Our Summer Plans

There she is...our new summer home camper.

A 1978 Dodge Jamboree.



All for the price of free!

Which fills our hearts with glee!

I am still in awe...it's something we've wanted for a long time, especially after we passed up a wonderful deal on a 5th wheel in favor of going to see my family in Washington and attend my class reunion last summer.

Then, about a week ago, after seeing a couple of blog postings about renovated older model RVs and Campers, it really made me itch to get one of our own.

Not even a week later, out of the blue, some friends called and asked if we'd like to take their old-school Camper off their hands. They'd decided taking on such a project was more than they were ready to commit to, and basically just wanted it off their property.

Of course we said, "YES!"

Our friends had begun some work inside (painting it white), which is exactly what I would have done anyway.



Oh, the plans I have for our Jamboree...just you wait and see!!



The only thing that I'm not exactly wild about is this ladder.

Which extends the full length of the back-end of the camper.

I fear it is just going to prove to be too-tempting for our Judah.

Who, if he's anything like his mom and grandma (with a penchant for climbing up onto house roofs from clothesline poles at a young age), will likely use it as a jumping off point to get up on the roof of the house. Lord, have mercy!



'Scuse me just a sec...I need to go out and move that camper far, far from the house.

**crickets**

Okay, I'm back.

And I am SO loving the fan on the dash.



For some odd reason, as a child of the 70's and 80's, I always wanted my parents to own a vehicle with a fan on the dash.

We never had one, but I can hardly complain because we did have the next best thing... a state-of-the-art yellow-gold grocery getter (station wagon).

It sported electric windows which my mom could control from her seat, including the rear window which, when we were seated in the one, oddball reverse-facing seat in the back of the car, would beg to have our mom roll down for us.

Come to think of it, this is probably why car exhaust is one of my biggest asthma attack triggers to this day, lol.

Yesirree Bob...we were living the high life in those day.

**ahem**

Getting back to our Jamboree...you can see that the radio has already been removed...in anticipation of a sleek new iPod port, no doubt.

Because what is a Jamboree without some source of music to tap your toes to?

Yes, my friends, those forrest green drapes and the 1990's faded sunflower motif curtains throughout, along with the garish rust/gold/brown (vintage 1970's) upholstery will soon be a distant memory...switched out in favor of something bright and cheerful!



I must say, however, that the brown wall at the back wall of the upper bunk is a bit suspect.

It doesn't coincide with the shape of the outside of the over-cab compartment (see first photo).

I just hope there are no 'surprises' in there. You know...like a 'telltale heart' or a 'skeleton in the closet' or anything. **gulp**

Or critters. I simply can't abide critters.



All I know is that there is not a window up there.

Yet another of my childhood dreams was two-fold:

a.) for my family to own a camper

and

b.) for me to get to ride in the over-the-cab compartment during the entire vacation, peeking out of the front window in this pose.



Now our boys will be able to live the dream (minus the window) for me, lol.

Here is another view of the kitchen.

I happen to have a roll of a contact paper type product that mimics the look of stainless steel.

I plan to cover that faux wood grain on the refrigerator door, and bring that baby into the new millenium.



I SO looooove that the stove is black and not that ugly brown that was so common in the 1970's. It's going to make my renovation job sooo much easier.

I also love that everything still works...including the A/C.

And that there are only 56,000 miles on the engine.

Frankly, I feel like we just inherited a windfall!

I'm so excited to get out there and get to work!



Incredibly, we have tons of very useful supplies left over from our home renovation (which is still undone, but hey...who cares? We want to co camping! ), including trim, thin plywood, fabric and paint.

These items, along with the purchase of a very few space-saving things from IKEA and DIY materials from Lowes, we plan to get the job done for far, far less than we would have paid for a good used camper.

What a blessing!

The challenge?

Get it done by July 1st on a shoestring budget, using as much as possible of what we already have on hand.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we sent the boys to Grandma's while we went and picked up the camper yesterday afternoon.

When we all arrived home from church that evening to unveil the big 'surprise'...the boys were thrilled.

Okay, so Jericho was acting a bit goofy in this one, but it didn't stop him from climbing through every nook and cranny of the thing.



Judah exclaimed in his little sing-song excited voice, "I'm so proud we have a camper"...which is his way of saying, "I'm so excited we have a camper."

They climbed all through it, trying out every switch and button in sight.

I only hope the battery still works whenever we take it out on our inagural trip.



They climbed all over it.

And I do mean all over it.



"This is the perfect place to set up my [Nerf] sniper rifle."

I didn't take photos, but poor Raisin was doing the zig-zag formation as she ran through the yard trying to avoid the Nerf darts Jericho was raining down on her.

Poor girl.

She is a longsuffering devoted animal.

And Judah?

Judah's been very seriously talked to about the dangers of climbing the ladder without permission.

We let him climb around on the ladder this one time, and even to climb up on top of the roof just to get it all out of his system.



To satisfy his curiosity.

As my grandma would have said, "Oh, heavens!" As Judah was yelling (while jumping), "I'm the kind of the world!"

After this? Let's just say we're not above scaring the tar out of him by tossing around news of recent predatory pteradactyl sightings in the area in order to keep him off the roof of that camper.

We always tell him we're teasing, of course, but can we help that his overactive little pre-school imagination goes wild?

Yes, in our family we do what we must to keep our kids safe.

And so it begins...our Summer O' Fun.

And now, Judah and I are off to assess things for our preliminary checklist!