Day 286: Like Reagan Said, “Tear Down this Wall”

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Ben

This morning we left the Atlantis Casino and drove to Lowes in Reno. Part of our new RV selection process was to only consider those floorplans that could have the rear bunkhouse converted into two bedrooms. For that to happen here, M will have to go through the kids bathroom to get to his room. That means we need a door from the living room to the bathroom. Sadly, the medicine cabinet and vanity are in the way:

Right now the bathroom is accessed through this door to the bunkhouse. Since this door will only go to B’s room, we have to put a door in the wall to the left so that M can enter his room via the bathroom:

The first step was to get the vanity and medicine cabinet off the wall:

There we go:

Next, I cut out the wall:

Since Reno doesn’t allow overnight parking in store lots, we repositioned to Carson City, Nevada, and overnighted at the Walmart adjacent to a Home Depot. I intend to finish the bathroom door project tomorrow.

Day 271: Into the Sierras

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Ben

Today we drove down to Lone Pine. Not a bad view from the visitor center parking lot:

After doing a bit of shopping in town, we headed up Whitney Portal road and pulled off into the Alabama Hills were we found a nice dispersed camping spot. The views from here are incredible:

One of the front landing gear tubes was splitting, so I cut off the last inch or so to stop the split from running all the way up the tube. Here’s the piece I cut off, notice how the tube is “unzipping” at the corners:

With that piece cut off, the tube looks good where it attaches to the landing gear plate:

Did I mention the amazing views?

B is learning about polls and surveys in math class. Trish put her survey question on Facebook, and B graphed the results:

We installed the kids’ homemade tables, and also installed the hanging furniture under the bed. We will be installing a tension rod on the underside so the kids can hang up their clothes there:

Day 270: Back to School

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Ben

Until now, the transition to the new RV has kept us too busy to do full homeschooling days. Today we did our best to get back on track.

This morning, B and I wired the remote switch for the inverter:

Now I don’t have to go outside and open up a compartment to turn the inverter on and off:

We had a full day of homeschooling, here I’m working with B on Scratch:

Between periods, Trish put the urethane clear coat on the kids’ tables:

After school we headed about six miles Southeast to the town of Darwin, population 40ish:

The town used to be much larger in the mining days. These buildings are now all abandoned:

On the way back from Darwin, we checked out some mines that were on the map:

It’s a long, long way down:

This mine was even larger:

We then drove over to the abandoned Talc City Mine complex:

And then on to the adjacent Silver Dollar Mine site:

We went in just a few feet:

We found the spot where previous residents dumped their empty cans of food:

I looked online, but couldn’t find any information about this fellow:

This mine had the remnants of a rail system in the tunnel:

Several other mines dot the landscape:

In the distance, the Sierra Nevada mountains:

Tomorrow we’ll head into Lone Pine, right at the foot of the Sierra mountains:

Day 267: Leaving Las Vegas (almost)

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Ben

This morning I finished mounting the bike rack to the rear bumper. Unfortunately, the new RV’s bumper is so close to the rear wall that our extra wheels won’t fit it their places on the rack, so for now they’re in the truck bed.

We don’t have a good way to carry the kayaks on the roof of the truck, so we left them at my parent’s storage unit and took the racks off the SUV. We are considering purchasing a pair of inflatable kayaks, but we used the kayaks so rarely that we may just make do without them. My parents are now the proud owners our storied Kia:

Trish stained the kids’ new tables to match the RV’s trim:

Tomorrow we’ll head West out of Las Vegas. We can’t wait to get back on the road!

Day 266: So long, old friend

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Ben

Today we said goodbye to our old RV. Jesse and Angela are excited to start making their own RV memories with their new RV! Here’s Jesse after the hand-off was completed: