Going A-Wall - Our First Escape

Location: Brown's Cabin at Kabekona Lake
Dates: June 23-26
Camping with: Bakka & Besta in their A-Liner; Breta, Dave, Jakob and Sarah and Don in their cabin; Shelly and Allie in the camper
Wisdom gained: Dogs can't digest raw potatoes either.

Sometimes you discover heaven on Earth. Camping is a good way to find it. This is one of those places. At the end of a private road, with a creek on one side and a clean, quiet lake on the other, we spent three days fishing, boating, splashing, talking and relaxing together.

My sister has invited us to her in-law's cabin several times but I've always hesitated - I don't want to put anyone out or intrude. But, when your sister and her family are about to move thousands of miles away, you'll do anything to steal a little extra time with them. Even if it means intruding...

Of course, Don, Shelly and Allie made us feel like anything but intruders. They welcomed us openly, sharing their time, boats, toys, food and space. I have always enjoyed them and this week was definitely no exception.

All of us, including our dog Sofie, had a great time. Each of my boys found fishing a favorite passtime. Brek tried out his new rod, learned to bait his own hook - and even took a fish off his hook for the first time. We would find him fishing in the creek and out on the dock by himself, with Jakob or with anyone who would sit with him. His Uncle Dave shared a few pointers and retrieved a few snagged lines.

Finn dragged around his hookless, baitless pole to emulate the big boys catching peesch (fish).

Jay escaped with Dave and Don in search of elusive Walleye.

The boys drove a boat with Allie and Shelly and swam off the pontoon. We watched thousands of minnows and the loons sang us to sleep.

Our Chalet proved to be the perfect vacation home. It gave us enough space to sleep and access our gear for playing. It sheltered us completely in an unexpected crazy, windy rain storm in the middle of the night. It worked as a kitchen away from home.

The NorCold refrigerator, however, gave us some fits. We started off running on shore power, but felt that we should switch to propane so we didn't use as much of Donnie's resources. The fridge fired right up on propane and we were pleased. However, we discovered that our pilot light continued to go out after the fridge had been running a short time. We inspected it, my dad inspected it, Donnie inspected it... Everything looked like it should be working just fine. The pilot was strong, it lit immediately and stayed strong - until, it seemed, the fridge cooled to the set temperature. Then instead of turning the pilot down, it just shut off altogether.

After several failed attempts to get things working, and a late-night Internet search on Jay's handy Q phone, I suggested we call Danny's Campers for some advice. [The Internet posts about the fridge described lots of problems with both a mechanism in the fridge and with the fridge company - both of which gave me a slight twinge of "What did we get our selves into here?"] Brian at Danny's Campers suggested we try to snap the thermocouple on tighter. We didn't see where there was anything to snap on tighter than it already was seated. But, Donnie got brave, pulled it out and then pushed lots harder when he reseated it. It did the job! [We haven't had a problem since - knock on wood!]

A summer trip to Minnesota isn't a vacation without mosquitoes. After our first night at Kabekona, I was afraid to open our camper door for fear of letting all of those mosquitoes OUT! To say we had been invaded would be an understatement. Who knew the first blemishes inside our camper would be blood spots from swatting mosquitoes?!?

Where are they coming in? We think the majority of the blood-sucking itch bugs came in through a small opening in the ceiling vent and/or in the Fantastic Fan. We had turned the fan off during the night but left both vents open. They were probably attracted to the warmth of 5 bodies in the camper and the still air in the camper made perfect biting conditions for the mosquitoes.

The next night we tried closing the vent and leaving the fan on. That seemed to help some. We also found several vent openings (hot water heater, refrigerator, furnace, etc.) where we need to cover with screen to prevent future invasions.

Our stay ended with a teary good-bye to my sister's family (now headed back to Alaska) and a warm invitation from Shelly to return next year. Great memories.

Do you spy the A-frame on the right?
That's an A-liner belonging to my parents.

Preliminary Storage Solutions

Jackpot! I found some storage containers at Target - Snapware brand - that fit perfectly in the nooks and crannies of our refrigerator! I bought one 10-piece set, two sizes of containers with a locking pour spout and a couple of larger very flat pieces that slide perfectly under the cooling element. OK - so I've made a huge effort to reduce our use of plastic around our house. Most of our storage is now in glass or stainless. But, glass is heavy (and a little precarious with camping)and stainless is pricey and hard to find. So, we're starting out with plastic. (sigh)

Jay and I had separately spotted some plastic (again) drawer units that would fit under the bunk. We decided we'd limit ourselves to one drawer per person for clothes (the boys would share one for now). This way we wouldn't have bags to juggle and we would limit how much we bring. A smaller drawer unit will hold diapers, wipes, etc. for a few more years as well as hats, our toiletry bags, etc.

I discovered our dog kennel fits under the bunk so keeping Sofie in there at night will help limit the spread of dog "fluff."

I think we're ready for our first little outing - a weekend trip planned with four other families.

Where Do I Begin?

I can set up all by myself!

It felt so empowering when, first thing this morning, I set up the camper all by myself - in about 1 minute flat. Wow. (The lessons in backing up the trailer will come later - then I'll be fully empowered...)

Climbing inside, I opened all of the cupboards and storage and then just sat down and stared. Where will we keep everything? How should it be organized? Can we get it all in?

When we we talking about buying a camper, we had the discussion about how neither of us wants to bring "everything including the kitchen sink" because we now have the shell to haul it. We have always enjoyed the simplicity of camping and the creativity that camping with "less" requires. Hmmm...

So there I sat - for quite some time. I just sat and looked around and imagined how we'd use the space.

We purchased the bunk model of the Chalet XL for a few reasons. 1) Our growing boys may eventually end up as tall as their father and may need some room to stretch out; 2) Our boys are small now so they can share the top space while our hairy dog (Collie mix) can be contained in the bottom space (with cushions removed, of course!); and 3) Jay felt there were more storage options with the open space known as the bottom bunk.

So, the first thing I did was stack the bottom bunk cushions on top of the top bunk cushions to open up the lower bunk (floor) for storage. I don't love having the cushions stacked 2-high, but where else are we going to store them without getting them dirty or taking up lots of space in our garage or house?

On the other side, since we intend to do most of our eating outdoors, we plan to leave the dinette down and the bed made most of the time.

Our stove in the camper is built-in. We feel we will want to do most of our cooking outdoors, so we will want to bring along our regular camp stove and propane bottles.

We have a couple of large "Rubbermaid-type" bins that we've stored most of our camping equipment in for tent camping. I can eliminate one bin right away - no tent, ground cloth, sleep pads, sleeping bags, tent sealer, back-packing stove and pots. That all stays at home.

The other bin I repacked for anything we'd need outside: roasting forks, hatchet and saw, bat, ball, gloves, small water toys, kids' chairs. This will stow under the bunk during transit and sit outside the camper upon arrival.

I kept thinking I would take all of my silverware/cooking utensils in and out of the camper depending on the weather. But, I decided to put a high-sized tray in the camper so I can carry out the things I would need for a meal and leave the rest in the camper.

Our fridge, although the height of a tall dorm refrigerator, is not as roomy. And it has a silly freezer in it. I doubt the freezer will do much good, and it takes up space. I measured all of the shelves in the fridge and door and I think I'll look for some containers that might fit well in there. I'll also need a couple of containers for dry goods like oatmeal and cereal. I'm not ready to install shelves or purchase drawer dividers, etc. until we've lived in the camper a time or two. So, we'll have to find ways to store things in what we've got.

Did I mention that I'm claustrophobic? Just the idea of digging for things in small dark spaces under cushions with two children jumping on me makes me tremble! So, my objective is to start out organized - making things easily accessible - and STAY that way!

I discovered our best storage spot is in the far back corner under the bench. Argh! Impossible to get to that spot! We'll have to add an access door there. Wait. The lift bar at the rear side doesn't leave much room for an access door. Darn! Guess I'll store things here that we 1) don't use that often, or 2) need to stow for travel but will have out while we're camping (water jug, cook set, beach towels).

I took measurements of everything and, armed with a list of some basics we needed from the hardware store, headed out to see what my storage options might be...