Joseph Stewart State Park, Set 5: Morning Light and Fall Magic (+11 insets!)

(+11 insets!) (Please scroll down to "Today's Pictures for inset information)

Trip Talk: Little Upgrades and the First Two Projects: Our Bedrooms!

Our new trailer is going to be a perfect way to travel around the country! That being said, we need to upgrade some things before we are satisfied with its current state. Steve's done lots of little additions around the place, such as adding felt dots and rubber bumpers to doors so they close quietly and don't bang into walls. We noticed they neglected to put caps on the recessed screw holes here and there so we got those. Lots of things like that. But also, there are four projects that we planned on right away: our beds, the coffee bar/charging center, and our computer/gaming stations. Today I'll cover the beds!

The Beds: Steve's (You can see the location on Inset 1 and look at "A")
First off, we needed to upgrade the sleeping situation. The first and easiest fix was the master bedroom. It came with a king-sized mattress stuffed into a queen-sized space, ugh! How ridiculous to stand in there trying to find room next to that silly bed! Steve quickly fixed this by sawing down the bed's platform to a proper size. When we put a queen-sized mattress in place of the ginormous king-sized bed, suddenly it was like a breath of fresh air! For the first time since we've owned the coach, the master bedroom FEELS like a master bedroom! Sheesh. We are astonished by the propensity of people who want everything to be LARGER. What type of person would WANT a king-sized bed? They are entirely too HUGE!

The Beds: Janet's (See Inset 1: "B")
The second part of this equation was my bed. The Avalanche has a new and rare layout called a "mid-house bunk room." Ordinarily this is a double-decker platform ("bunk house") located in the back of the coach, which is what our Grey Wolf had. I used the bottom bunk as my private little nest and I loved it in the beginning. However, by the time we got back from our six-week Vancouver Island trip, I was DONE. All of the sideways wriggling in and out of the foot-accessible-only bed got to be intolerable, especially at three in the morning when I needed to make a bathroom run. I couldn't even sit up completely unless I wanted to bang my head. No amount of coziness could make up for that cramped and totally annoying sleeping situation. This became a defining criteria for choosing our full-timing rig.

The perfectly tiny bunk room in the Avalanche is located half-way between the back and front of the coach and is even has *gasp* actual doors (as opposed to curtains)! It came with an attractive couch which folded out to entirely fill the room with a classic, uncomfortable, temporary bed. No thanks. I did sleep on it when we stayed at Joseph Stewart State Park but we also put a gel-foam topper on it to make it reasonably comfortable. No worries...we had a plan!

We took out the couch and in its place, Steve built a platform to fit the 38" x 72" space. When completed, there will be three spacious drawers underneath, but for now the frame is in place and it's absolutely perfect!

What about the Mattress?
At first we were at a loss. Custom-made anything almost always means sky-high prices and that's all we could find as we combed the search results. Finally I found pay-dirt! The Military Supply House makes mattresses of any size with a zillion options, all at a totally affordable price. We paid about $230 to get mine made and when it arrived, we were both totally blown away. It's gorgeous, soft but supportive, impeccably made and sewn, and best of all, it is EXACTLY the right size! We were so impressed that we're ordering another one in queen size for Steve's mattress! (The temporary mattress in place right now was borrowed from our guest bedroom so we could go to Joseph Stewart.)

A Perfect Room for Janet
The difference in that petite room is amazing. It's no longer an awkward nook with a little sofa in it that folds out. Now it's got an exactly-sized bed with lots of room to move around. There's a spacious countertop on the opposite side and I'll be able to add a chair to sit and use my laptop. With this arrangement I'll be able to write and work on my photography without distraction. What an upgrade!!

The situation I had in the Grey Wolf quickly began to drive me crazy. I'd wriggle into my lower bunk bed, crawl into place, turn over to sit down, drag my computer onto my lap, position my mouse next to me and finally I'd open the laptop. It was such an ordeal to get everything properly set up that getting back out again was really annoying. Granted, it was a wonderful, cozy place to hang out but once I was there, I didn't want to move...it was too much effort! So you can see why I'm so over-the-moon with my wonderful little bedroom in the Avalanche!

(Note: you may wonder why I'm in the little room and Steve is in the master bedroom. This is because Steve is 6'2 and I am 5'4. He cannot fit into that little bed but it's the perfect length for me. I also wanted to have my own space for writing and creating without being disturbed. The master bedroom doesn't have a desk area. The situation is absolutely ideal for us! Oh, and in case you didn't know this yet, we sleep apart because Steve snores and we prefer restful nights!)

Today's Pictures
It's another installment from Joseph Stewart State Park! The main picture was the view we saw from our coach every morning, can you believe it?! Stepping just outside, I took this picture of gorgeous light and shadows streaming through the trees that surrounded our trailer. How amazing it was to be here, and yet the park is a mere 45 minutes away!!

The first inset today is a graphic to show the layout of our Avalanche 365MB with areas noted for the projects we're working on. (I'll talk about the other projects in a later blog.) The rest of the insets are more subjects that I found while I was blissfully wandering around with my camera. You will notice lots of lovely fall leaves, but also mushrooms and even a ridiculous sign on a path sprayed on by someone who has dyslexia! ENJOY!

Pam, today it's such a bright and beautiful day, I can't stop smiling when thinking about the hopeful situation for you that's coming up. There is nothing like hope. Now there is a large sprig to grasp onto and I'm so glad!! Have you recovered from your procedure and feeling better? I'm wishing the best for you and sending lots of *HUGS* your way!

Explored on 12/02/19; highest placement #7.