Its been way too long since my last post. We did go on our first camping trip. We went to Fisherman's Bend up by Mill City. It was a very nice camp ground and we will be going back, but the actual site was not what we really wanted. The fire pit and tent area was too far from the trailer. It was strange as well with out Miranda and she was not happy having to be left at home due to work commitments.

We did have a good time and went on a few adventures like WalMart down in Salem! :) Needed a few things. John and I had a rough night sleeping due to one, the mattress was a bit too hard for our liking and we are use to sleeping in a King and the 5th wheel is a queen. Then John forgot to bring "Mr Sleepy" and so i had to keep turning him over from snoring in my face. We did pick up a mattress topper at Walmart so the next few nights were tons better.

Cooking was nice and we didn't set up a kitchen out of the 5th wheel. Which i think we will do for sure next time. We also had a small TV and so it was way too convenient to sit in the 5th wheel and watch movies... No TV next time. Spencer was bord so he probably gained 5 lbs just in eating everything in sight.....

We did have a good time taking a drive up the road to check out a few other campgrounds and went up to Silverton Falls as well, where John and Spencer took a nice long hick. It was a good time with my guys. We sure did miss Miranda. Luckily we had cell phone coverage so she could let us know just how miserable she was all by herself and that the dogs were driving her nuts barking at every noise they heard thinking we were coming home.

John and Spencer are heading over the pass to La Pine for a couple of days to go SPLUNKING. Miranda and I are hanging back due to scheduling issues. We are really looking forward to getting in a trip with the 4 of us and all 3 dogs some time soon. We are also planing a 3 week trip next summer. 4,ooo miles is what John has figured so far. Yellowstone, maybe some family along the way to Mesa Verde and then Grand Canyon. From there over to Southern Calif. for Disneyland and some other attractions. Seeing friends and family as well. Then heading up the coast to stop here and there. Stopping in San Francisco for a few days. We have been telling the kids for the past 5 years we are going to the Big Red Woods. So this would be great as well. Then heading back up to home. We are also going to bring all 3 dogs on this trip so we will be having to do some careful planing.......

We went to the RV show a few weekends ago and saw this cute little couple pushing a stroller. Of course we assumed it was maybe their grand baby or GREAT grand baby.... but with further examination we saw not a baby or small child but a cute little dogie!!!! It was the coolest thing.... here they were pushing their dog in a stroller. It was covered with a net over the stroller and was just sitting there as cute and comfy as could be. So i asked them about it and where they got the stroller. It was actually a pet stroller and cost them about $75. Well that got John and I starting to think about our summer trip and doing that with our precious 3. So we went out to check out regular baby strollers at a resale shop. We looked at the double strollers and i had a great idea about trying to maybe put all 3 in one. We got to the resale shop and right out front was this jogging thing that can hook to the back of a bike or you can just push. It is designed for 2 kids with seat and could be all covered for all weather. After lots of checking it out and thinking of our needs we got it and brought it home, took out the seat and now have a 3 wheel buggy for the Dogs to ride in for trips out and about. They need a lot of practise using it and feeling comfortable with it, we have till next July. They do look so cute for sure.

So we are on our way planing our big family trip and will be keeping you posted on how things are going. Now time to start looking for great deals on attractions and making reservations at sites along the way.


More to come.......

Our First Lesson!

Well Looks like we learned our first lesson with the trailer. When you are dumping the sewage and you are emptying the black water tank, make sure the hose does not fly off just as the water and STUFF comes out!!! Yuck! Yes John did have gloves on so we are good there. It had been flushed and winterized so it wasn't as bad as it could of been i guess. :)

We moved the trailer to the driveway and John backed it up all by himself and it only took 2 tries. Good Job JOHN!!! We really like it on the drive way and not sitting out in the street. We are not sure about the laws about leaving a RV on the public street. So now we're good.

John got the bench in and has been fixing a lot of little things on the 5th wheel. The radio now works, Leak fixed , all the tanks are bleached out and flushed out, re routed the microwave cord. I have been getting the food stocked and Got my Lock N Locks today! Yeah!

When I cant find John in the house on his days off , It's a sure bet that he is out in the garage either working on the 5th wheel or on his 79 X19 Fiat. I think he has enough to keep him out of trouble for a while..... :)

So we are now 10 days and counting.

Well John and I and the kids took off yesterday after church to check out some campsites up in Estacada. We found 4-5 and i think we could have a good time but they are really close to the road. You can not only hear the river, but all the road noise as well. They dont have RV hookups so we would have to be self contained. Which is not a big deal. Just trying to find sites that we can pull through or back up into easily. We are not good with the backing up right now. It was a fun day and a beautiful drive. Dogs had fun too!

John was trying to get the 5th wheel flushed out and found a leak within the system. John thinks he can fix it easily enough. Toilet is working with a little adjusting. We just need to check the heater so we can winter camp too. We have 2 heaters so we should be good! I'm slowly but surly getting more and more stuff put into the trailer. I'm waiting now for my Lock N Locks we got from QVC for the trailer.

We are wanting to find a place really close so Spencer and I can get camp set up on a Friday after he gets home from school and John and Miranda can come after work. Miranda got us a RV book with great tips and the best campsites in certain states. Its really great to learn from others mistakes.... That is kind of what this blog is about too.

Well as we continue to get the 5th wheel ready for our trip, we are on count down. 1 week and 6 days~ still praying that Miranda's work might change their minds and give her the time off. But there will be other trips.

ok, here is the update for the 5th wheel backing up practise..... It did not go as so well. It is a lot harder then one would think. Thank the LORD for pull-through campsites. They are sites where you just drive in and out the other side. Who ever came up with them probably was a guy who couldn't back up a trailer.... :) So We got a site for our trip with a PULLTHROUGH ! yea!!!

Well John was not feeling well yesterday and didn't sleep well so he stayed home. He got the bench put in and we loaded up a lot more stuff now in the 5th wheel. I think next week we are going to take the 5th wheel to a dumping site and flush out the system. Oh, Miranda has made a 5th wheel rule....
" If we are at a camp ground with a potty and shower, we can only go pee in the trailer..... NO POOH!" She has already made it clear that she will not be doing any fish cleaning and now she will not be touching the poopy hose.... lol Unfortunately she cant get time off work for our first trip and so she and Ave and Snuggles will be staying home. :(

Well , more to come later.

OK, Its been a few days and we have been loading things in the 5th wheel little by little. We now have the hitch in the truck. It only cost $127.00 more then they told us, of course! But now we can actually MOVE the trailer......

We have also been doing some remodeling in the 5th wheel....

These are some shelves John installed in the closet we are going to use as a pantry!

John is also going to add another bench seat where there was a small cabinet for the TV. Now we will have some more storage and a place for another body to sleep if need be.

Well less then 3 weeks till we can get out in the 5th wheel and go camping. We are thinking of going to Fisherman's Bend which is on the way over to Bend on the Santiam River. Miranda is even getting time off work for 3 days to go with us. It will be tons of fun and lots of learning for all of us. We will be taking the dogs with us, so that will be fun untangling them the whole time.

I'm also hope to go fishing with the kids and maybe catching dinner one night. I sure hope that John and Spencer can clean the fish we catch because i KNOW Miranda and I wont! lol. What a mental picture of Miranda trying to clean fish. She wont even eat it.

Tonight, John, Spencer and myself are going to take the 5th wheel over to the parking lot at Intel to do some practise driving and backing up. I just pray that 1 of us will be gifted in backing up the trailer. Watch it will be Spencer! :)

OK i will get back with more later.

July 29th 2010. At the beginning!

There it sits. Right out front of the house. Just waiting to go, waiting to move and start having fun with the new family that has just bought it. Yes! we are that family. It.. is a 22 foot 1991 5th wheel. After 20 years of marriage and 3 kids, John and I finally have our dream come true. We are now the proud owners of a 5th wheel. I still cant believe it. I don't think it will really hit us until we are sitting at a camp site, all set up and enjoying the great outdoors IN COMFORT!!!!! No more tent camping and sleeping either on the ground or a air mattress that somehow springs a slow leak and that by the time morning comes you are ON THE GROUND ANYWAY!

This has been something that John has talked about from the beginning of our marriage. I can remember going to RV shows and looking at all the big and wonderful RV's with all the bells and whistles. The only thing I would keep saying over and over in every RV we would go into...... " where do we put the baby?". If I would of just given in way back then, it wouldn't of taken so long to finally get our dream.

Well, we are just waiting to get the hitch installed on Monday and then its time to head over to the Intel parking lot so John, Spencer and myself can practise driving and backing up with 20 feet of trailer behind us. We have cleaned it and started packing it to be ready to leave any given notice.

So as we learn and have our adventures we will blog them here. You can see how we all deal with this new adventure and see where we go and all the fun stuff we do. I'm sure there will be a lot of humor and frustration as well. Sometimes we will be going with the kids and some times just John and I will be heading out to have some alone time.

Stay tune and watch for updates. Our first trip out in the 5th wheel will be in mid Aug. That will be our learning trip of what we forgot and what we didn't even need to begin with.