The Time We Bought a Camper

My husband and I were in youth ministry for a number of years. A couple of years ago we chose to take a break or a sabbatical as we call it (ha). We sold everything and moved into a fifth wheel that was less than 200 square feet. Our first stop was west Texas where my husband worked on the oil field for a while. Then we traveled to Colorado and lived there for a time in our camper. It had it's difficulties, but I secretly loved the freedom and simplicity of it.

Don't get me wrong, I love having a permanent home, a shower, hot water, and a yard for our one chicken that runs around and craps on everything. But, I loved getting to stay at so many parks and the world was literally our backyard.

It was awesome.

I say all that to say we bought another camper. No, not to live in this time. Since I am a stay at home mom and my husband has a pretty flexible weekly work schedule we can take off and explore the surrounding areas for a few days at a time. We had a budget for how much we wanted to spend on one and this one was right on. Our budget was incredibly low because we wanted a fixer-upper. 

And a fixer-upper is what we got. It is perfect! 

At first we thought we might just clean it up and spray a fresh coat of paint on the whole place. Give it new cushions and curtains. 

After all, it did have that vintage charm...

There were only a few damaged areas.

Like I said, it was super cheap. 

There was a closet there and a sink in front of that window. That was all we were going to demo. Then we changed our minds and have decided to gut the whole thing. 

We are taking out the nasty shower that was built for hobbits. (haha pun intended cause my blog name has Smial in it) That will create more sitting space as we will not be putting a new shower back in. All we need is a throne. If you have ever stayed at a campground you know they have amazing showers that are hot and have enough pressure to take the first layer of your skin off. It's great.

Hey look! I found the before photo with the closet and sink. We plan on relocating the kitchen to the back for more seating up front. 

I am so excited about this reno project!! Our goal right now is to get most if not all of it tore out with some new walls and insulation up.

​After all, deer season is just around the corner and we plan on setting up camp the whole week. 

My husband is starting a vlog on YouTube for specific renovations that he is doing on the beast. As soon as he gets that up and running I'll get a link on here. 

This reno will be slow, we want it to be set up so that it can be used for years and years.

​I can't wait to share more of our progress with you! 

What do you and your family enjoy doing together?