Thankfully we have only had about 2 weeks of temps near 100 and heat index well over 100. God has been good for sure.
One thing I did to help with the summer heat was put construction paper on the window. It sure was pretty but I'm not sure how well it helped. Probably more than I realized. Each morning when we got up we would close the window and put the curtains down.
I also added some aluminum foil to the top windows, but I think it added to the heat, plus opening and closing the window it came off pretty quickly.
each evening after the sun went down we would open the window and put the fan in. Sometimes pulling the cooler air in, other times blowing the hot air out. By the time we actually went to bed it wasn't too bad. Still on the warm side, but hubby and I each had a fan blowing across us so we made it.
In the evening we would also put the moving blanket down (the door stayed open) to keep the heat from the rest of the building out and the cooler air in.
We did add a small window AC in the boy's room and had a fan blowing into our room but it didn't do much good, well it wasn't cold like we expected it to be. It probably helped more than we realized it did.
This past week it cooled off down into the 80's PTL! and we took the AC out of the window. So far we have been quite comfortable. I'd like it to be cooler, but then again we don't have as much trouble going out in the heat since we keep a rather warm "house".
How have you done this summer?
Travel Trailers....such a broad term. Travel trailers in this post are pretty much inclusive for any pull behind trailer: travel trailers, 5th wheels, pop-up campers, and toy haulers. Are 4 are common type. For the most part I do not want a pull behind, however there are a couple exceptions that I will explain in a bit.
Overall I don't think pull behind trailers look very sturdy. You have everything you own rolling on 2-4 little bitty wheels. In my case, I would have to buy a heavy duty truck to go along with it (added expense). Would have to have insurance on both the trailer and the truck. Depending on what type of travel, new price ranges between $8,000 and $100,000. Another downside for me, is from something I read recently. Should there be trouble while you are camping, like storms or uninvited guests (as in humans looking to be malicious) you are kinda in a pinch for getting away easily. For example the article I read, a young lady was "boondocking" (camping out in the boonies away from anything and no or spotty cell service) and she had an instance with several people coming around in the wee early morning hours banging on her door, throwing her things around outside, etc. She wasn't sure who they were or why they were even there. She had little or no cell service and wasn't able to call for help. Once they left and she felt it safe to get out of there, she still had to leave the safety of he trailer and hook it to her vehicle and pull out of there.....in the middle of the night. No thank you. That is way too scary to even think about for me!
Now, for the 2 exceptions to my no travel trailer idea. I mentioned in a HHM post that we were trying to get my '74 super beetle back on the road. Wouldn't it be fun to travel in it some day? Think of all the "friends" you would meet if you pulled into a campground driving a vintage vehicle. Especially a "slug bug" (for those who are old enough to remember driving down the road and getting punched in the arm at the sight of them). :-)
The beetles have a very low tow rate, I'm guessing because the motor is in the back. The weight of an average light weight trailer would be way too much. I have found a few motorcycle "pop-up" campers that would work for my beetle.
But....if I could find something like this in good shape.....I'd be super excited. Watch the video below from YouTube that I've drooled over....
P.S. that beetle looks exactly like mine!!!!!!! Makes sense since it says 1974 in the video :-)
So.....the last time we took a vacation, meaning more than one day off at a time, was about 4 years ago. We had had a rough week and just said "we're leaving". We (me, hubby, and youngest son) took off and went to Branson, Mo. Since then it's just been a day here and there that we have taken off. This year I told hubby I wanted to take a "real" vacation and be gone more than one day. Scary, I know but I don't want to feel rushed on whatever we decide to take off and enjoy. I have been putting back a little money here and there trying to save for the occasion. I was doing good until we fixed my '74 Super Beetle. That took almost all my saved vacation money. It was worth it though. It's fun to drive and gets really good gas mileage (estimated 20 mpg) compared to our van (estimated 10-12 mpg). I'm still determined to take a vacation and have been planning and saving. I'd like to go in September, after summer is over.
Here are my current ideas:
#1 Go to Branson, Mo and just hang out for a couple days playing mini golf and sight seeing. No Silver Dollar City.....too expensive unless we can find a buy 1 get 1 coupon or something like that. It's way too commercialized anymore too and just doesn't have the "feel" that it once did. My only problems with this idea is the cost of a motel room and with this is seeing too many "not clean" motel videos. I'd rather sleep in my van than on a motel bed. Although we haven't had too many problems in the past at the motels we have stayed at in Branson.
#2 Rent a cabin near Roaring River and spend a day hiking and enjoying the woods and nature. Maybe see about renting a boat one of the days and spend some time on Table Rock Lake. My only problem with this is seeing too many "not clean" hotel videos. Honestly though I bet the cabins would be cleaner than a motel room.
#3 Go camping......probably not this one because I'm NOT sleeping in a tent and the van just isn't ready for camping yet. ;-) Of course I guess we could take our mattress and put it in the tent and sleep on it. Anyone have a pop-up camper we can borrow?
#4 Just take an extra day off in a row (2 or 3 instead of 1) and go do something fun and come home each night and sleep in my own bed, BUT Then we couldn't sleep in and we would have to drive there and back each day, which would probably take more gas money. But Fuzzy wouldn't think we left her (she would still have youngest son at home).
If we choose #4 we will need to decide ahead of time where we wanted to go so we can explore someplace new instead of going to the same old places we always go. Either option I want to only be 2 hours away at the most (Branson is 3, but there is a lot to do there, and we have our favorite spots).
No worries I will share all about it after we get back. It will be a couple months yet though.
