New Mexico Winter Sunset

Here is a great picture a day after some heavy snowfall. This picture is of the Sandia Mountains at sunset and shows both the snow and the pink mountain sunset we are always accustomed to seeing.

Sandia Mountains Winter Sunset

A very peaceful site to come home to after a long day at work.

Lots of Snow Today in New Mexico

I took that picture of the upcoming weather in the mountains a couple of days ago only to wake up to this a few days later.

Snow Covered Subaru in New Mexico

Lots of people think that New Mexico is a dry and barren wasteland but as you can see it has a lot more to offer.

Beautiful December Morning near the Sandia Mountains

I woke up to a different site this morning of the Sandia Mountains. I am usually greeted in the morning with a big bright view of the Sandias but this morning shows that we do experience the seasons here in Northern New Mexico. Notice the low lying cloud cover or fog in the valley.

Winter in New Mexico

Yellowstone National Park in our Skamper Pop Up, 2000 mile Trip

Most people would like to take a test trip in their newly renovated pop up camper, somewhere close so that if anything goes wrong then you can get it fixed quickly and cheaply. We ran out of time on our renovation so we loaded up our Skamper and then drove 1,000+ miles to Yellowstone National Park for a nine day trip! We had a wonderful trip with only a few problems that surfaced from our camper.

• 22 year old roof vent leaked a little - We had planned to replace this but we ran out of time. Fortunately the leak was minimal and was mitigated with a pot.
• A crappy weld from the previous owner on the back bumper broke - The upper part of the weld broke which was fixed with some Walmart small corner brackets and self drilling screws. I have a new found love of self drilling screws. 

Everything else went great! Our new canvas performed wonderfully during its first rain and also during the 35 degree nights in Wyoming. We did make sure that we purchased new tires for our trip and also replaced the seals, bearings, and grease on the trailer axles. I also knocked out the old bearing races and pressed in the new bearing races as well. This was key for a worry-free pulling camper. At every gas up I got out to check the tire and hub temperatures with the back of my hand and they were barely warm even in the 100 degree heat. Check out the cool picture of our Skamper in Yellowstone!

Our Skamper Pop Up in Yellowstone

Skamper in Yellowstone

New Pop Up Camper Canvas from Bear Creek has Arrived

When we bought our project pop up camper we knew that we were going to have to replace the canvas. From far away the exterior of our old canvas did not look too bad but once you got close you could see how old our canvas was. First off there were quite a few patches on the wing sections of the canvas. We also noticed some water damage on the inside corners as well which told us they were leaking. The interior portion of the canvas is what made us decide to replace it. None of the windows were working. All the zippers were either sewn or silicon sealed shut. The corners were also sewn together where the Velcro started to fail. The canvas was old, stiff and smelled funny from probably from being 22 years old.

We checked the internet for replacement canvases and all good reviews pointed to Bear Creek Canvas of Spencer, Wisconsin. We spoke to the folks from Bear Creek weeks before our purchase. We had lots of questions and they did not hesitate to answer any of them via phone or email. Bear Creek did not have a pattern for our camper but that didn't stop them. We shipped our old canvas off to them and in less than the 10 week quoted delivery time we had our new canvas back.

I was very excited to receive our new canvas and get it unpacked. The same day we got it, I already had it hanging in our camper and it fit great. I need to stop and say the money we spent on getting a new canvas was well worth it and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again on any future pop up projects. Here are some of the features to upgrading your canvas:

• The new canvas was lighter in weight but just as strong.
• The wings are covered in vinyl instead of coated canvas.
• The canvas is pretreated and requires no additional waterproofing.
• The corner seams were changed from Velcro to heavy duty zippers.
• The wing side tie downs are bungee cords instead of string.
• It came with new metal snaps and an installation tool.
• Windows are triple pane (canvas cover, tinted plastic, and screen) with straps for keeping them in place when unzipped.

Needless to say I am very happy with my new canvas and am looking forward getting out there and camping. Here are some great before and after pictures. Our pop up still needs a little work but we are going to enjoy it some this season and look to finish it in the fall. Luckily our fall season lasts until November in the desert Southwest. Check out these pictures.

Old Skamper Pop Up Canvas-1

Old Skamper Pop Up Canvas-2

Old Skamper Interior-1

As you can see the exterior did not look to bad except for the multiple screen repairs and cuts. That brown stuff on the windows is the spray adhesive that was used to seal extra plastic to the windows. Here are the new canvas pictures.

New Skamper Canvas from Bear Creek-1

New Skamper Canvas from Bear Creek-2

New Skamper Interior

New Pictures of Skamper Pop Up Camper Restoration

It's been a little while since we last posted but we have been busy with the rebuild. The cabinet resurfacing is complete. All that is left to do for the cabinets is to cut out a few openings and install cabinet doors. I really like the dark stain with the light floors and walls. It took three sheets of stain grade beaded plywood to rebuild the cabinet faces. Some of the cabinets have a new face over the old face. Pieces that needed to be totally replaced were created by screwing two pieces of 3/8" thick beaded plywood back to back to create a 3/4" piece with the texture on both sides.

Old Cabinets & Floor

New Cabinets, Floor, & Paint

 We also were contacted by Bear Creek Canvas of Spencer, Wisconsin and notified that our canvas is ready and is now being delivered almost a week ahead of schedule. We are very excited to receive our new canvas and get it on our Skamper. Stay tuned for pictures of the new canvas.

How to Renovate your Pop Up Trailer Cabinets

So we are continuing along with our 1989 Skamper 240C Pop Up camper restoration. The heat of summer is now on us and it makes going out to work on the camper a little harder. This weekend we decided to tackle how we were going to upgrade (renovate) the cabinets. As most people know the cabinets in pop up campers are not very substantial. They are made from a 3/4" x 1" skeleton wood frame with a thin veneer stapled over the frame. I believe this was done by the camper companies for two reasons. First was to save money and second was to save on weight. You could easily add 500 pounds to your camper by install heavy wood cabinets in place of the thin style that are in there. The thin veneer is 3/16" thick plywood with an almost paper like wood grain veneer covering it. After 22 years the veneer has started to wear off and almost start peeling in places. This made painting the existing cabinets out of the questions. We are doing a bootstrap renovation but we don't want it to look bad. Here is a picture of one of the cabinets that I started with.

Skamper Cabinet

So we took a walk through the wood department of Lowes and Home Depot and found stain grade bead board plywood. We also had to replace the cabinet doors which were of the same construction. For the doors we took a trip to our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. The ReStore is a great resource for good priced building materials and other odds and end that end up getting donated to them that they resell for their charity. We knew that they had two aisles of cabinets doors for $5 - $15 each. We ended up buying five of the $5 doors for our camper that happened to have the vertical bead board pattern as well. Our idea was to "re-skin" the existing cabinets with the bead board. The new bead board is 3/8" thick so we will lose some interior space but not much. Here are some pictures of the same cabinet as above with its new bead board skin and a close up up the sandwiched assembly.

The addition of the 3/8" bead board will increase the weight of our trailer some but I estimate maybe only 50 pounds. It is well worth it because now the cabinets are extra sturdy and will last another 20 years. Here is a picture with the old pinkish colored counter top and the door with the stain that we will have to match. Counter tops will have to be changed after the summer camping season.

New Skamper Cabinet

New Floor in our Skamper Camper

The new floor is almost done! So far it is looking really good. We scraped the crap off of the floor and cleaned it very well. We swept and then vacuumed the floor as well to make sure it was clear enough. Next we found the center of the floor in both directions and then offset the marks 6" to one direction so we could align the tile edges to our floor lines. So far so good. I got most of the easy tiles set and will finish the cut tiles tomorrow.

Peel & Stick Tile Deal at Lowe's

We got a super sweet deal on peel and stick tile for our pop up camper. It was on sale for .25 cents a tile. We purchased two boxes (45 tiles per box) for a total of $22.00. This saved us $12.00 on the cost of flooring. We chose peel and stick tile for our floors because of the cost and ease of use for installation. Those peel and stick tile went on sale this past Thursday and they were only marked in the paper and not in the store, so there were plenty of boxes on hand.

Lowe's Peel and Stick Tile

Picture of Lowe's Tile Part Number

Painting our Skamper Pop Up Camper

We have been waiting for the weather to cooperate and we finally got some time. Spring time is a very windy time of year in the desert Southwest and so far this spring is super windy. We wanted to update the interior color of our pop up so we went with some different colors besides the typical wood grain finish. We have seen other people do this with their campers as well, so we decided to give it a shot. Take a look at our pictures of both the ceiling and the walls. The ceiling's contact paper was peeling off so we peeled it off all the way and painted the hardboard that was left exposed. It took three coats of paint but it finally looks nice.

New Wall Color in our Pop Up

Painted Ceiling in our Pop Up

Replacement Crank Mechanism for Skamper Pop Up

Last week my youngest child decided to crank the lifting mechanism backwards while the top was in the down position until the cable snapped at the crank. I thought that if a child can break it then it needed to be replaced. I took a closer look and the whole front area of the trailer needs some work. The cranking mechanism was being held on with one bolt and the handle was welded together and bent. I am not sure if it was original but it needed help. I am not really a welder but I do have a back ground in machining and metal work, so I took a machinist's approach to replacing the crank mechanism.

First things first, all of the old metal brackets needed to be removed. Somehow the previous owner bent the propane and crank brackets. They were welded on so I cut the welds off with my cut off wheel to get them out of the way. I purchased my replacement crank mechanism at Harbor Freight with a 20% off coupon for $17.00. Next I located a piece of 3/8" thick 6061-T6 aluminum bar stock to use as my new bracket. I laid the aluminum on top of the frame and started laying out the position of everything. I got everything "eyeball aligned" so that the crank shaft lined up to the crank clearance hole in the frame. I sharpie marked the locations on the aluminum plate of the new crank and also the angles where it connects to the frame. The angles ended up being 22.5 degrees which was an easy setting on my compound miter saw. Yes you can cut aluminum with your carbide tipped wood blades on your compound miter saw. I only cut aluminum on my compound miter saw or jig saw and never on the table saw. I prefer the miter saw because of the stationary back fence and the fact that the saw blade is turning away from you forcing the metal against the fence. Always cut slow and use cutting fluid (WD40 works). I then transferred hole locations from the crank to the plate and drilled and tapped those holes. I also drilled mounting holes on the outside edges of the plate and then brought everything over to the trailer frame to locate the position. Once I got everything lined up I matched drilled the holes into the frame. Only leave a dimple in your drill holes so you can get everything out of the way so you can do some real drilling without losing location. I only drilled through the top part of the steel channel which was around .125" thick. I tapped those holes too but then followed the screws with Nylok nuts on the bottom for extra strength.

Next was making a new shaft to go from the new crank output shaft to a place outside of the frame. The previous owner rigged a welded tube that got bent. I used a solid piece of 3/4" 1018 steel (cold rolled steel, nothing fancy). I drilled a .450" hole in one end on my drill press and drilled cross holes and tapped them. The other end was also drilled and tapped for a retaining hole for the new handle. This end also needed to be tuned or ground down. I do not have a lathe but I do have a bench grinder that I carefully ground the tip of the OD down to .470". I then had to grind a .330" flat on both sides (.330" being the total distance of the flats). This fit the new keyed end of the crank handle. Everything fit well and it is better than new. Check out the pictures below.

Pop Up Lifting Crank Mechanism Before

Skamper Pop Up Old Ratcheting Crank

New Harbor Freight Crank

New Skamper Pop Up Crank Mechanism

Solid Steel Shaft Connected with Double Screws

New Lifting Crank for my Pop Up

New Canvas from Bear Creek Canvas

Bear Creek Canvas received our canvas late last week and has begun the work to create our replacements. So far my experience with Bear Creek has been great. They have answered all of my questions quickly and professionally. I called them up as well and they have a lot of experience and knowledge for people that are restoring their pop ups. I look forward to asking them more questions and of course receiving our brand new canvas.

New Floors for our Skamper Pop Up

As mentioned in an earlier post, we went all in on our 1989 Skamper Pop Up restoration. Today we removed all of the cabinets so that we could pull up the old vinyl flooring. Nothing was really in that bad of shape, but you could see the 22 years of wear and tear on it. It needs a restoration. Check out the pictures everything is out and almost ready for new floors. We learned a few more things about our pop up. The refrigerator was not a fridge at all but just an icebox. That's OK with us, makes the restoration easier. We also got to see the water system. That wasn't too bad either but we will probably redo the hoses and give the tank a good clean. The water tank is only 16 gallons which is OK for cooking and washing uses.

Skamper pop up without cabinets

Skamper w/o cabinets

Needs 70 sq/ft of new flooring

Complete Restoration has Started on 1989 Skamper 240C Pop Up

We decided to bite the bullet and go all in on the pop up Skamper Camper restoration. Today all of the canvas came down and we will be sending it to Bear Creek Canvas. They have been quick to respond to our request for quote and we have read lots of good things about them. We did find some soft spots in the floor but they do not go all the way through. Should be an easy repair. Next up while were waiting for our new canvas is to pull the cabinets and redo the floor. The materials should be cheap, just need the time to get it done. Stay tuned.

Skamper Pop Up w/o Canvas

Skamper 240C Pop Up minus the Canvas

1989 Skamper 240CPop Up Update

We got working more on the Skamper Camper. It got a good overall cleaning and the cushions pulled and washed. We are now planning to pull cabinets from it and install new flooring. We are also looking into replacing the canvas sides. This will leave us with a great road worthy pop up camper for well under the cost of a new camper.

!989 Skamper Pop Up looking cleaner

Good Side of the Skamper

Clean Versus Dirty Skamper Roof

1989 Skamper 240C Pop Up Camper

We will now be embarking on a new adventure in frugal traveling. We purchased a very affordable 1989 Skamper pop up model #240C. It needs some work but it is definitely a great start for our family to begin camping. Check out the pictures and come back often. We will be showing the work we will be doing to get our new used Skamper camper up to snuff for many more years of camping fun.

1989 Skamper 240C Pop Up

Travel for this Summer

The high cost of airfare will be pushing us to travel by vehicle this year instead of flying east. This is a good thing since we are planning to go to Yellowstone National Park. Everything is still in the planning stages but I look forward to bringing lots of great pictures back.

Upcoming Summer Travel Plans

Hi All,

This summer will probably include road trips in the car instead of air travel. Prices are going up on airfare and I have lots of people to pay for tickets. We are starting to look at our options but the possibilities are exciting. WE are looking at visiting Utah.