A month late, but . . .

Its nice to be in the mode of planning the next adventure rather than planning the next repair.  Sure, there are things I still need to do to the Vanagon and of course there is the wish list (paint, a light tinting for the glass, new pop up canvas, etc), but I am actually planning a trip today.

White Mountains, here we come.

So today, I pulled out the curtains as they desperately needed cleaning.  I picked up my new bed topper from my mother.  She is a magnificent seamstress and crafted a very nice item for the camper.  A piece of 2 inch memory foam, covered in a two piece (yet attached in center, for folding ease) cotton print cover.  The colors are perfectly coordinated, and the inner foam piece has its own covers so that removal for cleaning can easily be done.  A well executed plan Mom!

Picked up some more cleaning supplies for the inside at Wally World.

Also went to Lowes and had some paint mixed up for the two new interior panels I made up.  The inner panel for the slider door and the rear hatch were missing when I got the Vanagon, so I have been contemplating replacements ever since.  Looked for a stock replacement, but it seems brown is a popularly needed color.  They make ABS versions, but they need to be covered to look good, otherwise the black is too dark. 

So I went native and carved out a nice replacement out of birch plywood (I do have Mi'kmaq blood in me from generations ago).  The panels came out really well, better than I had imagined and I hesitated painting them for I thought it a crime to cover the nice grain, but then I thought "I have a four year old, I need utilitarian: easy to clean, easy to repair" so I had a quart of paint mixed in the same color as the cabinetry.  I chose this to lighten up the rear passenger compartment, versus the dark brown.  Some stainless steel screws to attach them and we are set.

Tomorrow - some cleaning, modify the clamshell for a suitable spare (cant see adding the 75 pounds for the rear mounted carrier yet with speed I am not achieving), and I have a little stumble in the lower rpms I need to tweak. 

Friday is coming soon, have a full three day weekend planned for the family and I do not want to let them down.