Took more pictures in the camper today!

Today we went and got more things we needed for the camper. I had originally planned on bringing most of the things I had bought, and putting them inside. Unfortunately, there is a lot more snow in Bangor, (where the camper is), than there is here on the island, so I only put the things I bought at the dealership today inside.

I had also planned on measuring the cupboards and closets, so I would have a better idea of what to buy for organizing. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the pen to the camper with me so I couldn't write down measurements. To get from the truck to the camper, you had to wade through a maze of RVs being stored, and I was knee deep in snow, with no boots. Our snow on the island is gone, because we had a couple of days of rain, but apparently, Bangor got more snow instead.

Anyway, I was amazed at how big the cupboards were. I remembered them as being much smaller!

The other thing was, of course we couldn't open the slide. You actually can get to the bathroom and kitchen with the slide closed, but it isn't exactly roomy! The guy from the dealership took the table off the dinette for me, so I would have more room to get around in there.

This is my photograph of the linen closet and clothes closet in the bathroom. I'll update my post about the bathroom with my new pictures.

This is my photograph of the insides of the closets. I love them! It's one of the biggest reasons I decided on this camper.

This is my photo of the sink. Between the storage under the sink, the little box thing on the counter, and the medicine cabinet, there is really quite a lot of storage for a camper of this size!

This is my photo of the shower closed. A dry bath was on my list of things a camper had to have in order for me to buy it! If these photos look a little weird and distorted, it's because even though there is a lot of room for a camper of this size, it's still pretty small, so it's not easy to take pictures of some parts of it.

This is my photo of the inside of the shower. Not too bad for a small camper!

This is my photo of one of the closets on either side of the bed. Nothing surprising here. I do want to add shelves inside of it though. You can't tell from this picture, but I also see that there is enough of a ledge in front of the door so we can set coffee cups there when we are reading in bed at night, as long as we don't open the closet doors!

I didn't see this when we looked at our camper, because it isn't an obvious door. I noticed it in a picture on the internet. The end of the kitchen cupboards near the outside door opens, and there are two narrow shelves with an outlet and two USB ports inside. What a wonderful place to store and charge our phones safely! Since this is not an obvious cupboard, it will also be a wonderful place to hang things like the truck keys, inside, and put our wallets when we are on a beach or at a pool.

This is the bottom cupboard next to the outside door. To the right of that, is that nice big area, protected by the ledge of the countertop. Here, I'm going to put some command hooks, and hang at least one of those narrow baskets, so we can keep a few things, like sunglasses, within easy reach of the outdoors. I may hang two there, depending on how much room I have. I also want to hang a collapsible umbrella and a flashlight or two there.

The cupboard over the sink is kind of a disappointment to me. It is pretty wide, and quite deep, but there is only one shelf in it. Once we start using the camper, I will decide whether to have my husband build a second shelf, or whether I want to buy one of those wire shelf things at Walmart.

This is the microwave/convection oven. I hope I like it. I will probably be cooking outdoors more than inside, anyway

This is the pantry. It's pretty typical, but I like how deep it is. I'll have baskets in there to make it easier to use. There is shallower storage in the entertainment center, right in front of it, but you can't see that when the slide isn't out.

Here is the refrigerator/freezer. It's pretty big for a camper of this size!

This is a shot of the counter top, with the sink and stove. I like that they both have covers on them.

The last photo is a bad one of the front of the cabinets. I don't know what that is in the upper left, it's not supposed to be there. :-D Anyway, you can sort of see the lower cupboards and drawers in this photo.

I'll update my earlier posts of the interior with these photos, that way all the photos can be together.

Got some really important things for the camper today.

Today we went back to the dealership to get some of the important things we haven't gotten yet for the camper.

I checked on the WDH/Sway Control thing that was supposed to come with the camper, and found out that it was a pretty bad one, so I upgraded to the Recurve R3 Weight Distribution Hitch 1000lb. It wasn't as expensive as Blue Ox, but is supposed to be a good one.

Then I ordered the Furion Observation Camera. I was going to get it on line, but when I told them at the dealership how much it was on the internet, they gave me a price that is only about $10 more than on line. I figure it is worth the extra $10 to support a local business, plus, if something goes wrong, it will be much easier to take it back for them to check. I like the observation camera, because it will allow us to keep track of what is behind us when we are on the road.

The next thing I ordered is an awning for over the slide. None of these things is as much fun as buying towels and dishes and things, but they are very necessary.

Here is a picture I took of the things I actually bought in the store, rather than ordering them. I took pictures of them in my camper, when we went down there to put them inside. I couldn't do much in the camper though, we had to wade through a maze of other campers being stored, and the snow down there was knee deep!

First, I got a 30-50 amp adapter. I understand these are pretty handy at times. Next, are two cheap plastic chocks. There is a water pressure regulator in between them. I also got a water tank filler thing, to make filling the tank easier. (I've been reading a lot of blogs, and I saw those on two different blogs. I sure hope they are as helpful as the blogs said they were)!

Of course, the most exciting thing I got was a good Stinky Slinky! This will be the only time you ever see it sitting on the couch!!! I'll add the new photos I took of more of the camper to a new post. I've got lots of ideas for it!

Miscellaneous things I have

Here are a few things that don't really belong with the other things.

First are Camco leveling blocks. I may buy a set of the orange half round ones too. Those look easier to use. I got these at the dealership. I also got the surge protector. Those are really important. The only problem with this one is, that I asked for one (an EMS), that protects against low voltage, as well as high, and this is what they gave me. I was stupid, and didn't know the difference at the time. At least this is a very good brand. We still need chocks, a backup/observation camera, (it will be a Furion, because our unit is already wired for it), a level, a good sewer hose thing, (stinky slinky) with a clear elbow thing, a water regulator, a rug for outside the door, and a few other things. Our salesman said a weight distribution hitch and sway bars are included in the price. Now that I know more, I've got it on the list of things to ask him about, to make sure it is a good one, and really does have sway bars. I don't want it to be like the surge protector, when I wanted an EMS. I also need an awning thing to go over the slide, so things won't be falling on it. I need the gasket sealer stuff too. More things I need are roof vent covers, maybe an extension cord, water hoses, a 50 amp adapter, truck mirrors, a tire gauge, a tool box, and a ceramic heater. I need other things as well, and have a list in a notebook that I add to whenever I think of something.

I should have put that dish drying thing that goes into the sink in with the kitchen stuff, but I forgot about it until now. As I was checking out at Dollar Tree, I saw collapsible umbrellas on the end of the checkout counter, so I decided one of those would be handy hanging near the door. Then there is the LED flashlight I found for a dollar at Walmart. I should have bought more than one for that price, especially since it came with batteries. The Dollar Tree ones don't.

Linens I have so far

I didn't photograph the bed pillows I got, those don't look very interesting. I also have two throws at home, that I will probably put into the camper. I use them in the house in the winter, but won't need them here during the summer.

I should have bought the blankets at Walmart, they were the same blankets, at about the same price as the salvage store, but they had more colors at Walmart. I only got one, but may get another if they still have them next time I go in. The grey thing in the middle is a fleece sleeping bag. We have two of those, and have had them for years. If we have a rainy day, those might be really nice to wrap up in on the couch, with a good book! They also are part of the reason I didn't worry about another blanket. Those will work as extra blankets, since they open flat when unzipped. On the right, is a 400 count queen sized sheet set, that I got for a steal at the salvage store. Yeah, I know, our bed is a short queen, but the price on these was unbeatable!

I also got four really beautiful fluffy turquoise bath towels at the salvage store for $2.39 each. I love those! I got two ordinary blue bath towels for $1.39 each at the salvage store too. The ordinary towels will go to the pool or beach with us for drying off. The fluffy nice ones are for showers! I also got a set of those cheap wash cloths at Walmart. My husband grabs wash cloths for everything, including washing the truck. He grabs the nicest ones first, before the cheap ones, because he says they do a better job. In 47 years of marriage, I still can't get him to stop doing that, so I gave up on nice wash cloths years ago.

I have a train case with duplicates of all of my shower stuff that I take with me whenever I go anywhere. I just replenish the stuff in there as needed. My husband does the same with his personal stuff, so we don't have to buy those. It will be easy to keep our separate cases in the linen closet. We still need first aid supplies for the camper though.

Cleaning and bathroom things I have so far

So far, these are the cleaning and bathroom supplies I have.

I don't really like this toilet paper holder, but it was only a dollar at Dollar Tree. I'll mount it with Command strips, and change it out if I decide I want a different one later. I just know that if I had tried to buy all of the things I have bought so far, it would have costed a fortune at regular prices. Buying at Dollar Tree and places like that have given me a good start on outfitting my camper for very little money. That way, I can more easily afford the things that will keep us safe, but cost a lot of money, like observation/backup cameras and weight distribution hitch/sway bars, and things like that. Those are the things that really matter as far as buying quality items goes.

Now that I have the toilet paper holder, I need to decide whether I want towel bars, or am going to hang them some other way. I haven't decided that yet. I did buy those bar soap saver things at Dollar Tree, and need to buy a soap dish. (My husband prefers bar soap to liquid soap). I also bought those red cleaning cloths there. When I went to the Salvage Store, I found a huge box of microfiber cleaning cloths for $5.00, so I bought a box of those for the house and camper. I love them! I grabbed 10 of them to start us out in the camper. Those are the yellow ones.

I didn't take pictures of the mop and broom I got at Dollar Tree, they are pretty ordinary, but did photograph the dustpan and brush. I also got a toilet brush, paper towels, and two small waste baskets at Dollar Tree.

The dishwashing liquid came from the salvage store, but the window cleaner, all purpose cleaner, laundry detergent, liquid hand soap, and bar soap all came from Dollar Tree.

Kitchen Things

On this page, I'm showing what I bought for the kitchen so far. I don't know how useful this will be, but maybe someone who is outfitting their new camper will see something they never thought to buy. Anyway, I'm excited, and can't wait until I get a chance to put it all into the camper!

When I was in the Salvage store, I saw this set of pans for something like $5. They are very lightweight, and I didn't have any pans for the camper yet, so I snatched them up!

I knew I needed at least two cast iron skillets, and I wanted a cast iron Dutch Oven. Originally, I was planning on bringing my own cast iron, which had been passed down through the family for generations. Then I found out what those Eries, Very early Griswolds, Iron Mountains, WAPAK Indian Logos, and early Wagners, and others I have are worth. I guess they will be staying safely at home, so I can pass them on to my grandchildren!

I was planning on buying a Lodge combo cooker, and a Lodge Dutch oven, but apparently the Walmart suppliers don't think people in Maine want those things, so they don't send them to our Walmart. Anyway, they did happen to have this five piece set there for $39.00, which is a very good price! I would rather have Lodge, because it is made in the US, but shipping would be so high on them, and I do know that there is actually nothing wrong with cast iron from Taiwan. It doesn't contain lead, or any other bad metals, that is an internet rumor. It also is of a decent quality, and cooks very nicely. If something happens to these on a camping trip, they are at least easily replaceable!

The other day, I realized I don't have anything to use in the camper's microwave. I rummaged through the cupboards, and found this Corning Ware I've had since around 1970. I need to find the covers, I haven't used it for years! I probably shouldn't bring all of those sizes, but I'll thin it out when I figure out which ones we like best.

At Dollar Tree, I saw this cutting board, a set of measuring cups, measuring spoons, and a silicone basting brush. If you go to Dollar Tree, don't buy that small red vegetable grater with the "catcher box" attached, it's so fine, that the vegetables won't go down into the "catcher", they just turn to mush and get stuck in the holes. Everything else I bought works fine. Needless to say, that particular vegetable grater won't be going with us. I'll get a better one!

At the same time as I bought the stainless steel pans in the salvage store, I saw this set of stainless mixing bowls with plastic covers for $3.00. That was a great deal, they are light weight, and the covers will be great!

I got four forks, knives, spoons, and soup spoons at Dollar Tree, as well as a set of four steak knives, and a set of four paring knives. I also got a large cutting knife, which appears quite cheap and flimsy, a set of kitchen shears, and a can opener. At the salvage store, I got a vegetable parer, because they didn't have any of those at our Dollar Tree.

In the party section, I got two sets of plastic silverware. Those will be really good for when we don't have full hookups, and to take on side trips for picnics.

At Dollar Tree, I got a strainer, aluminum foil, a long lighter thing, and a big spoon, fork, and spatula. I've had that Stanley cup and water boiling thing for quite a few years. I'll put that in the camper too.

Our salvage store had a ton of MLB plastic cups they were almost giving away because we are in New England, and they aren't Red Sox ones. I'm not into baseball, so I bought a set anyway. I'll just have to keep them sort of hidden from all the Red Sox fans!!! :-)

At Dollar Tree, I got oven mitts, kitchen towels, dish cloths and dish scrubby things. I thought the oven mitts and kitchen towels were quite pretty!

Here are more assorted things I picked up. Dollar Tree had the sink drain strainers. I didn't need the big one, just the little one, but they came in two packs for less than a single one at other stores, and I can always use the larger one at home. I also grabbed the salt and pepper shaker, so I wouldn't forget to get a set later. (I never add salt and pepper to my food, so I tend to forget about it). I got the grease spatter thing for the microwave at Walmart.

Organizing our camper

It's difficult to get things for organizing the camper when you can't go in and measure everything, so I'm mostly buying things I know will work, and things I know will fit. I'll do more custom fitting when we can get into the camper to measure the cupdoards and things.

Almost everything here came from the Dollar Tree. With so much to buy at once, this seemed like the way to go. Later on we can replace things one at a time if we find out we want something different.

The first things pictured are command hooks. Most people like these, as long as you follow the instructions, and clean the area where you will apply them well, and let them sit for 24 hours before hanging something on them. There are a few people in humid climates who have had problems with them sticking though. I got most of mine at a salvage store, but picked up two packages of Dollar Tree brand just to see if they would work. I'm not going to hang anything breakable or heavy on them, so if they fall off, I'm only out a few cents each for the hooks.

For the Command ones, I got two packages with metal hooks, rated for half a pound, to hold light kitchen utensils. Then I got a package of three pound rated hooks, and one rated for five pounds. I hope they work!

I don't know whether I will like this Dollar Tree silverware organizer or not. It's quite small, but I'm not going to have a ton of real silverware in the camper anyway. Four sets of metal silverware should be fine for two people, at least for a while, and I'll have plastic with us as well. At least I know it won't be too big for the drawer, and I can always upgrade later if I want.

I know I will like these little basket drawer organizers a lot. I wish I had bought more of the blue ones at the salvage store when I saw them, They were six for $1.49, and the white dollar store ones were no where near as heavy, and were three for a dollar. Oh well, three for a dollar is a really good price!

I think I may get more of these. I'm planning on hanging at least one at the top of both the bathroom undersink cabinet, and one under the kitchen sink. It will be a great place to keep things like dish scrubbies and sponges. I can see these as being good on other cupboard doors for storage of spice jars, toothpaste, and other small things as well. I plan on hanging them with command hooks.

The thing I originally bought them for was for organizing things in drawers, but every time I look at them, I think of more things to use them for!

I have seen these baskets with handles used in refrigerators, and in cupboards. They keep things from falling down and rolling around while traveling. I also have read that refrigerators need good air circulation, so baskets are better than boxes. I will probably put all the condiments for hamburgers and hotdogs in one basket in the refrigerator, then it will be easy to use the handle to carry everything outside to eat!

I will also probably put plastic glasses in another one in the cupboard. It will keep them from rolling around, and will be easy to carry them outdoors. I can see many uses for these, but I think they will be best for organizing the refrigerator!

They do sell these in different sizes for a lot more money, so try to get them at Dollar Tree. Our Dollar tree didn't have white ones. They were either lime green or blue the first time I bought them, or lime green and red the second time. I now have four blue ones, and two red ones.

I got four of these baskets at Dollar Tree too, and will probably buy more. They look like they will be a good size for the pantry, and hopefully, will fit into the overhead cupboards over the bed. They would be great for socks and underwear! They also might be good for T-shirts and things when we get shelves built into the closets beside the bed.

Everyone knows about shoe boxes, (although my phone made these look like a weird shape when I took the picture). Anyway, as you know, these will be useful for all sorts of things. So far I have four of them from Dollar Tree.

The only things I bought special in this photo are the two clear plastic jars. Those came from Dollar Tree. I had the other containers around the house. One is Sterlite, one is a Ziplock one, and the one with the red top came from the grocery store with deli ham inside.

When you stay at a hotel, you automatically pay for the coffee supplies, and soaps and shampoos and things. I always take whatever is left home with me. These will be great in the camper. Even though the coffee usually only makes one or two servings at a time, I will be bringing my French Press with me, and will just make my coffee in that, using the prefilled filters from the hotels.

My husband only likes instant coffee. The Hannaford brand still has glass jars, and we buy the largest size. They used to have better jars, they were a pretty shape, and had a wider mouth on them, but the new ones work as well. I will use some of these for storing sugar and other things. They are glass, so I will be sure to put them into baskets so they won't roll out while on the road!

I got two of these collapsible hampers at Dollar Tree. If I feel there is room, I'll leave both of them up so we can separate our clothes as we throw them in. I really think, though, that we will use one, and I will sort them when I get ready to wash. At any rate, they will be really easy to carry the laundry in, and don't take up much space.

The Outside kitchen, and the outside in general

This is something I didn't even think I needed, but now I'm really glad I have it! There will probably be a lot of times when we are staying in a place that doesn't allow fires. This will make it so I can cook outdoors. It will also be great for when we want to cook bacon and other really messy things!

It has a nicely sized refrigerator, a two burner cooktop with wind deflecters, a sink, and a small shelf. Usually, smaller campers don't have amenities like this. I think I will love it!

This shows the front and entry door of the camper. It's got a nice big awning, and you can see the pass through storage at the front. It's kind of difficult to see where the outside kitchen is in this photo, but it's at the rear. Another thing that makes us happy is the dual axles. We are planning on monitoring our tires carefully, but having dual axles will be a little bit of added security. I also understand that they don't sway as much as single axles. We are going to have a weight distribution hitch and sway bars as well.

This camper also has a one piece fiberglass roof. Hopefully it won't be as prone to leaks as other kinds of roofs are!

This is the other side. We need to get an awning cover thing for over the slide as soon as possible. That will help to keep things from falling on top of it while it's out.

This is the first photo I have gotten with the Sonic and the Sierra together. If you click on the picture, you can see the Furrion Observation Camera up near the lights.

Another shot of the Sonic and the Sierra together!

The Kitchen

This is my photo of our camper. It shows everything together, including the slide dinette and the whole kitchen. There is a two burner stove with a glass top, and a cover over the sink. The sink is really small. It's a double sink, and only has drains like a bathroom sink, with rubber plugs. I bought a tiny sink drain strainer thingy at the dollar store, so I won't be losing much food and stuff down the drain, but not sure if I will be able to use the rubber plug at the same time as the drain when I wash dishes, so we'll have to do a really good job scraping them!

I do think I will buy a dish pan, that way I will be able to leave the strainer in the drain all the time.

This is my photo of the camper looking in the other direction. I added one from the Venture website below so you can see the refrigerator better.

This is the photo from the Venture website. It shows the refrigerator much better. It's a pretty good size for this sized camper, and has a separate freezer! We didn't get a TV in ours, but this photo shows the storage in the entertainment center. We will probably put a clock up there where the TV goes. On the very left, I have seen some photos of the end of the cabinet opening, with charging ports inside, and a place to lay your cellphone. I didn't notice this in ours, but I sure hope it's there, because it looks really handy!

I wanted to post this photo from the Venture website because it shows the pantry behind the entertainment center. The pantry has huge shelves in it, and will be great with baskets and things inside for storage!

Today I got into the camper again, and found out I do have this cupboard with two shelves, an outlet, and two USB ports. What a wonderful addition to the camper. It will be great for storing and charging our phones, as well as for hanging the truck keys, in here, and putting our wallets in here when we are at the pool, beach, or showering at the camp ground showers. It's not an obvious cupboard, it just looks like the end of the cabinet, which is why I didn't realize it was there until after I saw a photo of it on the internet!

This is the bottom cupboard next to the outside door. To the right of that, is that nice big area, protected by the ledge of the countertop. Here, I'm going to put some command hooks, and hang at least one of those narrow baskets, so we can keep a few things, like sunglasses, within easy reach of the outdoors. I may hang two there, depending on how much room I have. I also want to hang a collapsible umbrella and a flashlight or two there.

The cupboard over the sink is kind of a disappointment to me. It is pretty wide, and quite deep, but there is only one shelf in it. Once we start using the camper, I will decide whether to have my husband build a second shelf, or whether I want to buy one of those wire shelf things at Walmart.

This is the microwave/convection oven. I hope I like it. I will probably be cooking outdoors more than inside, anyway

This is the pantry. It's pretty typical, but I like how deep it is. I'll have baskets in there to make it easier to use.

Here is the refrigerator/freezer. It's pretty big for a camper of this size!

This is a shot of the counter top, with the sink and stove. I like that they both have covers on them.

The last photo is a bad one of the front of the cabinets. I don't know what that is in the upper left, it's not supposed to be there. :-O Anyway, you can sort of see the lower cupboards and drawers in this photo.