Let's take a trip

We were out on a walk in the spring of 2015 when I talked Abe into a roadtrip. After two years back in midcoast Maine, despite a fabulous set up in a beautiful area, I was restless and ready for change. We figured we could head out the following spring, and left it at that until several months later when we began discussing vehicles. I'd assumed we would just take one of our aging rides, but something more spacious was also appealing and we began talking about vans. My sister Brianna and her boyfriend were visiting, and Ben showed us a few Toyota campers online. They looked kinda cute and we could immediately see the advantages: a place to stand up and move around, a kitchen, bed, and bathroom. Would we automatically age 30 years if we got one? Did we care? When Abe admitted that he would consider a longer trip if we got a 'project' camper to redo our way, I was sold. 

In November 2015, we purchased 'Winnie,' our imaginatively named 1990 Winnebago Warrior. We found her in New Hampshire and paid $4000, knowing that the truck was in great shape and the camper itself would need 'a little work.' We opened a savings account and casually started making lists of what we wanted to improve upon in the camper.  Once we started ripping off the sagging and leaky roof, we decided we had better push our trip departure forward to September 2016. As it became clear that we were essentially replacing and refinishing everything inside, a December departure began to seem more realistic. Abe replaced the ceiling, made a new table, cabinet and countertops, added wood paneling and trim, and redesigned the bathroom to include a closet, extra clothes storage, and nifty toilet cover. I helped out when possible and took care of other crucial details, like choosing the perfect paint colors, making sure we had a shelf for plants, and filling any visible crack with spray foam. 

It was worth it: all of the late winter nights stripping out the camper, the summer weekends spent nailing in fresh wood and repainting, all of the tinker-y little detail work that took us right up to Christmas. The Winnie became a cozy and colorful little home on wheels, and we officially left Maine on December 28, 2016 in search of adventure and inspiration. Let the roadtrip begin!