Today I finally went out to the camper and took a few pictures so you could have a little idea how our new home looks. This is the cleanest you will ever see it, I'm sure :) . We chose a travel trailer because we own an Excursion already and they are a beast for pulling. By the way, I named the Excursion "Beast" before we ever bought it. The camper is "Beauty", of course!
We went with a 2014 Forest River Salem 31bkis for several reasons.
1. It was the first camper Eldon walked into and actually liked.
2 The price was great.
3. The salesman (Robert Campbell) at Campbell Motors in Ozark, Mo was nicer then any of the other salesmen we talked to that day.
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| The floorplan |
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| Not my picture, but exactly what it looks like outside. |
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| The outdoor kitchen. This was not on my list at all but I'm so glad we have it! We've used it a lot on our trips so far. The extra fridge is a huge bonus too. |
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| Again, not my picture but I wanted to show you the grill. |
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| Kitchen |
This is to the left when you come in the door. This model has nothing extra when it comes to cupboards but I really liked how big and spacious it is. On our last camping trip Eldon made the comment that one thing we did right was get a microwave that doesn't beep. I live in the fear that one of the lights will get broken since they hang down so far but hopefully we can keep that from happening.
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| Dining room |
The benches both have storage under them. One is a long drawer and the other you open from the bench seat.
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| Bunkhouse |
This room is what sold me! I love, love, love how big it is. There is easily room to set the pack and play up and still have room to play. After looking at other bunkhouse of families who fulltime I made curtains to give them their own room. they absolutely love it. And then, I ended up making new curtains for all the windows in this room.
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| Michael (4) has the bed on the left side. |
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| Makayla (6) sleeps on top and Emily (3) on the bottom. |
I have had Emily and Ethan both sleep on the bottom but since he has started crawling he finds great delight in waking her up, no matter what time of the day or night it is. I can put the pack and play up but I'm hoping soon they can sleep together.
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| Emily loves purple so when I saw purple elephant fabric I knew it was perfect! |
The curtains over their windows have quilt batting in between 2 layers of fabric. I was hoping to make it darker as well as help keep the heat/cold out. They turned out well, I thought. Especially for someone who doesn't exactly enjoy sewing. Her mattress is currently in the house since we sold her bed already but it's got purple elephant sheets too.
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| Glow in the dark butterflies and dragonflies |
Back to the kitchen we go. These cabinets are to the right of the door. I'm planning to have all the plates and cups in the lower one so the children can easily reach them.
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| Living room. Note the 2 children who were determined to be on the picture. |
The couch has a drawer underneath it. A big drag for is that it is just not as comfortable as my recliner but I suppose I'll adjust. And, my baby is 7 months old already so hopefully he'll be sleeping through the night before long and I won't have to do nighttime feedings.
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| Bathroom |
The bathroom is a hole in the wall. BUT it has a corner shower which means it's a lot bigger then a lot of RV showers. That made me happy. And seriously, it's so handy to be able to pee and brush your teeth at the same time. Just kidding of course :) .
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| Master bedroom |
Our room has no slides so it's on the smaller side but I absolutely love it. We put our full size mattress on the bed and that made it bigger, since there had been a queen in there. O, the bed flips up and has storage underneath. You can also get to this storage from the outside. The rope lights were our addition and make it much more cozy.
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| Also my addition. |
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| Master bedroom window |
I made new curtains for our room too. This is a terrible picture but they are cream and navy. Notice how I took the time to sew a pocket on the one side so that we could leave love notes to each other. Not really. The navy panels are actually some of Eldon's scrub tops that I cut down and I left the pocket in just for fun. And because I was to lazy to take it off. Yeah, mostly that.
So, there you have it. We have a lot to learn and figure out yet but we are loving this journey! We have 7 more weeks until we officially launch. Until then we'll be busy getting rid of the rest of our stuff and figuring out the best way to organize everything. I'm so excited for that part :) .
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| I don't know whose living room this is but it looks lovely. |
Occasionally I panic a little when I walk into a into a lovely living room and I wonder if I know what I'm doing? Selling so many of my nice things, downsizing into a smaller home, and getting rid of many luxuries.
Then I realize that if I have shelter that keeps out the elements I have more then a lot of people.
This mother could easily be me. My 3 youngest look about that age. And I'm going to complain about giving up my huge refrigerator, roomy living room, and comfortable recliner?
My family and I have more then enough to eat every day and clean water to drink. Tell me again, why am I feeling that I'm being deprived? God is showing me in this journey he is leading us on that so much is about perspective. Yes, we've given up a lot compered to some Americans. But in the end, we have a God who loves us, family, food, shelter, and much, much more. And we know that we are doing what he has asked us to for the time being. And we are excited!
With that, I'm off to prepare a special supper for a certain little miss who turns 3 tomorrow!
