Another cold, rainy May morning in Maine and I’m enjoying my coffee by the window. Outside – the tall pines are saturated and the lichen seems to glow at this early hour. I watch a red squirrel run along the moss covered rocks bordering the property. Often I wish that the warmer weather would just hurry up and get here but I know that we need this time to prepare for our first season of RV camping.
We purchased our 1997 Ford Coachmen E250 Camper Van on Labor Day Weekend 2020. She came from Ellsworth Maine, the gateway to Acadia National Park and we eventually named her Ellie. We spent that entire long weekend cleaning every surface but she still had this overwhelming musty odor that hit you the moment you got in. We took her on a couple of overnights before the season ended and spent our winter making plans for what will be a very busy and fun summer 2021.
Ellie’s signature scent lessened quite noticeably during the time she was in winter storage. I think it was partly due to all the clove, cinnamon and peppermint placed around the rig to deter pests but nonetheless, I was already calling her Smelly Ellie. A few days ago, we discovered what we think may be the source of the smell. A rotted wood window frame up in the bunk. We brought her to the our RV repair shop and are awaiting a call to advise us of next steps.
Meanwhile, we continue with the interior projects. This is our first RV and renovation so needless to say, we are learning as we go. Initially it was obvious to us that we would paint and reupholster but once we got started we quickly learned that one project leads to another and before long we had torn the entire interior apart.
The door panels were an eyesore. The upper plastic panels framing the windows were discolored, cracked and broken. They didn’t hold the curtain rods securely so we removed them and repaired them using J-B weld Plastic Bonder. After gluing, sanding, cleaning and priming we painted them with Dupli-Color Vinyl and Fabric Coating. Unfortunately, the (tan) color match was disappointing so we repainted with a different color (grey) and are pleased with the result.
The lower fabric covered panels looked old, worn and dingy. We took them down, tore off the fabric and sanded the board before attaching new foam and recovering in vinyl. We are happy with how they look and feel they will be easy to keep clean. We ordered replacement hardware because many of the original parts were rusty. We can hardly wait to see the finished result however all the interior painting needs to be completed prior to installation. See photo mock-up with our handmade window shades.
Sometimes I find it’s difficult to know where to begin when it comes to a lot of things in life. I have all these creative ideas but don’t take any action. I guess you could call it a form of analysis paralysis. Other times I am able to jump right in, even when I don’t know what I am doing. That’s the reason it’s taken so long to publish our first blog post. I honestly didn’t know where to begin so, I simply started with where we are at today. Thank you for being here.
Kim @ CampLikeaMainer