By Barry Zander, Edited by Monique Zander, the Never-Bored RVers
My plan for today: get under our trailer and squirt grease anywhere that looks thirsty. Thankfully, a thunderstorm appeared over the mountain crests and favored us with rain.
Since I’ve obligated myself to getting the rig ready for our 10-month cross-country jaunt – by virtue of having committed to blog readers that I’m going to do this – I joined Monique inside for some interior prep.
Monique rented a rug shampoo unit and spent almost a whole day last week cleaning and freshening up our 28-foot floor space (she’s thorough!).
Kokopelli Gets a Needed Bath - Cleaning the Carpets
We’re still 35 days from departure, so it’s too early to begin filling the cabinets and closets, refrigerator and “health & beauty aids” drawer, but there’s still lots to be done.
On my agenda for today was what I call repair, maintenance and improvement. For example:
Lots of Tools; Not Much Improvement on the Table Base
REPAIR – Our dinette table has been wobbly for years, despite my replacing the 1” factory screws with 2”ers. Today I put heavy-duty anchors in the floor. It may have made it a bit steadier, but the most gratifying result was that it got that project off my list.
MAINTENANCE – I removed the toilet several weeks ago to re-align the gasket. It still didn’t keep water in the bowl. A few days later Monique was doing routine cleaning with a scrub brush and hit the gasket by accident. It was fixed. Today I checked the interior lights, most of which are LEDs. All are working and ready for the long haul.
IMPROVEMENT – We’ve suffered for six years with plastic suction-cup shower fixtures to hold our shampoo and soap … suffered because they fall about
I Prepare to Affix the Shampoo Dispenser
once a week, sometimes at 2:30 in the morning. Today I installed a shampoo-conditioner-bodywash dispenser in the shower. Another completed project: since we often forget to bring napkins to the table, I re-installed a shelf under the table with a napkin holder attached with Velcro. I had devised this a few years ago, so today I took a few minutes to make improvements.
All this information is being conveyed not to brag, not to fill space or to suggest you should do what we did. My purpose is to encourage you to take advantage of being parked at your home base to concentrate on each aspect of your interior, looking for places that need attention or annoy you.
If you’re handy, you may want to tackle projects on your own (or get an offspring or relative to pitch in). If there’s a risk involved, it may be time to bite the bullet and call in a professional – especially for electrical work.
If you’re facing draconian problems, and if finances allow, maybe a weekend spent visiting area RV dealerships will be worth your time. I well remember our first lightweight trailer – cute as a button, but practically every time we pulled into a campground, I was under a countertop with screwdriver and tape measure. Since we invested in a new trailer five years ago, we’ve been able to spend more time enjoying our destinations, less time cursing the drawers that didn’t work and orange-crate
My Napkin Holder Contrivance -- It Works!
wood that splintered.
NOW IT’S YOUR TURN. In the Comments Section below, share some of the improvements, maintenance and repairs that have made your life-on-the-road more pleasant. It’s always good to hear ideas from our readers, and I assure you that I’m no different that most – I print out and save many of the suggestions from you.
From the “Never-Bored RVers,” We’ll see you on down the road.
© All photos by Barry Zander. All rights reserved