Shake Down Cruise / Looking More Like Home Part 2

Well it was Friday morning off for our first official Shake Down Cruise.  We had ordered a "custom made" mattress to be delivered between 9 and 11 am.  We had everything loaded and at 9 am started waiting, and waiting....finally I started doing other things, organizing....or maybe I was just going to make things harder to find later....??  So at 11 am Linda called the store and found out  it was going to be more like 12:00, well good things come to those that wait....I hope !!

Bear waiting for her new mattress and ready for Shake Down Cruise.

In the mean time we placed our new rug runner which we like that goes well with the coach colors which we purchased from The Home Depot.  We were going to get a larger one for when the slide was out just like it, but all those in all stores were gone so we found something else at half the price at the Home Store. Picture to follow in next blog post.

 We also got this 4 x 3 rug for up front for 10 dollars that I really like when I go in and out of the "Captains" Chair when ever I have to get out to survey the situation before finally parking sometimes.

So we moved out the old mattress in hopes that St, Nick would soon be there...and this old mattress was so hard not any of the Bears would ever be able to sleep on this so out with the old and in with...

THE NEW MATTRESS....arrived on a flat bed truck two awesome gentleman placed it around noon. They told us it was HOT OFF THE PRESS...now we understood, why they were late...they were still making it this morning, although to me it felt cool to the touch.  Now look at the SIZE of it.  Fifteen inches...after all that work of getting the head board just right... its almost invisible...then.....

after you put the sheets, blankets, comforter and all the pillows on it..Its all but totally invisible, but we know its there and the colors look great with something we had purchased years ago and never really used but now it will be used a lot.  YEAH.

So now with the Bears Den mattress all made up it was off to begin the Shake Down Cruise next but first we need to stop at Target to get some slip rugs for under the runners can I get the Bears Den into the parking lot....lets find out.

Inside The Bears Den looking more like home part 1

With our shake down cruise coming this week YIKES....I was taught by Rich Marston of RVSalesOfOregon.com via YouTube sales videos..."You just have to take care of the co-Pilot."

So this past weekend we finally got our head board that we made installed.  Our third attempt was a success, lesson learned don't use the old head board as a template, instead use where it is going to mark your drill holes for the mounting screws.  I also like the way the buttons came out just by painting them to match the material that we selected from the fabric store.  It will look even better once we get our new mattress and bed coverings on...that is coming in part 2 of this post following our shake down cruise.

On the walls we have some of our Disney art work up, using the 3M locking tape...oh and it LOCKS the shake down cruise we will see how things "Stay Up" but just with me trying to pull em back off, there were really ON THERE !!.  Linda and I both love Disney, last time we were there I know based on my 2001 Winnie the Pooh sweat shirt, which kids just love it when I have it on.

AND We put up some stuffed toys just for fun.

If you want to see the new carpet runners in our living area with pillows, bed completed, Refrigerator gauge installed and working, water gauge installed and air hose working, stay tuned for Inside The Bears Den looking more like home part 2.

Now where did I leave those keys to the Bears Den...........?

Quality and Safety Items

Two things Linda and I are really big on are quality and safety.  

So you can see the only new motor vehicle we ever purchased was a 2000 Diesel Ford 4x4 Excursion of which I have only allowed Ford to work on it and it shows in it even today.  With its 7.3 diesel engine, rear air and heat, 3rd seat, 4 wheel drive it is just a joy to drive and own.

Recently people see Linda and I in the truck and they stop us to ask..."You ever think about selling that truck will you take my information"  Well it is flattering, but with where we are heading down the road and into the country back roads I think with just over 130, 000 miles it still has plenty of life left in it, Ford calls it a baby still when I bring it in for service.  Here is the truck right after we got it in 2000, and besides a hail storm that put some dings in it 2013 that I could not drive away from even after going over 60 miles south it still looks and runs fantastic.

My point to this is buy quality it pays off in the long run, well at least for me it has and I still shop that way today as I want things to last.

So what have we added to the Bears Den?

Item one is this water pressure regulator.  Everyone says its important to have one so I got an all brass one...will let you know how it does.

 Item two is air hose, pressure check, and air chucks so I can add air blow dust and leaves and what ever else can be done with compressed air.  I like the bright yellow 50 foot hose should make adding air to the Bears Den or Big Rig an easy process....well let you know how this does.

Item three is for safety and that is a Refrigerator thermometer, it was 140.00, but I want to not have to open to know the temp in the Refrigerator, and it has an alarm that will sound, similar to our home Refrigerator...I need to mount it...more on this later once I have it installed and working.

Finally working for quality camp grounds and businesses.  I think we may have our first place soon and once the season is over which is in September sometime will bring you up to date on how that all works out...right now Linda and I have a great feeling about where we are heading.  When a private owner knows the first names of all his work campers, says he himself is onsite most of the summer, "Call any time and I will be there to assist you"....that is number one in our book.

Having worked in Michigan years ago for 2 private owned businesses for 5 years each...to this day they were the BEST jobs I ever had in my life...so I am hoping this one falls right there with those.

Well thats the news from the Bears Den....hitting the road next week for our SHAKE DOWN CRUISE, to de winterize, exercise the coach, and see if we can not find a custom bed mattress. We will have that news coming on here soon as well.  Lots happening in the works.

Until next time keep an eye out on the road less traveled as you all know it has Bears on it.