and we have a countertop

This post is extremely overdue. Ben cut, I painted, and Ben epoxy'd the countertop just in time for our group camping trip to Pace Bend in May. 

 

Ben would probably have a lot more to say about the mess that is epoxy, but doesn't it look great?!

mandatory stop at Opies BBQ

We're really itching to get out again, come on fall temperatures!

Dreaming

How perfect would some big red fenders look on the Tear??

I'm thinking shiny red :)

it's been a while

We have only taken the Teardrop out once this year. But we've been working on it!

she got a fresh coat of paint on the interior:

lookin good

i don't know how he got paint in his hair

And we put a back splash in the galley using leftover aluminum from the roof:

you're wondering where the countertop is, aren't you?

There's not a lot of room for shelving up there so we found these cute little guys at IKEA to use:

OH and did I mention we're redoing the countertop? Painted masterpiece photo coming soon!

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hatch latch and ceiling liner

Ben ordered some latches a friend told us about to hold the hatch down while driving. the work great (so far)! 

We want to insulate the ceiling. So we have this foam insulation and decided to try and cover with some padding and fabric to create an upholstered headboard like ceiling. 

we cut several slits in the foam (careful to not puncture the plastic on the other side) to allow for curving onto the ceiling. 

Wrapped with the padding and fabric (glued together with regular fabric glue) 

And glued to the ceiling with this stuff.

cross your fingers it will hold to metal!

Oh and here is Ben cutting a scrap of aluminum to create our backsplash in the galley :)

Galley pics soon!

Inks Lake 3/23/13

Inks Lake, 1h30m northwest of Austin, we only had to pull over thrice! 

first two times because the hatch was blowing open. we didnt see this, but were told by honking and waving passerby's. we managed to tie it down with some clever finagling from ben with an extra tie down strap. i guess we outta mount a latch on there.

the last stop was when one of the door popped open. we now check through the opposing window to make sure the deadbolt is fully extending and doing the best job possible :)

Here we are about to hit the road after packing up the bikes.

(at Justin's Garage, aka J-Ru). 

Inks Lake is a very pretty and very nice park. They have several hiking trails and kayak rentals. It's in Burnet County where, thank goodness, there is no burn ban! Camping with a campfire is so much better :)

The park had a band playing Saturday night for a few hours. Complete with a steel guitar (my fav!).

We're excited to go back!

there are no fish in that lake

i can't wait to put some fenders on there!

the park is covered in pretty red rocks called Gneiss. the camp slogan is actually "it's a Gneiss place" haha

also, we stopped in at this place selling and renting teardrops in Burnet. they are all so nice!
the tiny one in front was (4x6 motorcyle haul) going for $5,000 

Maiden Voyage

i super apologize for neglecting this blog since the new year! 

WE TOOK THE TEARDROP CAMPING FOR NEW YEARS EVE!!! and it worked!  

my treasures Emma and Lil Wayne :)

Emma Long Park New Years 2013!

we still need to finish out the galley in the back, we can't decide exactly what we want to do but we're thinking about it!

We have plans to go out to Inks Lake this coming weekend for some camping, fishing and dirtbiking. I will post pictures after :)

TRAGEDY: while working on the teardrop in dangerously windy conditions last week the hatch lid was thrown back and split a couple of the 1x2 support beams. we have to redo the hatch before the trip this weekend  :(

The HATCH!

Ben and I were very scared of the hatch. it was like this thing we didnt talk about and waved it off like it would just magically appear when we needed it. and it almost did thanks to J-Ru! :)

So this is how it happened:

We decided the hatch door needed to rest inside the walls instead of on top of them so we built the frame just inside. Since there will be a seam or opening between the wall and the door we made a little rain gutter in case it rains sometime in Texas ever. 

Ben cut three identical wide arched support beams out of 3/8 hardwood plywood that match the curve of the  profile, and three horizontal beams out of our 1x2s. 

Ben then cut notches out of the middle vertical beam so the veritcal 1x2s would fit in oh so nicely. 

I helped Justin glue and screw and clamp/tie down. 

24 hours later.... IT FITS!