $75, including utilities. Several years later, I was saving up at the rate of $2.50 a month,  to buy a snowsuit for my child. We didn't have savings or a buffer amount for many years.  "Pay check to pay check" was a way of life.  

We are so much better off now!  Or at least we will be after the house sells.

Speaking of which, nothing much is happening with the house. The realtor says there are very few people looking right now. I hope it is because of the government problems, and once that gets straightened out we will get some action.  

Our next trip is planned for Thanksgiving through Christmas. I've booked a month at an RV park down in San Diego near our daughter and grandsons. 

Until then it is "Camp Driveway" in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California.  

Finally a Good Hike!

Although we have been able to take a few nice hikes, we had not yet done a good challenge hike on this trip.  For me a challenge hike is either one that has some really hard climbs, or is a pretty long distance.

Our hike on Saturday on the Goat Mountain Trail in the Bass Lake National Recreation area filled the bill just fine.

If we added in the distance walked from the parking area, our hike up to the Goat Mountain Lookout and back was more than nine miles!  

About two-thirds of the hike was through mixed second growth forest, along a narrow but easy path. There was quite a bit of uphill, and going was slow at times, but most was a gentle incline along the side of the mountain.

The upper portion was along a fire road.

The end of the trail was this fire lookout at the top of Goat Mountain.

Conveniently, there was a picnic table there where we had our lunch. 

Given that it is October we had expected to see some fall color, but  most of the trees are either evergreen or live oak.  There were some other kinds of oaks that were starting to turn bright yellow, but most were still quite green.  

This was one of the few spots of color we saw all day.  We're not sure whether it was a poison oak, or a small regular oak.

All in all, it was a very nice day. We both expect to be a little stiff in the morning, but that is not all that bad.  

Finally a word about the Accent:  We were very unhappy to learn that the clutch was not still under warranty. It was covered for only one year, 12,000 miles.  We have had the Accent for seventeen months and put 20,000 miles on it.  We realize it was a cheap little car.  We could have paid a lot more for a better, used toad, but at the time the Accent filled our need for a toad and a runabout vehicle.  We have also already replaced the Chinese tires it came with. Hopefully this clutch replacement is not indicative of future problems.