Redecorating the RV

Before we even made the offer to buy this motorhome, I was imagining all the updates I would make to it. High on my list was getting rid of the heavy dark valances and paint the walls. The curtains were easy. I bought new panel curtains for the living area and altered them to fit the RV windows. I made Roman draw style black out shades for the bedroom. The painting was another story.

I researched the blogs of those who had painted their RV’s and learned as much as I could before undertaking this project. The vinyl wall board used in RV’s is a challenge. I took my tips from the blogs of those brave souls who went before me.  I taped paint swatches from Lowes all over the camper. After a couple of weeks, I settled on a primary color and a darker contrast to add some dimension.

I hate doing core exercises. I do like the result, so I do them anyway and reap the reward of a strong core and less lower back pain.  Painting is much like Pilate’s for me. I hate doing it, but love the outcome. Painting is tedious, and tedium is the devil to me. Painting in an RV is a level of tedium that is nearly incomprehensible until you do it. A 3” roller is as big as is needed and it’s not needed that much. Small brushes and all the cute trimming gadgets are your tool kit. I even got into my craft stuff and used a couple of small detail brushes. The area is small, so one can easily be tricked into thinking that the job will go quickly. How long can it take to paint walls in a space less than 350 square feet, anyway?  Nine hours, that’s how long. Forget doing one room at a time, all the rooms meld together. Start early and strap in! The space is small, every full-timer knows that. It is impossibly small when you start painting. At one point I realized my love of yoga was helping me stand in some of the comical positions required to get to certain areas.

If you decide to paint your RV let me say, “Go for it, sister!”  My first piece of advice is get a good primer. Don’t let anyone convince you paint/primer hybrid paints are enough. They absolutely are not. I tested the theory by skipping the primer step on the surface under my headboard where it wouldn’t show. The difference was striking and would not have given me a good result had I skipped that step throughout the RV. I was satisfied that I spent the extra time and effort to prime first. I read a good deal about it before starting this project. I chose a Bullseye primer made specifically to bind to surfaces like wall paper.  It was the best time and money I spent for the project. I used my go-to Valspar paint/primer after the primer dried. It performed as well as it has in the multiple houses I have painted over the years. The second piece of advice is wipe down the walls with a good microfiber towel wrung out of warm soapy water. It was amazing how much dirt clung to the texture of the wall board. We had just scrubbed the unit floor to ceiling 10 weeks prior when we bought it. Still open windows let in a lot of dust and pollen.

The weather was cloudy and about 80 today. All the windows were open, and the central fan ran all day to exchange the air, help the primer dry quickly and keep the paint smell at bay. Buster and Annie spent the day outside. They knew something was going on inside and they wanted nothing more than to come inside and rub on the wet walls, drag their tail through the paint pan and track paw prints in the colors of Seashell Gray or Heather around the camper. We did not accommodate their request and listened to them protest most of the day when we went outside to fill paint pans or clean brushes

At noon, the RV looked like a warzone. The driving compartment (the only area with no wall space to paint) was piled with everything from the mattress to the curtains and anything else that was in the way. There was about 9 miles of Frog tape outlining the place. Cups of hardware from taking down towel racks and shades sat around. The litter box was on the porch, Adult Alternative on DirecTV was blaring from the sound bar the cats were mad and we were both working away at the transformation. At 3:00 the painting part was done. At 4:30 we had the bed back in place, the curtains back up, pictures back on the wall and were ready to get cleaned up and go out for dinner. It is 8:55 now and I am sitting on my couch writing this, pleased with the result of the task we set out to accomplish at 7:00 this morning. The vision I had the first time I stood in this space at the RV dealership has been realized.

In a nutshell, here are the key ingredients to getting through this project if you decide to undertake it. Put good music on and play it loud! Keep your work space organized by putting things away when you finish. Don’t have anything out that you are not using at that moment. There simply isn’t the space to let clutter accumulate. If you aren’t typically organized, this is a good time to work on that skill.  Get a good primer. If you think you bumped into something it was probably yourself, get used to it. The spaces are small and fragmented, don’t leave an area till you are completely done with it. Get a good primer.  Take your nose out of the paint pan every now and again, to stand back and take in the progress and delight in the transformation. Did I mention? Get a good primer!

Here are some before and after pictures. If you paint your own RV, keep your sights on the end result but don’t call me to help. I may come and watch from a lawn chair and offer moral support.  I think I’ve had enough painting for awhile 😊

 

Until next time…

[gallery size="medium" columns="2" ids="408,409,405,404,403,402,401,400,407,406,396,397,399,398,411"]

Reunions

After some tearful goodbyes, we left Iowa for the winter on a crisp October morning. We take comfort in knowing we will return to Saylorville’s Volunteer Village in April to join the Natural Resources team and work another season. We also left with pangs of guilt for leaving behind kids, grandkids and friends to endure the Iowa winter and another Christmas without Grandma and Grandpa Jones’ Christmas Chaos Event.

As we made our way south this fall it began to occur to us, our travels are becoming a succession of reunions. In 13 short months we have met a number of people whom we make it a point to see when our paths cross. Throughout our summer time in Iowa, we reunited with everyone we volunteered with in Texas, when they passed through. It helps that Saylorville is a major camping area centrally located in the United States.

[caption id="attachment_389" align="alignleft" width="300"] Lindsborg group[/caption]

The first stop on our southern reunion tour was Lindsborg, Kansas for their Bi-annual Swedish Festival. The main draw is my Aunt Pat, who has traveled from Denver for over 25 years to attend with friends she brings from Colorado and others, like us, who meet her here to take in the event. This year, our second time, we joined her, my cousins from Leavenworth, her friends Rick and Diane (veteran Hyllningsfest attendees) and new friends of hers Nataliya and Johnnie Johnson, attending for the first time. We spent 48 hours completely immersed in Swedish food, music and culture and interesting people. We’ll take away more good memories of time spent with my aunt.  We stayed on an extra day and visited a Motorcycle history museum in the area and experienced the town when not in festival mode.

We left early Monday morning with me in the driver’s seat. My first time driving the new motor home out on the road with the car in tow. Compared to pulling the 5^th wheel it is much nicer. After 200 miles a construction zone, accident scene and some heavy traffic around Wichita we were both satisfied that I had a comfort level in the pilot seat and I turned the driving back over to Champ so I could dive into the morning crossword in the newspaper.

We set up camp at Chickasaw National Park mid-afternoon. After 3 days in the area we highly recommend it as a stop for anyone traveling through. There is rich history to be experienced at the Chickasaw Nation Cultural Center. We spent half a day there and learned a great deal about the tribal nations’ history, migration story and culture, including watching a traditional Friendship Song and Stomp Dance.  One could easily spend a couple of days visiting all of the historic buildings and sites related to the Chickasaw in the surrounding area.

[caption id="attachment_392" align="alignright" width="300"] Little Niagara- Chickasaw NRA[/caption]

Travertine Learning Center at the park was also a gem. We went into the Visitors Center to talk with the ranger and get the trail maps and when Champ was out of ear shot I got the low down on the local reptiles, knowing this is an active time of year for his least favorite creatures. I took point and kept a close eye on the edge of the trails and the over-hanging tree limbs. Despite the ranger saying they had daily reports of sightings, we had a snake free walk the two hours we were there.  The natural springs, and waterfalled creeks make for a beautiful walk in the woods.

If you are like me, your vision of Oklahoma is wide open planes, oil fields and ranches. This area is very un-Oklahoma like in terms of terrain. The campground is beautiful and well maintained. It is also 15 miles from town making for the best night sky I’ve seen in years. Something about a clear night sky when I can see the Milky Way makes me feel closer to the people I love when I’m away.

After a stop at Waco Lake for a few days, we reunited with the staff at Balcones NWR where we spent most of last winter work camping. We stayed for a week in trade for 3 days work. Jennifer tasked us with checking the 12 hunting blinds, make repairs as necessary, sweep them out and weed eat around them and the gate entrances to the various areas.

[caption id="attachment_391" align="alignleft" width="300"] Champ doing the high work[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_390" align="alignleft" width="300"] Weed eating at a Hunt Blind[/caption]

We saw three tracts of the refuge that we did not see last winter and enjoyed revisiting familiar areas. The work was physical but welcome after a couple of weeks of R&R. The weather was gorgeous all three days we worked outside.

[caption id="attachment_154" align="alignleft" width="300"] Dub Lyon[/caption]

We were happy to see that Dub, a long time, dedicated local volunteer and fixture, at the refuge is still getting around and staying active. The other reason we added Lago Vista to the route was to see Peggy and Lloyd, who we became friends with last winter. We had the opportunity to spend three evenings at their home and they made it out to the refuge to check out the new living quarters.  We also got a bonus and got to see another couple, Joy and Paul who we saw a Taco Tuesday each week. We spent 7 great days before saying goodbye, once again to this special group of people.

 

 

 

 

Three and a half weeks on the road has ended in Mathis, Texas at a beautiful RV resort where we will spend the next two months playing and being retired. As is the case in these parks, we have already met several couples who Volunteer in the summer in northern locations. 24 hours in, I have been recruited to lead a beginner yoga class once a week. My solitary morning yoga routine is very satisfying, but it will be rewarding to have the opportunity to share it with others as a social event.

We are looking forward to a reunion with our friends John and Cathy soon. By the time April rolls around and we find ourselves packing up for the trip back to Iowa we will undoubtedly leave with more new friends and more people to add to the list of reunions to look forward to as we add months, years and miles to this wonderful lifestyle.

I'll sign off with a quote I saw the other day that resonated with me:

"Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable"   ~Mary Oliver

Until next time...