Hello Kitty

No Ultraman here. Not even much Pokemon. At least Pokemon reach a point where they have a little fight in them.

I saw a Nissan Cube today and it reminded me how much I like small. I find the asymmetry pleasing as well the sense the designers were after something that is almost poetic...subtle. OK, the designers were as subtle as Monty Python. If they were looking for "box" they got it.

The progress continues with the camper. I am concerned that it will not be finished by the 7th, the start of the trip. It is only a mild concern, though, created by the pressures of other work that needs to be completed before the trip.

It seems that the reasons for not going on this trip increase daily. Work is only one of them. The economy continues to spook me. And then there is the ever shrinking threat of the ever spreading threat of the Swine Flu. It would be so easy to cancel and the real battle is in not doing so. My wife and I remain committed.

I thought I'd add a link to a build thread I started at Teardrops and Tiny Travel Trailers. It is a friendly site dedicated primarily to homemade Teardrop campers. There is a lot of "how to" there and many knowledgeable individuals. They make room for the non teardrop folks too and with the current build I have become one of those. Here is my build tread.

Getting started

This journal is here because my family is planing a trip "out west" this summer. We are not sure where it will take us but we do have a few firm commitments. One of them is a reserved site in Yosemite. We also reserved a site on July 4th for obvious reasons. Aside from these anchors the trip will be ad hock which I suspect will bring out the unexpected. :)

Part of the planning includes the construction of a new camper. We have outgrown our old one. It is a teardrop that my son Trey and I built about four years ago. Five of us slept comfortably in it.

This time around Trey has shown less interest in the build. Oh well...

The new camper will grow from 8' to 13" long. It will retain the galley in the rear as it is something my wife Katrina and I have grown fond of. Inside we will be able to stand, sleep, sit, and have a place to put our shoes. There will also be a small galley inside so as to make a sandwich or warm water on a hot plate during a rain.

I welded up the frame during the month of April. My father gave me some instruction in the form of watching him. It worked. I did about 75% of the welding. :) On the other hand I earned 100% of eight stitches and an eye patch. I should have paid for that stupidity with more pain.

Well, it never slowed me down and when I got the frame home I started on the wood. I'm more familiar with this part of the build and less likely to hurt myself. :)

Here are a few pics to bring this blog thing up to date:

Hello

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