Trailerlove - AFTER!

There is no doubt that I have always loved this little trailer of ours.  I have often told Brian that Muffin Danger Bacon is my favorite place to sleep.  However, I have not always loved the delightful floral pattern of the upholstery.  Also, the stock curtains and broken mini blinds left a lot to be desired.  Over the course of the last two years I've slowly been making tweaks and changes.  I've tried to make changes that will improve not only the appearance of the trailer, but also the comfort and functionality.  Today I am very excited to present the BEFORE & AFTER:


The Lounge Before:

The Lounge After:

The maroon motif was so dark, I couldn't handle it.  I wanted patterns and colors that would reflect the fun we would have in the trailer.  The argument could probably be made that the chevron pattern is a little busy, but I think it works well.  It's certainly happy.  I love the blue curtains.  Even when they are closed they let in a lot of cheerful light.  The grommets on the back window allow us to open and close the curtains without them hanging down and getting in the way.  

Kitchen Before:

Kitchen After:

Not a ton of changes here.  I got rid of the mini-blinds and added a blue curtain.  I also added a rack over the sink for wine and martini glasses. 

Bathroom Cabinet Before:

 Bathroom Cabinet After:

It sort of boggles the mind that these bathroom medicine cabinets don't come with any sort of method for keeping the contents in place.  After driving the trailer around the cabinet contents would always fall out when you opened it.  So, I installed elastic bands.  They do a fantastic job of keeping everything in place no matter what.


Bedroom Before:

Bedroom After:

The first change I made was to add a memory foam topper to the bed.  It transformed it from a bed that you could barely sleep a night in into my favorite place to sleep.  Also, since it's only Brian and I sleeping inside the trailer I took out the bunk mattress and put in some storage drawers from Target.  Before leaving for a trip Brian and I just pack a few drawers, pop them in, and we're ready to go.  The only drawback is that the height of the drawers make the space feel a little closed in.  We're considering moving the drawers into the shower (since we never ever ever use the shower).  I will update if we follow through with the change.  

A quick nod to the very first change I made.  The first weekend we had MDB I ripped these sorry a$$ "decorative" curtains out and threw them in the trash.  No regrets.

Wander 014 - Sierra Nevada Beer Camp / Driftwood RV Park (Los Molinos, CA)

July 18-20, 2014

After our trip to HSMF, Brian and I were concerned that we might have a problem with our gray water tank draining properly.  Rather than haul it into the shop, we decided to take it out for the weekend and see if we could fix it ourselves.  We figured we might as well have some fun while we're at it, so we bought tickets to the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp and reserved a spot at a nearby RV Park.

We ended up at Driftwood RV park where we nearly had the place to ourselves.

The view out the front window:

We had a beautiful spot overlooking the Sacramento River:

"better late than never" said the shuttle driver when we showed up at 3pm.  A selfie in front of the hop field:

March Fourth Marching Band!  We first encountered them at HSMF several years ago.  Very fun band.

A picture of us in... whatever this thing is:

Back at camp, we took some time to relax on the dock and soak our feet in the chilly Sac river water:

We spent the rest of that evening watching the sun set over the river.  Perfect.

Wander 013 - High Sierra Music Festival (Quincy, CA)

July 3-6, 2014

Brian and I have tried, for years, to convince our friends that HSMF is a great time.  Finally!  We convinced Brandon and Amy to join us.  They brought a friend, Loren with them.  Matt brought his new girlfriend, Reagan, with him.  We finally had a crew at High Sierra!  Bring it on!

Photos courtesy of Amy De Leon and Frills Photography (Amy is such a rock star, she got a press pass!)


Heading Out:

Paul:

Wander 012 - BottleRock Napa Music Festival / Petaluma KOA (Napa, CA / Petaluma, CA)

May 30 - June 2, 2014

We headed back to Napa to celebrate our 2nd Anniversary.  At the very last minute we snapped up tickets to BottleRock Napa Music Festival on Groupon.  We took the trailer to the Petaluma KOA and drove into the festival each day.  We had a great time... but the festival was REALLY commercialized.  The constant barrage of sponsors and advertisements were a bit much.  We had a fantastic time, but I'm not sure we would go back.


Driving across the iconic Golden Gate:

LL Cool J!

Festival Selfie: 

The Cure!

We made a quick stop at Larson Family Winery so Brian could check out our new membership:

Wander 011 - Napa Valley Expo (Napa, CA)

February 14-16, 2014

Valentine's Day!  We're headed to Napa to see Citizen Cope at the historic Uptown Theater in Napa, CA.  We'd organized everything perfectly so we would roll out of the trailer storage facility early and arrive in Napa by early afternoon so we could relax and enjoy ourselves and then leisurely wander over to the show in the evening.

We arrived at the trailer facility, early, as planned... and SURPRISE!  We have a flat tire.  Damn.  No problem, Brian keeps an air compressor in the truck.  He goes to get it... NOPE!  We don't have it in the truck.  It must be at home.  No problem, Brian will just run home (20 miles away), pick up the compressor and come back.  Carrie will stay at the trailer and load it with all of the weekend's supplies.  Almost 2 hours later, Carrie gets a call from Brian, he can't find the compressor, he's going to have to go somewhere and buy one.  Damn again!  At the very last minute Brian checks in the very last cabinet in the garage.  THANK GOODNESS!  He finds the air compressor, hops in the truck and heads back (20 miles) to the trailer storage facility.  He arrives we begin to pump up the tire, Carrie takes a closer look and we realize there is a huge nail sticking out of the tire.  Hmmm.... I don't think simply pumping up the tire is going to cut it.  Sooo.... we head over to America's Tire.  After about a two hour wait our tire is as good as new.  Huge shout out to America's Tire who fixed it for FREE!  By now we're heading out of the SF area smack dab in the middle of rush hour.  Bummer.  Ultimately, we made it, barely, but in time for the Citizen Cope show.  Carrie went 32 hours without sleep (thank you night shift)... but a good time was had by all.

We stayed at the Napa Valley Expo (the site of BottleRock Festival).  It is walking distance to fantastic restaurants and antique stores in Napa.  The highlight was The Bounty Hunter BBQ.  We'll be back for sure!


Making the best of a bad situation:

Yay!  Tire fixed for free!:

Rush hour:

An authentic zebra pelt spotted at a Napa antique store.  Creepy:

Really cool chandelier at one of our dinner spots in Napa:

Hot air balloons soaring over the trailer: