A Visit Home Before (re)Launch

Back at what has recently been our home base at the Petaluma KOA for a couple weeks before continuing north, we stopped over at the house this afternoon to pick up a pile of stuff we'd #AmPrime'd from the road. While Wynne was pretty happy with the new @journeywithhappiness inspired playmat and the @campytrails inspired pop up tent, Mae was a little more suspicious that she was just being bribed so she'd play on the ground in a parking lot. #airstream #airstreamwithkids #toosmartforherowngood

Whelp, I think we've finally decided to hold off on getting a generator to supplement our solar and just see how things go over the next couple months. If we can survive March and April in the Pacific Northwest without one, the long daylight hours of the Alaskan summer should be no problem. I think that if we start out with proactive use of our portable panel to keep ourselves topped off when the sun's out, power saving ideas like this swing out hinge for our Olympian Wave 3 catalytic heater plumbed into the stove line and a willingness to draw the Trojan T-145's down below 50%, we'll know a lot better by the end of April if a generator's something we really want to carry around. #airstream #liveriveted #tinyhouse #solar #offthegrid

It's not always easy to find a good time to take the lounge apart and do some electrical mods with two kids in the trailer, but @advodna_ann distracted them enough for me to rewire our portable solar panel quick connect thru the shunt and install a surge protector. Now, amps collected by the portable will be visible thru the IPN Pro monitor so we'll have a better idea of our capacity while we decide whether or not we need a generator and, in the cases where we have to plug in, we'll be protected from janky campground power posts frying our electrical doo-dads. #airstream #liveriveted

The past few days, we've had lots of friends and family "come out to the house." Yeah, by that I mean our trailer parked at the KOA, but you just can't beat our location next to the playground, short walk to the jumpy pillow, all the kids DVD's you can borrow (rip), pygmy goats named Elsa and Anna and some great North Bay weather. Plus, it's great to give some people close to us a little better glimpse into this somewhat unconventional lifestyle we've set off on. Still, with a couple pizzas from our favorite place on the table, a six pack of Lagunitas IPA, toddlers munching at "the kids table" and @advodna_ann chatting while multitasking to get the baby fed, suddenly it doesn't seem that unconventional at all. #butwedomissourfriendsandfamilywhiletraveling #airstream #airstreamlife #airstreamwithkids #liveriveted

We head out a week from today to start our slow migration north to Alaska. We'll plan to spend March in Oregon and April in Washington capped with a couple weeks on Vancouver Island. I've just uploaded a map and calendar to the blog (link in profile, click "2015 March and April Route Map" in the right sidebar) and would love input on what to see and what to skip. We'll be trying to travel slow but it already feels like there'll be too much to do and see! And of course, let us know if we'll be in your backyard or crossing your path! #Airstream #liveriveted #routeplanning

Seems like something as small as adding a 12V outlet in the upper tech cabinet so we can charge the JetPack while boondocking without running the inverter would be pretty easy, but after determining that there were no DC wires I could tap into behind the AC outlet or antenna jack that were already up there, I had to pull the fridge. Yeah, I guess for some people it's a two man job, but when @advodna_ann left to take the kids to hang at a friend's house all day and no one else lurking around the KOA on a Monday morning really looked like they wanted to be asked to help, I got the job done by sliding it out onto some bins we use to store Wynne's train tracks and Legos. Don't worry, I got it all back together (oh yeah, and the outlet installed!) before Ann got home. #whileyouwereout #Airstream #airstreamrenovation #liveriveted #honeydolist

Seems like there are a buncha people currently in the planning stages of solar installations for their trailers, and there have been some great discussions in Instagram comments sections lately. Last night, I took some time to hack out a blog post with some general info on planning a solar (or diversified power management) solution and ended it with a few thoughts on what we might have done differently and how to phase into a solution that works for you. Check it out on the blog (link in profile). You'll find it at the top of the right hand column. And let me know if it's helpful, what it's missing or you think I'm full of it! #Airstream #liveriveted #offthegrid #solar

This afternoon, we pulled everything out of the truck and took the rooftop box off so we could get a good car wash (I believe the first one it's ever had) before hitting the road on Monday. While putting everything back in, I took this shot of the two low platforms I built so we could slide the telescoping ladder and the portable solar panel in under the storage bins. When I built the first one for the ladder, I'd realized it looked a lot like a cornhole board and cut a hole in it (after looking up the specs on the US Cornhole Association website). Now we've got a matching set and just bought some bean bags. Who wants to play? Another recent addition was to cut the ends out of the bin on the left so we could slide long, narrow stuff like our roll up table, my 2.5M trainer kite, Wynne's doll stroller and R2D2 camp chair, a pop up play tent and the yoga mat in and out. The sides of the bin keep everything in place and tidy and the top prevents everything from flying over the seat into the kid's seats if we need to brake hard. In the second bin, we keep bike helmets, a picnic blanket, Wynne's wagon of sand toys, climbing shoes and the Eno hammock and all my rigging supplies. LaFuma high back camp chairs fit along the right side. Oh and of course, the pink #StriderBike right up the middle. #Airstream #airganization #airstreamwithkids

We're headed for the frigid north on Monday! (Alaska's cold in the Summer too right?😜) We'll be stopping in Vancouver in May where we'll be meeting up with my mom for a week. I'd love to rent a house in the city to get the real experience. Any neighborhood suggestions? Walking distance (train?) to restaurant, stores and playgrounds/parks? On the other hand is there a camping situation like some KOAs where we could stay in the trailer and she could stay in a little cabin? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!! #maeisgonnabetoowarm - posted by advodna_ann on February 27, 2015 at 08:28AM

While we're very ready to get on the road, our spot at the KOA right next to the playground and with daily visits from the flock of peacocks that live at the park is pretty nice. Funny story about the front door; The other night, we almost got locked in the trailer. When we close the door, we have to give it a little extra pull to compress the outer seal and the one we replaced recently around the inside of the screen door until we hear two clicks. A few days ago, I made a comment to Ann that we should try to pull right on the stem rather than the end of the "L" shaped handle when we do this, since I'd remembered hearing something about people locking themselves in their trailers. On Weds night, a friend came over to visit and as I absentmindedly pulled the door closed behind him, I heard a different sounding click and the handle went limp. Nothing I could do would activate the latch. We were locked in. His response was perfect, pointing out that oh well, we'd just opened new beers. As we drank them, I ran through options in my head: our rear emergency exit was an option though it's slightly awkward with our rear mounted bike rack and in reality, pulling the spline on the side window and going out the larger opening would be just as easy (and easy to repair later). As I put my empty bottle back on the table, I grabbed the small screwdriver kit we keep in the tech cabinet and removed the one screw on the door handle plate that was accessible. Now, pulling on the handle flexed this plate out just enough to allow the handle to drop back down into its normal range, and when I lifted, it engaged and opened the door! From now on, we'll really be sure to click the door closed from the stem, but if it happens to you, you'll have some idea of what to try! #Airstream #peacocks #liveriveted #12ozsofinspiration

You know, just ticking small things off the pre-(re)launch list. Then again, it's also important to realize that there will always be something else to do, and after Monday, it'll just have to get done on the road. We'd already made the fridge door into a magnetic chalkboard by gluing a thin piece of galvanized metal to the back of the stock panel and coating with chalkboard paint (don't bother with the magnetic paint, it doesn't work). We wanted the freezer to be magnetic and dry erase board for dinner menus and todo lists but didn't want it to be white like the idea paint we'd seen so far. We finally found a clear Dry Erase spray paint by Krylon at Michael's crafts and just layered it over a couple coats of their gray primer. #Airstream #airganization #liveriveted #dryerase

Christmas 2013, @advodna_ann and a friend gave a couple of us guys a gift certificate for a Sonoma County beer tour. Soon after, all of our second kids arrived, and it just never seemed like the right time to schedule it. Our departure on Monday was the perfect motivation. We rallied nine more guys so we could have private tour bus (complete with a keg of Lagunitas IPA) and made tasting stops at Bear Republic in Healdsburg, Stumptown in Guernville and Woodfour in Sebastapol today while the girls wrangled kids. By the time we got home, we were about ready to get in our striped jammies and get comatose on the couch too. #beertourism #sonomacounty #northbaybeertours

That's right, we're going international, heading into Canada in a couple months. New on the blog (link in profile, check the right hand column) is our planned route map and schedule for May, June and July when we'll be heading north through BC and exploring Alaska. Check it out and let us know your recommendations or if you'll be in the area. #Airstream #liveriveted #airstreamwithkids #alaska #routeplanning