Category: Uncategorized

I’ve just been reading the blogs of some friends talking about what Memorial Day means to them which started me thinking about what it means to me.

As a child, my family called this Decoration Day and it was the day to go tend family graves. My Mom and my Grandma did that. We kids were not involved. Those graves are in Illinois so now my step-mom and my step-sister tend them along with their own ancestors’ graves. Dave’s parents were cremated so the closest we can come to them is to go sit by the river in which we distributed their ashes–a peaceful thing to do.

As a youth, Memorial Day was the weekend camping began. My parents packed up our trailer and we headed off to some state park for the long weekend. We usually went with a group of friends so had lots of cookouts and long hikes. When Dave and I started camping together we declared Memorial Day to be too crowded so we stayed home that weekend then went camping the next weekend. When we became full timers, Memorial Day became the weekend when we couldn’t get into any of the good parks–or didn’t want to do so because all the amateurs were there. 🙂

Now we are settled into an apartment in the Minneapolis area and are feeling a little lost. The family had a huge picnic Saturday to celebrate the marriage of our niece so there is no family gathering today.

So what I am doing this year is sitting here counting my blessings that all the soldiers and sailors in my family came home. And that we live in the Home of the Free because of those who have, and do, serve to keep it that way. Thank you.

TTYL,

Linda

Some of you have been asking how I can get a whole house into a Sprinter van. Here’s my answer.

As you can see the driver and passenger seats swivel so they can become seating in my lounge area.

The sofa bed is twin size and comes with three seat belts for those who are drinking because they are not driving. If Dave should change his mind about going with me the sofa can be replaced with one that opens nearly to the cupboards opposite but this one is big enough for me and should provide better daytime seating than the larger one. I also plan to buy a folding ottoman that I can use to turn the passenger seat into a recliner.

That “custom cabinet” next to the sofa is a desk. I tucked a passenger seat under it in the drawing to indicate that my office chair will fit there. This is where I will do my computer stuff and also where I will eat. There will be several 110 volt and 12 volt outlets here for plugging in my various electrical items.

Next to that is a full height cupboard. It will contain a microwave/convection oven at my eye height with a storage cupboard above it and a hanging closet below it. The hanging closet door will be hinged on the right so when it is open it provides privacy to the dressing area.

Next to it is a full height pull-out pantry. Who knows what I’ll choose to store in it but it fit the space so why not?

Then the bathroom with its tiny corner sink. The faucet of the sink pulls out to become a hand-held shower.

Behind the bath is a five-inch space where I will store my broom/vacuum/duster handle, etc. Yes, I bought a vacuum that will fit in that space. I may have to open the back doors to get everything in and out of there, though.

Opposite the bath is an empty space where I will park my Travel Scoot. There will be an outlet here for recharging its batteries.

Next to the Scoot space is a full height cupboard with shelves for storing lots of stuff.

Next to that is the refrigerator cupboard. My frig will be a 7 cubic foot electric frig with a compressor so I don’t have to be as particular about parking level as most RVs have to be. As long as my space is level enough that I don’t roll out of bed I should be fine.

Then I have six-feet of upper and lower kitchen cupboards. This area will have several outlets including one with a separate 15 amp circuit for my induction hotplate. The sink has a pullout faucet that can reach through the door to rinse anything I might not want to bring inside otherwise.

There will also be upper cupboards above the Scoot space, the sofa, and the cab area.

Most people also have storage under their bed but I’m having a custom-sized 40 gallon fresh water tank put there so I’m not sure how much space will be left for storage. To offset the weight of all that water things like my diesel furnace and the charger/inverter will be in cupboards on the passenger side. My black and grey water tanks will be 20 gallons each. I’m hoping that’s enough to let me camp without hookups for at least a week at a time.

For energy while boondocking I’m having four solar panels put on the roof at the front with the equivalent of 4 AGM batteries under the floor at the rear.

My three big windows are awning windows which means I can keep them open in the rain if it isn’t blowing sideways. The two smaller windows are sliders since it is not a good idea to put an awning window behind the sliding side door. Add the ceiling fan to draw air through those windows and/or my little 12 volt fan which can sit on or hang above my desk and I’m hoping to seldom need the air conditioner. I also have the option of putting screens in both the big side-door opening and the rear door openings if I really want to bring the outdoors in without the bugs joining me.

No, you don’t see a TV anywhere. I never watch TV. The closest I come is checking the weather and I do that on my computer.

So, there you have it. All the comforts of home in a 24-foot van.

TTYL,

Linda

 

“…an intentional poverty to arouse a depth of the spirit that normally lies dormant…But you can’t do that and claim to be minimalist while checking Twitter on your Macbook Pro…or can you?” Julien Smith.

“…about stripping away life’s excess in favor of what’s important, which is different for every person.” The Minimalists, Joshua Fields Millburn.

“…[things you own saying], ‘Appreciate me. Take care of me. Do right by me and I will do right by you. Treat me well and I will be the only one you will ever need.’ ”  a philosophy professor.

“…[a way] to make…day-to-day existence easier. To save money, to save time, to focus on what’s truly important.” Kristin Glenn.

“…not only about white walls and empty spaces. It’s about eliminating the distractions that keep us from fully appreciating life.” Miss Minimalist, Francine Jay.

“…an experimental tour into the nature of attachment… or some would say detachment.”  Minimalist Packrat, Tanja Hoagland

“…There isn’t anything wrong with owning stuff. The problem is when we give too much meaning to the stuff we own without questioning why we own it.” The Minimalists

“…You don’t own things just because you can afford them, and you don’t own more cars, clothes, gadgets or gear than you need for the kind of simple life you desire. You loosen your attachment to things and cut clutter from your home, your brain and your life in general.”  So Much More Life, Gip Plaster

“…the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.” Joshua Becker

“…making room in our lives for the things we enjoy.” Sandcastle, Linda Sand

So here’s some of the things we enjoy in our current apartment:

Dave’s piano with the funny little lamp he bought to light his music. He moves the lamp up onto the piano when playing. He keeps his music collection and his headphones in the cabinet.

Our favorite photos from Dave’s college photography class final. He got an A but that’s not why we’ve kept these.

A thank you gift I received for being there for family in an emergency. I love the colors of this vase.

A picture painted by my mother using all brown tones which her class instructor said would never work. 🙂

Our bathroom scale which weighs exactly the same as the ones at my Weight Watchers meeting and which makes visitors wonder why there is a clock on our bathroom floor.

And the sandcastle our daughter gave us that became the theme for this blog.

Yes, that’s a candle sitting on the kitchen counter behind the sandcastle. It can burn for many hours if (when) we have a power outage here where there are winter storms. Some things need to be useful as well as enjoyable, you know.

TTYL,

Linda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most RVs come with a two- or three-burner cooktop that uses propane for fuel. I don’t need two or three burners since I rarely cook with more than one pot or pan at a time anyway. I make a lot of things in the microwave so mostly use the cooktop for boiling eggs or making one dish meals in a skillet.

And, while I like cooking with gas, I am not fond of the process of buying propane while on the road nor the idea that I need a special detector to protect my life in case my propane system should develop a leak. So I am trying to design my new RV to not need any propane.

Research has shown me that an induction cooktop is the most efficient way of cooking with electricity. If you want to learn more about induction cooking this website is a good place to start: http://theinductionsite.com/proandcon.shtml.

As I often do, I also went to Technomadia’s website, http://www.technomadia.com/kitchen-gadgets-ideal-for-rvs/, to see what they decided to use. Their choice of induction cooktop looked like it would work for me so I bought one.

 

I knew I would not be able to use my existing cookware on this cooktop because it requires the cookware to be magnetic. Besides, if  I took our cookware with me, what would Dave use while I’m gone? So I went shopping for new cookware.

Picture me walking through the store with my magnet in hand trying to stick it to the bottoms of various pieces of cookware.

I went to the store thinking I knew what cookware I would buy after having done so much research on Google. I was wrong. The set I wanted turned out to have pans that were tall but narrow. I couldn’t boil as many eggs as I like to cook at once in their pans. But, the pans I liked couldn’t be purchased individually; only in a set.

A set with way more pieces than I wanted.

So, Dave and I talked about it. He thought some of the pieces I didn’t want would work well for him. I thought I might use the stock pot while in the apartment even though I didn’t want to take it with me in the RV. We thought a bonus pan might make a good gift. And, there’s always Goodwill where someone might be thrilled to find such a good pan if we decide not to keep all of them.

So, I bought them, getting the bonus pan and a gift certificate as extra inducements to buy this set, and we brought them home.

And tried them out. On my new cooktop. Everything works amazingly well. And fast. The combination of this cooktop and these pans heat really, really fast then cook very evenly. It took only four minutes for the water to heat to boil eggs! And I made a mushroom/egg scramble that was big enough to provide three servings so I don’t have to cook every morning. I am very happy with my choices.

Now I just have to decide how many pieces of the cookware I am actually taking with me.

TTYL,

Linda

ps. As my WW meeting leader would say, “40.6 pounds outta here!” I feel like the turtle–slow but steady wins the race.

10,000 steps. That’s how many steps the pros say you should walk each day for maximum health benefits. Now, I may have some OCD characteristics but counting my steps all day is not one of them. What to do; what to do.

For most people the answer is a pedometer. The challenge there is first you measure your stride–how long is your step? My answer–it depends. What is the terrain–smooth or rough, level or hilly? What type of day am I having in relationship to how my body feels? Am I indoors or out? If outdoors, what is the weather like? Can you imagine trying to measure your stride for each of these conditions then remembering to adjust your pedometer for each change? Not happening!

So when I saw this,

http://www.fitbit.com/product, I was tempted. But, it is expensive. So I just stayed tempted.

Then my sleep got worse. Have you ever tried to explain to a doctor how you sleep? How long it takes you to go to sleep? How often you wake up? How many hours you have to spend in bed to get enough actual sleep?

Well, the FitBit can monitor that as well. And make charts and graphs you can print out to take with you to your next doctor’s appointment.

So, we finally decided I should buy one. It’s a pretty cool little gadget and we all know how I like gadgets, right? So, during the day it sits in my pocket and measures my steps without me having to do anything more than put it in my pocket. And at night it slips into a soft wristband and measures my sleep. And whenever I pass near my computer it wirelessly updates the data there. And every few days I put it on the base station when I’ll be sitting at my computer for awhile so it can recharge the battery.

I’ve been wearing it for a week now. My weekly report says I wake up from 10 to 18 times per night.

No wonder I always feel tired!

And those steps? I have a LONG way to go to get to 10,000 per day. That’s about five miles for a person with an average stride, you know. And our apartment, while being much larger than the RV, isn’t really all THAT big. Guess I need to join those who put on their headphones and walk the halls. 🙂

TTYL,

Linda

ps. Down another 1.8 pounds this week but that number is somewhat skewed by the fact that I slept too late to eat breakfast before my WW meeting today. What can I say? When I went to bed in the wee hours this morning they were predicting thunderstorms with hail all morning so I didn’t set my alarm. Imagine my surprise to wake up to sunny and clear. So, I rushed off to my meeting to get some badly needed reinforcement. A meeting where the leader quoted from an article saying those who skip breakfast are 450% more likely to be obese! Some days I can’t win for losing.