Moving day .... soon

[femuse]

When you got your trailer for the first time, how much stuff did you put in there?

Did you stock up for the whole season, or figure to pick-up things as you go?

Do you empty it at the end of the season and start over again every year?

While most of you will spend only a few weeks, or months each year in your AS, we are going to live in there until we decide (again), to start building a house. So, we need to fully outfit it.

Our main problem is we are not really fast when it comes to completing a project.... like being ready to go on the road with our #3. By mid June.

Let' s see: we have removed the kitchen sink & counter, the stove, the microwave, the blinds, all lights in the bathroom, the vanity, the mattresses, and taken the bed frames apart.

I think we have to start to put back a few things together before we hit the road. Some things will stay out, like the 25Lbs spice rack, a bedroom dresser and 2 mirrors.

We work better under pressure. Let's say beginning of June: "Oh no! only one week to go."
So many things to do, so little time. Mike is busy right now keeping an eye on a rabbit who is on the verge of coming in the shop every evening. He spends a lot of time (Mike, not the rabbit) taking plenty of pictures of one of our very pregnant lizzard. Today, he took about 50 pix of a spit bug.......

So, while we had a bad storm and I had to go off line, I decided to gather up stuff to start to stock up #3. Some things may come from #2, but few.

Our problem is we are pack-rats. The way I see it: it's a good thing we have another trailer to outfit.
Making a dent, in our extra suplies ???? Fat chance !!!!

I started to pick up things at random, just walking around my own "store": I already have a box filled with kitchen towels, tooth paste, a spaghetti container, a bottle of sceptic tank bacteria, hand soap,...... Real random.
I look at my shelves: I believe I have enough stuff to outfit maybe 2 dozens trailers.

We shop all the thrift stores of the North East (a lot of Goodwills have big parkings), as a way to spend 1 or 2 days a week, 4 months a year. Then WalMart before retiring for the night. How many Sears and the like can one visit in a day?
Then a full week in NH (no sales tax). We start to be selective, but we still bring back bales of clothing, nifty kitchen gadgets & housewares, tools,.....etc. Stuff we cannot pass up (don't use a coffee grinder, but: the 1st one was great and cheap, the 2nd one, a Peugeot, matches our car, how could we resist?)

Mike is busy drawing plans of our remodelling, especially the bedroom. Just an excuse to play with EasyCad.

I started to pack things for about 45mn today. Will try again tomorrow. I hope we have a lot of storms.

[Silvertwinkie]

Well, in my exp (as a non-fulltimer) we have the basic complement of stuff (forks, knives, plates, dishes, cups, cookware (basic) and some other odds and ends to daily life). Most things where plastic made sense, we did for weight considerations. Plates, cups, containers, etc.

The basics stay in the Airstream all year long. We wrestled with the fact of having to bring stuff in and out of the house for each trip and we decided we didn't want to do that. We wanted as close to a pickup and go as we could realistically be. So the house has it's gear and Bambi has it's own. True we do find a thing or two we need that we didn't think of and buy it for the camper if possible, but about the only thing we need to bring are clothes, basic toiletries and a few odds and ends.

It seems to make the packing process take 1/3 of the time as it would planning and packing all the other stuff.

In your case of #1, #2 and #3, depending on how you use them, perhaps this would be helpful unless you use more than one, then possible the expense of doing it in all three might make the moving of gear more attractive.

Regards,

Eric

[femuse]

how strong are the kitchen drawers?


Moving a little at a time. Real slow.....

The storage space in the 1990 kitcken is bigger than our 1974, but I am not used to this type of storage. Not much time to experiment.
In the 74, I had most everything in the cupboard, 4 full very deep shelves, where I had cans, bottles,....,...

Not familiar with drawers. What about with the bouncing ? (I know, bad tires balancing,...... We are getting an air-hitch).

The 1990 has a lot of drawers, and I am not sure how to deal with them. The little drawers by the sink, about 12 X 19 X 5 look ideal size for cans.

But I am wandering if they are strong enough. It's only chipboard and contact paper. Tey would hold about 24 cans, I would like to put 12 cans each in the 2 middle drawers. That's about 11Lbs ea.

Anybody has put this weight, sucessfuly or not, in those drawers? What about the big drawers (19 X21 X 9) ? I have a lot of mini milk crates (8 X 7) I can use. No idea how much weight will be safe in those ?

Thanks to anyone who would like to share their success or failure in stocking the kitchen. Especially the "I made the mistake to put the.......in.....and...."