4Girls&aMan

Alicia, DH and I loved looking at your pics. =) Thank you so much for posting them, especially as we don't have may with animals in them (due to our natural bear spray that we carry with us). As of this morning, we are officially making our way toward Hutch! Yea!! Can't wait to renew old acquaintances and make new friends.... Paula, we will miss you and your DH very much. Know that you and your family are in our thoughts and our prayers.

Weeeelllll - Henry had them in his garage and we were the beneficiaries. I love it! DH always threatens to honk the city horn at kids who ask us to blow it and I chastise him, telling him he'll scar them for life. We had the sissy horn for so long that I'm still surprised when we pull the air horn and get that beautiful sound. Sharon, did you survive your massive decluttering? Have been thinking about you guys lately. So, ladies, who plans to attend the rally in October? We sent in our registration and can't wait to get together with friends again.

Before.... and after.

Ladies, our internet pics never included final photos of our new camper and Henry took a few which he posted. They are at http://www.irv2.com/forums/f44/guests-169017.html if you want to see them. We also acquired a new horn for the truck today and it brings a smile to my face - our city horn is sad and our other horn was about as sad. Upgrades - yea! Alicia, now it's your turn to post pics...

Hi all, Sharon, yes, we all are enjoying our new rig. The kids love having their own "mini room" with great toy storage! I have done several sewing projects now and have obviously cooked many meals, and I LOVE the lay out. It is so perfect for us. Alicia, can't wait to see your pics. Sounds like you made some very special memories. Donna, I lived near Maryville for several years before acquiring my DH and really loved it there. Have traveled all over the US and that's still one of my top 5 places in our beautiful country. We are totally enjoying our time here in NH with Davena et al. DH and Davena's hubby keep finding projects to work on and we are so enjoying Davena's sweet hospitality.

Susan, a big congrats on selling your house! So glad for you guys! Janet, thank you for compiling the recipes - and for making them accessible electronically, for those of us who despise paper..... Donna, it looks like we'll have to make an ECR to meet you and your hubby. Welcome to the forum. Sharon, I hope you get rid of your extra "stuff" quickly so you can get back to your fishing! Alicia, take a picture of a moose for us, please. That's one of the few animals that we missed on our tour. Know you guys will enjoy your get-away.

The kitchen works great! That island is a real work horse! I think we're really going to enjoy our new home...

We are in the new camper and made our first trip today!!!! It is so nice! I told my DH that it's like staying in a fancy hotel - where they make you work all day long (took us a lot longer to move out of the Cyclone than I had thought it would!).

Well, ladies, you guys have been busy! Danielle, your bed build is coming along nicely! And Dale, liking the new look on your HDT! Yes, Sharon, our frame is morphing into a house slowly but surely. Over 2 feet of snow since we got here has put a damper on the build at times, so we will not be making the ECR either. For those who get to go, have fun for us... Wish we could be there. Davena, like the new hitch, thanks to your hubby. The old hitch cover doesn't fit, so will get to put into practice all of those techniques I learned when sewing the first one! Sharon, sorry that your guy wasn't the right buyer. Will pray that the right one does come soon. Susan, DH says that Crystal River, FL is a great place to swim with the manatees. He had a wonderful experience diving there (BDW - before his dear wife came along). You and Davena enjoy some of that sunshine for us.

Alicia, yes, our master bedroom is in the very front of the camper. As to the LR, I guess it's all in your perspective.... Right now we use our dinette as our couch and have that love seat across from it. We also have 2 little people in loft beds in that same room, so we look forward to having a dedicated LR/kitchen in the new camper. We might even be able to have guests stay after 8PM for visiting! I do hope you guys get to see some bears. That's the one thing we wanted to see and didn't.

Aggie, that's hilarious! Makes me smile just imagining it! Sharon, enjoyed your laugh too. Look forward to seeing the new series some time. Raquel, was reading over DH's shoulder the other night and caught your story about meandering through a Walmart Parking lot. I feel your pain - we have a Walmart story that still send shudders up my spine every time I think about it. It involves taking the whole rig by the entrances at the Livingston Walmart. Only in Texas would they have a cattle corral in front of the store! Have you ladies watched the youtube video about our favorite campground? Well, our 20 inches of snow is almost gone and the kids are looking forward to a promised game of badminton. Imagine my surprise that MO only just put their birdies on the shelves! DH posted a link to some pics of our frame. https://plus.google.com/photos/107277219742751236880/albums/5853887223865391105?authkey=CIzhuLfn_tGMrwE If I haven't said it before, we are thoroughly enjoying working with Marsha. She and her crew are so pleasant to work with and are so competent.

Well, ladies, we made the 900 mile trip to the great state of Missouri last week, trying to beat the snow storm and got in just in time to get set up and hit the grocery store before the world turned white. We had a good, safe trip - including the FOUR roundabouts just shy of our destination (and guess who was driving the rig - yours truly!). DH has been to Spacecraft and has brought me back pics of our frame and some of the interior decor pieces. I'm laying low until they start getting the "pretties" added to the camper. Storage tanks don't excite me they way they do my beloved one. Wondering what we're going to wake up to in the morning - we already have several inches added to the 9 or so that we got last week! Heidi

We are making final decisions and Marsha has our steel for the frame and has the walls built. As of right now, we are enjoying the 70 degree weather and will head toward Spacecraft the end of this month, when they really start putting everything together. As soon as we get any pics, I will post. It's all very exciting. DH hasn't been posting much lately, but I'll link to his posts should he let the men in on our little adventure. Davena, hope your hubby can get down to you guys. Sounds like he might need a snow plow!

We have engaged Spacecraft to build a new unit for us. We have the floor plan, most of the decor decisions, lots of the "male" stuff decided, and have finalized our cabinet drawings, so we are very close to getting steel welded together! We are hanging out in the Southeast until we hear that Marsha is ready to start building and then we will head to frigid MO - BRR! Have really enjoyed our 70+ degree weather here!! Sharon, DH has not gotten the back up lights yet. We have been consumed with researching for the camper - that's what happens when you have 2 people with our personalities....

Okay, ladies. I am still alive! Lots of traveling and lots of visiting in the last few months! My absence is due to the DH and I being up to our ears in cabinet drawings - and we are almost done with them. Sharon - just read tonight about Richard's fall. Is he completely better now? I pray so.... REALLY like the new ride. It looks like it is very nice and super functional. Well done. Alicia, enjoyed the pics. Reminded us of our recent travels and brought a smile to my face. Thanks for sharing. Raquel, we have had a Heartland Cyclone for the past 3 years and have really loved it. They put their money in all the right places. Know you'll enjoy your Landmark. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Valentine's Day (just in case!).

Ha - Sharon, you're funny. Susan, I drove the whole rig the other day and literally couldn't recall the last time I'd done that. However, having my DH put me behind the wheel of the semi weekly has made a huge difference in my comfort level with the entire rig behind me. We are currently visiting family and picked up our minivan from the MIL and I feel like I'm driving a sports car! It's all relative, huh? Heidi

Sharon, I read here and then did search online to find out how people like the crank out windows versus the slide ones. I just thought that many of you might have owned campers with the old style and now have a newer camper with the crank out style and had noted how the air flow compared. Sounds like the new style is good, if not better than the old style. BTW, Raquel, I was talking to an RV manufacturer and they said that the frameless windows still need to be caulked on the outside (about 1/4" in from the edge of the glass), so will have to make sure we give them a visual check periodically to be sure the caulk is still in good shape. Sharon, I really, really like your hand sanitizer! I added a few drops of peppermint essential oil and it smells very nice. Your recipe is so much gentler on the hands - thank you! Wow, lots of Nov b'days! I did have a very good b'day. My DH's Aunt babysat the kids and let us take a nice walk and then we had a pizza party and his cousin made me a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. Yum! Did I mention that DH made me some Paula Dean brownies as well? Talking about brownie points! Thanks for the blday wishes, Sharon. Heidi

I am asking about the entire window in the camper wall. The new frameless windows flip up instead of raising up and I was specifically concerned that the air flow would be less with frameless. Thought some of you may have had campers with both and could tell me which you prefer.

Thanks for answering the take down/set up question. It takes me 15-20 minutes, depending on how much help I get (so I was surprised to hear the lady say that it takes her 2 hours). The girls each have a list of what they are supposed to do, but I always double check just in case. I had read enough about this subject before we started fulltiming that I put up the bare minimum of "pretties", i.e., 3 framed pictures, 2 groupings of pretties, one lamp, etc. We have also experimented with what will make the ride - the table lamp stays plugged in in the half bath and I've only found it dangling once or twice. Well worth leaving it in place each time, for me. Might need to try some of the sticky stuff for its sake. Janet, we drove that piece of I10 a couple years ago and literally drove 35mph over it - and that was STILL too fast! We drove out of the way the last time we needed to traverse that section of our great country and were happy to do it! Another question - for those of you who have had both framed windows and frameless windows in their camper, do you like the frameless ones? Is there a similar amount of air movement?? Heidi

Ladies, I have a question for you. I was talking to one of the gals and we were talking about set up/tear down time for the interior of the camper. How long does it take you, on average, to get ready to roll? Sue, I've been chasing babies. Turned my back for too long and this is what happened....

Ditto. Have been wondering how he is doing. Davena, let's allow him this one post in the estrogen zone, since he was kind enough to do a seminar for us. Heidi

We had a great time too! Lots of learning, good food, good conversations! What a great group of ladies.... Learned so much - not sure what was the most useful or interesting. Most fun was definitely in Danielle's class. Thank you!! Heidi

As always, I am interested in organizational ideas. Could we send you photos of our favorite ideas that we've used and all take a look at those at our RDBE meeting? Looking forward to see you gals in Hutch! Heidi

Susan, we are in the West for the next near future. Not sure when we'll go 'home' or even where that is! Enjoying the beauty right now. Hey, I hear congratulations are in order - with the new license and all! Good job!! For what it's worth, I have asked R to put me behind the wheel at least once a week. He is holding up his end of the bargain and it is really helping me be more comfortable.

Sharon, I've seen more snakes out here in the desert than I ever did in the Southeast! R and the girls hiked to the bottom of a butte the other day and on the way down they all passed a rattler. Argh! Glad I was babysitting half-way down the base! When it's July over there, trees are mighty welcome, I can tell you! Hand-held radios are a God-send. It was a bit precarious, though, holding on to the ladder, watching the bridge, and holding a walkie talkie in the other hand... No need for caffeine that day! As to the baskets, I just made some for our sweater organizer in the closet. Got tired of picking socks up out of the closet floor every time we moved! Heidi