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First Camping Trip

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After a looong winter of Netflix and researching possible camping locations, Spring finally arrived and we got Peapod roadworthy enough to start camping. Kim booked us a site this past weekend at Cayuga Lake State Park campground.  We figured it might be a good idea to stay reasonably close for our first trip and we excitedly began planning. We stocked the galley with matching silverware and enameled mugs as we both donated from our cast iron cookware some a dutch oven and fry pan. I found a nice cast iron grill pan at a flea sale.  Our 12 days of Christmas seemed to have a camping theme with many items of use added.  Nick helped me (did it for me) wire up my Jeep trailer wiring and we installed a hitch receiver. Kim purchased a new SUV when her Corolla lease was nearly done, a Kia Seltos and after some mixup about SIRIUS satellite radio, was compensated with a receiver hitch and trailer wiring- So both our vehicles are able to do the d...
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Progress Update 2021

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Lots of progress since Columbus Day weekend has been made. As soon as the weather started feeling like spring, we pulled Peapod out of storage and resumed progress. I sanded the sides and Kim and I glued the woody side trim on and fitted the vertical trim piece. I attached the donut spacers that go under the side marker lights to allow enough room to tuck the wiring under the lights. I finished the wiring in the tounge box and bought a deep cycle battery and made cables. Power input to the inside fuse panel goes through a circuit breaker and then there's a main battery disconnect. Everything got a nice wrap of heat shrink tubing for protection.    I applied a couple more coats of epoxy to the exterior and interior of the doors and then started the process of applying the urethane spar varnish to the sides and doors.  There's about ten coats with sanding between most coats. I reinstalled the doors with better screws and th...
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The First Outing!

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Well we did it!  After looking at the weather forecast for Columbus Day weekend we decided Friday night was the best bet for an overnight, so after work we hooked up to the Jeep and towed the Peapod across town to a little known campsite also known as my back yard.  We still had to cut the bevel in the front of the memory foam mattress so we made quick work of that and then got down to setting up for the night. Laura and Kerry were in town for the weekend and joined us for a campfire. Retiring to bed we were cozy as two peas in a pod. Can't wait to finish up and make plans for trips next Spring.  Saturday and Sunday was spent with Kim working on finishing gluing the top rail on the galley decorative rail,  mixing and applying more epoxy on the hatch  and then we fitted the aluminum hurricane hinge to the back of the roof. We had to notch for the side walls and cut reliefs for where the wiring passes through from the roof into the hatch....
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Working On The Hatch

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This week is a little bit of melancholy as we progress toward the end of building and head into the very real possibility of actually spending a night or two camping in this project next weekend. We're running out of good warm weather to work and it won't be 100 percent done before we'll have to tuck it in for the winter but it won't take much in the Spring to finish the last details.  We have enjoyed figuring out each step and the challenges of making everything fit together. The need to think many steps ahead and avoid doing something at one point that messes up something else days or weeks later has kept my feeble brain from getting more feebler. There's no instruction manual for our specific camper, but there is plenty of good information out there on "the interwebs" and we've learned that this teardrop community is bigger than we knew going in. We look forward to the end of Covid and maybe taking a journey to a group meet somewhere.  ...
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Weekend Progress

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This weekend we got some little details added. Kim found some old style wooden thread spools and painted them teal to use for the decorative rail above the cabinets in the galley. I ripped some thin strips of wood on the evil table saw (as Kim calls it) to make the top and bottom rails.  We also installed the painted wooden knobs to the galley cabinet doors and a painted edge band to hide the end grain on the countertop boards.  Wednesday after work I filled the 178 screw holes with wood filler. I wanted to get back Thursday evening to sand it all smooth in preparation for the fiberglass cloth and epoxy but didn't feel good enough and went to bed early.  Saturday morning we were up with the sun and back at it. Kim worked on the galley rail while I sanded all the wood filler smooth.  This is the seam in the plywood on the roof. The sheets are 5 foot square which is perfect as the outside measurement is a hair...
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Chicken Wire and Placemats

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We finally got the outside plywood on this weekend and it's  really looking more and more finished. Lots of preparation to get to this point involved filling the spaces between the roof spars with styrofoam insulation and heat shrinking the wires together and running them all together in a nice bundle  to exit the plywood and run into the tounge box and connect to the battery.  Kim got the cabinet doors all sanded smooth and coat of epoxy brushed on last weekend. I finished up the epoxy evenings this week. Saturday she started adding the inserts to the interior cabinet doors which are actually placemats that we found at Walmart in the clearance isle. The doors in the galley are chicken wire inserts.  This is a view of the styrofoam inserts in the roof panels. I glued them in place with hot glue as we couldn't locate non solvent based contact cement.  A view of the plywood installed. We used PL adhesive and lots of 1/2 inch scr...
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