Road Trippin’

Knitting Necessities: Notions Boxes

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Over the last decade I have knitted my way across the western United States.  Every road trip, weekend get away, and even just a drive for the day my knitting goes along.  My knitting notions boxes make it so I can knit everywhere while on the go without worry I’m missing a vital tool.  When you knit so many different projects like I do, you never know when you will need an extra stitch marker or a cable needle.  Finishing a project while out and about without a tapestry needle is pure torture for me because I can’t stitch in the loose ends.  Don’t even ask how many times I have been caught without a notions box and in need of scissors.  I have chewed my way through yarn more times than I can count.

I keep all my projects separated in large plastic zipper bags.  These bags have the yarn, needles (or hooks), and the paper pattern (or name of pattern on my kindle) in them.  Basically, my project is all packed and ready for me.  When I am ready to work on one of the projects, I simply grab the project that catches my attention, drop a notions box in the bag, and I am ready to craft on the go.

A notions box is a small container that holds all those little tools that make knitting or crocheting easier.  I have a couple of notions boxes that I thought I would share with you in this post.  One I put together myself with bits and pieces out of my collection.  One I purchased pre-made on Etsy.

knitting necessities blue notions box

My blue notions box was put together out of my own supplies.  It has a flexible measuring tape, fold-able scissors, three different tapestry needles, a handful of stitch markers, and a stubby little pencil for paper pattern notes.  This is my go to notions box when I am working on a simple project that will not have need of cables, row counting, or held stitches.

knitting necessities alpaca notions box

I recently purchased this little notions box on Etsy.  The seller is The Sexy Knitter ,she has a whole slew of different designs for these little notions boxes in her store.  You can purchase just the tin, a partially stocked tin, or the fully stocked notions box.  I purchased the fully stocked notions box.  It came with a cable needle, an adorable retractable sheep measuring tape, a wooden needle gauge, a tiny double ended crochet hook, a stitch holder, tiny scissors, a row counter, three tapestry needles, five paper origami star stitch markers, and five plastic safety pin stitch markers. The lid also has a surprisingly strong magnet in the lid to hold the needles.  I was so impressed with this little notions box!  I really didn’t have much faith for those tiny green scissors.  I honestly expected them to not be able to cut very well.  Boy was I wrong!!  Those little things are amazing!

Whether you put a notions box together out of the supplies in your knitting stash, or purchase a pre-made one, a notions box is definitely a knitting necessity!

knittingnecessitiesTitle

Dinner And A Movie

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dinner and a movie

Ever since we bought our trailer, I have wanted to watch this epic film.  I love Lucille Ball in everything I’ve seen.  Her special brand of slapstick just tickles me.  I had seen bits and pieces of this movie, but never the whole thing.  It took me a few months before I finally ordered it off Amazon.  It arrived a few days later and we were ready for dinner and a movie.

Hubby and I decided to have a night in.  I cooked some pork chops, kernel corn, and fried apples.  We settled in together to watch “The Long Long Trailer”.  Oh my!  I laughed until I cried.  Hubby and I kept looking at each other and commenting about our own adventures on the many road trips over the years.  My favorite scene is when Taci is trying to cook dinner while they are mired in the mud.  As the eggs slide right off the frying pan, I remember all the times I ended up cooking dinner in the rain while we tent camped.

Bonus recipe!

My great grandmother used to cook fried apples every single night.  I stayed with my great grandparents for a couple weeks when I was fifteen.  She cooked the same thing every night.  Each person got a fried chicken thigh, about half a cup of mashed potatoes with pan gravy, and half a fried apple.  I got real tired of that dinner.  When they both passed away later that same year, I actually missed the fried apples.  Thankfully, while I was there, she showed me her recipe.

You will need:

apples (I prefer more tart apples for this, but any will work)
cinnamon
sugar
butter

 

fried apples peel

Peel, core, and slice the apples.  I like to use my fruit peeler because it peels, slices and cores the apples all at once.

fried apples rings

I cut each spiral cut apple in half for bite sized apple slices.

fried apples sliceStart to fry the apples in a frying pan with some melted butter over medium heat.

fried apples spiceSprinkle the apple slices with cinnamon and sugar.

Stir frequently while the apples slowly fry over the medium heat.  You want to cook them until they are just starting to become translucent, but don’t turn into apple sauce.  They are a wonderful side dish for pork chops, or just a lovely snack for fun.

*This post contains sponsored links from www.amazon.com.  I was not paid to do this post or review of the The Long Long Trailer .  However, if you use the link to purchase I will receive a small compensation.  Thanks for checking it out and helping to support my bloggy habits!*

Destination: Thousand Trails Chehalis

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thousand mini golf title

When we bought Bessie, our new travel trailer, we received a one year membership to Thousand Trails.  Normally, this membership would cost us $565!  Because we live and purchased in the northwest region, we have 18 campgrounds available to us to try out.  We decided to start with the one that was closest to home and we were not disappointed!  We started with Thousand Trails Chehalis.

I love that we can be camping, but still have almost a resort feel.  There are lots of trails, two pools (one family, one adults only), basket ball courts, tennis courts, volleyball courts, lots of trails, two lodges to gather at, a small store, plus so much more!  There is a mini-golf course, though the last time we went, it was closed for repairs.

thousand pool

Their campsites are mostly partial hook up, though there are a few that are full hook up.  There are several dump stations on site, if you aren’t able to score one of the full hook up spots.  The entire place is nice and clean.  All the rangers and staff have been very welcoming.

If you have a membership, I definitely recommend this campground.  I know we have been enjoying it multiple weekends this summer!

thousand site

Food Destination: Miners Drive In

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Miners burgers destination

If you are ever in Yakima, Washington, you should totally bring your appetite to Miner’s Drive In!  Their delicious burgers are the size of a frisbee.  Their shakes are thick, and big enough to share.  The onion rings are made with fresh Walla Walla Sweet onions, making them some of the best I’ve had.

Whether you choose to sit in the dining area, or outside at a picnic table, your sure to leave with your belly full.  Even my two teenager boys are satisfied with their portions!

Miners selfie

Lessons Learned: Packing for the trip.

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Five lessons I have learned when packing for an extended camping trip in the trailer.

  1. Teen boys do not do a good job packing clothes.  At least, not mine.  This often means they have too little underwear and too many hoodies.  I have two choices for this, I can micromanage them and go through their clothes before we leave (frustrating for all).  Or, I can let them deal with the consequences, and see them wear the same outfit for more than they should.  I most often choose the latter.
  2. Dogs are not helpful when packing the trailer.  Two of our dogs love camping.  When they see me start putting things in the trailer, they often plant themselves on the couch in the trailer.  They refuse to move or leave for fear of being left behind.  This is especially frustrating when we aren’t leaving until the next day.
  3. We always forget something important.  It doesn’t matter how many lists I make and check.  It doesn’t matter if I start packing a week in advance, or we decide on a whim to go.  We will forget something.  Examples over the years have included: pillows (often), cast iron pan, towels, clothes (see number 1), hatchet, lighter, medications, camp chairs, etc.  We are getting better about this, but every trip, at least one thing will be forgotten.  Usually, we just deal without it.  Sometimes we decide it is worth purchasing on the way.
  4. Cell phones are great when parking the trailer; until you don’t have any service.  When parking the trailer, hubby is in the truck with is cell on speaker.  I am behind the trailer watching for obstacles and helping to line it up.  This works pretty well.  No yelling across the campground, very little “what did you say?”.  We have yet to camp in a spot without any service.  I’m sure this is coming, and it is going to be frustrating.  I’ve already added “walkie talkies” to our wish list for the trailer.
  5. You can never have enough water and food.  I tend to over pack for food and water.  Chalk it up to paranoia of being without services and trapped by some unforeseen event.  I always over pack food and water.  I have never regretted this decision.

What are some lessons you have learned when packing for a trip?

Marco packing

Lessons Learned: The right gear makes your life easier.

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Having the right tool for the job always makes the job more efficient.  Having the right gear when towing and camping makes your life easier.  For some of the gear, it makes your life safer too!

Extended mirrors on the tow vehicle are a must have in my opinion.  We drive a large truck with big mirrors.  With our mirrors at their regular placement, I cannot see down the side of my trailer very well.  Most of my view is blocked by the trailer itself.  With the mirrors extended, I can see all the way down the side of the trailer.  With the small beveled mirror on the bottom, I can see the road all along the trailer to cut down on blind spots.  In the picture below, we are going around a corner, and I can still see a fair amount down the side of the trailer.  The more you can see, the safer you are going down the road.

A cordless power drill makes set up and take down so much easier!  We keep a handheld cordless power drill in the storage bay with our set up / take down gear.  Hubby put a socket on it that fits our landing gear.  No fussing with that silly bar to get the gear up or down, ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP and all four feet are down.  Setting up in a new site is quick and easy.  While hubby gets the tongue jack set up, I quickly walk around the trailer putting down pieces of wood for the landing gear and putting in the wheel chocks.  Once he has the tongue jack secure, he walks around with the cordless drill and just zips the landing gear down.  Then he pulls the level out, I run the electric tongue jack to level the trailer.  We are generally set up within ten minutes.

All the comforts of home are already there.  When we bought Bessie, hubby and I agreed, we wanted the trailer to be as ready as possible to just hook up and go.  We wanted to be able to just grab some food, a change of clothes, load up the dogs, and hit the road.  So, we gathered and bought household items to live in the trailer.  I color coded as much as possible.  When we come back and do laundry, it is easy to tell what towels and washcloths go in the trailer.  All the brown or purple go in the trailer.  An extra set of bathroom items are already in the medicine cabinet.  I knew I didn’t want to be dependent on paper plates.  I bought a cheap set of dishes for the trailer.  They are a different color than our in home dishes, so children can easily tell what needs to go back in the trailer after we bring them in for sanitizing in the dishwasher.  I bought an electric coffee maker for when we have electric hook ups, and have my percolator for when we don’t.  I keep all my camping pans and cooking utensils in there, so we are ready to prepare a meal.  I also keep a small amount of shelf stable food in the trailer.  Over the past few months, we have slowly built up the trailer to be as set up as possible without packing.  If I wanted to go camping today, all I would need to grab is our pillows, daily medications, some clothes, water, and fresh food.  I love knowing that we are that close to getting out and camping.

the right gear

Lessons Learned: Having coffee on the road.

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I love my morning coffee.  One of my favorite things about camping is that quiet time in the morning.  Usually I’m the only one up.  I’ll brew a pot of coffee to enjoy with my book and nature.  I’m a fairly early riser, so the campground is usually pretty quiet and all the birds and small animals are out and about looking for crumbs left by lazy campers.

There are many ways to brew coffee while camping.  When we tent camped, I had my trusty percolator that I would use on the little propane stove.  With the trailer, I was excited to have an electric coffee pot as an option.  I bought myself a cheap electric coffee pot to live in the trailer.  Out of nostalgia, I packed that shiny little percolator into a cupboard just in case.  I’m so glad I did.

I end up using my percolator more than I ever thought I would in the trailer!  Turns out, we are boon-docking and dry camping more often than we are in a full hook up park.  When boon-docking or dry camping, the trailer isn’t plugged in to any electric service.  My lovely electric coffee pot isn’t a good choice to use up battery life.  So, I pull out that trusty little percolator, and brew my morning coffee on the propane stove just like I always have.

Lesson learned?  In order to enjoy your morning coffee, you might still need to be prepared to brew without electricity.  Having a back up plan is always a good idea.

coffee on the road

Lessons Learned: Walk around before you drive.

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As we learned in my last post, when the valve pull for the black tank is left open bad things happen.  Today’s lesson learned is all about getting ready to drive away.  There are scary videos and blog posts all over the internet about what can go wrong if you don’t hook up correctly to your tow vehicle.  The safety of your family and others on the road depend on being hooked up correctly.  A simple Google search will get you all the information you could ever need on that.  I’m not going to talk about that.  I’m going to talk about all the little things that make your life easier by preventing damage to your trailer.

While hubby is hooking up the trailer to drive away, I’m in charge of making sure everything else is turned off, closed properly, and ready to go down the road.  The inside of the trailer is pretty easy.  I walk from one end of the trailer to the other starting in the bathroom.  If it opens, close it.  If it turns on, turn it off.  If it slides, put it on the floor or secure it.

Then I walk around the outside of the trailer. I start at the hitch on the passenger side.  I literally touch everything as I go around.  Are all the hatches closed?  Is the awning in all the way?  Is the door closed completely and locked?  Is the door support handle tucked in all the way?  Are the steps up?  Are the end caps on the bumper pushed in?  Are the lights all working?  Are the valve pulls tucked in and the cap on the sewer pipe?  Are all the caps secured over the water and electric hook ups?  Are the propane tanks off?  Is the lid secured on the tank cover?

I started this after our first trip down the coast with Bessie.  As we were coming home through heavy traffic, a man in a small car pulled up along side us.  He was waving and trying to get our attention.  I rolled the window down and he gestured that our travel trailer door was swinging open!  We pulled over, and sure enough the door to the trailer was wide open.  The door support handle had swung open and folded back.  We couldn’t see it in the mirror because they had both opened wide enough they were folded back against the trailer.

At our last stop, we had gotten in the trailer to get a snack.  Whoever was the last one out, didn’t fully click the door shut.  Then they folded the support handle over the door, and we headed out.  Well, that handle won’t hold the door closed.  Thankfully, nothing was lost and no damage was caused.

Now I am very careful to push against the door to make sure it is fully clicked shut and locked in place before we drive away.  I may look silly walking around the trailer touching all the spots on the outside.  But it gives me a level of comfort knowing that we are all secure before we pull away.  Often, hubby will go around after me and do the same check.  You never can be too safe out there!

walk around before you drive

Lessons learned: Water is your friend in the black tank.

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We have officially spent more weekends in the travel trailer than our home this summer.  Bessie the Jayco trailer has seen five different states and a lot of miles over the six months we have owned her.  We have made some mistakes, had some repairs, and lots of adventures during our first camping season with Bessie.  As the summer is winding down, I thought I would sit down and write out  a few lessons I learned as a new travel trailer owner.  Each day this week I’ll be posting a new lesson learned.

Water is your friend in the black tank.

While the trailer was parked for a couple weeks at our home, the eldest teen decided she wanted to use the trailer as her own space.  She moved in, and took it over.  The trailer had electric hook up, but no water.  I did warn her to use the tanks sparingly, and to make sure she poured water in every time the toilet was used.  We kept an eye on the tank gauges and when they were getting full, we hooked up and headed to our nearest campground with full hookup for a weekend of camping.

I had a late day at work that Friday with a field trip.  Hubby was meeting me at the campground.  He was going to get everything all set up before I got back from taking sixty-three sixth graders on a field trip.  Hubby pulled into the camping spot and went to hook up the sewer pipe, that is when the adventure began.

First thing that was wrong, somehow the valve pull for the black tank was already pulled out. The lid over the pipe was securely in place, but the pull was open.  I can only imagine what my hubby was thinking about that, but I can only imagine it wasn’t very friendly.  Hubby was faced with a very full black tank, with only the lid holding it all back.  He did his best to get the sewer pipe set up and hooked to the trailer as quickly as possible with as little spillage as possible.

Once the hook up was achieved, it should all be good.  The tank would empty and our weekend of camping would commence.  Right?  Right?

Unfortunately, that is not how this story ends.

Come to find out, the eldest had not been using enough water when using the black tank.  It was blocked.  Full.  And blocked.

Thankfully, our trailer has a hook up for a black tank flush.  Hubby hooked in the hose and started running water into the tank, careful to keep an eye on it inside.  No over flowing toilet, please!  After two or three minutes of running water into the tank, it let loose.  It let loose in an amazing fashion.  It took ten to fifteen minutes for the tank to empty.  However, we dealt with issues of false readings on the gauge and problems emptying the tank for the next few times we went out.

I am very thankful that I arrived at the campground as this whole story was finishing up.  We are now VERY careful to make sure enough water is used when dry camping, and we always flush the tank when a hose hook up is available at the dump station.

We went on to enjoy our weekend at the campground.  Some friends of ours were at the spot across from us.  Much music was played, good food was eaten, and the weekend was enjoyed.

Water is your friend

 

First Camping Trip 2017

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My family has been camping for many years.  Each summer, we pack our vehicle to the gills and head into the woods for some much needed relaxation.  The first trip of the season is always eventful.  We discover what equipment didn’t get packed properly for the winter.  Something always needs to be replaced.  A few things are usually missing.  I am usually pretty stressed because I am the list maker, the bag packer, and the worry wort of the family.

I spend days, if not weeks, before our first trip of the season writing out lists of things to pack, recipes to make, groceries to buy…… Then a few days before we leave I actually start packing.  I unbury the totes of camping equipment that have been stored for the winter.  I unpack them, and take stock (more lists!) of what is there.  I clean everything from being in storage for months.  I figure out what needs to be replaced or refilled.  The day before we leave, I pile all the things out in the driveway for the hubby to pack into our rig.

This year’s first camping trip was special for several reasons.

First off, we scheduled our trip for much earlier in the spring.  Normally, we have to wait until the weather allows for tent camping.  I’m not particularly fond of tent camping in the rain.  That means our trips usually are scheduled well into our pacific northwest summer.   This year we have Bessie!  With a travel trailer, I didn’t stress about the weather.  I was just excited to get out and camp!  In fact, we scheduled our first  trip so early, the campground wasn’t completely open for the season yet.  We were the only seasonal campers there.  Other than the camp hosts and one other trailer that was a long term resident, we had the entire campground to ourselves!

Second, we were missing a couple of people.  The eldest had to work, and middle spent the night with a friend.  We made up for the missing people by taking all three large dogs with us.

Third, the weather was not your perfect camping weather.  It poured.  It stormed.  It blew.  There was standing water outside Bessie.  All of us, including the three dogs, were stuck inside the trailer for the whole night.

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Fourth, we camped really close to home.  We wanted to camp close to home for our first trip with the travel trailer in case of any issues.  Because we were close to home, we decided to go visit hubby’s mother for dinner.  That means the only “meal” we had was breakfast.  By breakfast, I mean I made coffee and we ate cereal.

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The next morning it did clear just enough for us to have a short walk around the park.

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Campground: Bruceport County Park, just south of South Bend, WA.

Cost: Full Hook Up $25 per night

Review: Bruceport was a lovely little campground.  It has a nice easy trail to walk along the beach.  All the campsites are located on the cliff above the bay.  The full hook up sites are pretty close to each other in the center of the camping area.  There are several non-hook up sites with beautiful views of the bay around the outside of the camping area.  Park restrooms were clean, and there was a coin operated shower available.  The park has a lovely large field to play outside games with a group.  There is also a covered area if you wanted to have a group event.

Website: Bruceport RV Park

Follow our camping adventures over on Instagram with the hashtag #inamedherbessie