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Guys! It's almost May and we have been thinking about some crazy stuff.
Before the Airstream, we were setting aside a ridiculous amount of money for campgrounds each month. That beast of a 5th wheel meant we needed full hookups and plenty of room to maneuver everywhere we went. With the Airstream's off the grid capabilities (solar, composting toilet, truck tires, lift, etc...) we nearly halved that amount, but we decided to take it a step further.
What if we went all of May without paying for any campgrounds?
We could save that money for something else that we would like to do or get. (a drone, Hawaii trip, iPads, Apple Watch, hiking shoes, MexiCoke stash?? Oh, the possibilities!)
With 500 watts of solar, 400 amp hours of batteries and our Nature's Head Composting toilet, we are fully set up for long term boondocking. Why are we paying for overly crowded parks? Our favorite sites have been those away from the city and in our own little bit of paradise so...let's try this!
The whole month of May we will not pay for camping! We already know what we will do with the extra money we will save, but we can tell you about that later. (it's something for the kids)
We are all super excited about this challenge. It will push us to step out of our comfort zones. It will force us to be a bit more conservative with our water. It will teach us how to create less trash. It will force us to spend more time outside and less time on devices. It will encourage more adventure. It will cause more family time outside and we will have to get creative with our resources.
We've got nothing to loose! If you choose to do this challenge with us, tag your Instagram boondocking photos with the hashtag #nopaymay so we can see your slice of heaven!
Good luck friends!
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After meeting with William and his family in Forth Worth, we were so excited to head towards open land and red rocks. We had heard good things about Caprock Canyon State Park so we pointed Leatherhead (our trusty F350 that is of course named after a TMNT character) northwest and took off.
Let me try to do this place justice. Standing next to our site, I was able to hear prairie dogs making their adorable noises anytime someone walked by their home, which happened to be just behind our site. Then a rabbit hopped by as I walked to the trailer trying to avoid fresh bison patties ON OUR SITE!
Each site had a covered picnic area that we didn't use often because the flies were kind of bad which is to be expected when there are fresh bison patties everywhere.
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Eager to get out of Louisiana, we knew we wanted to head towards Forth Worth, Texas. Why? Well, you may remember last August when we picked up a tiny shiny home from a sweet man named William.
Well, I contacted him to see if we could come by for the weekend to show him the changes we made to his old trailer. It was a bit of a gamble. I wasn’t sure if he’d be happy about our renovation. Or, what if it would be too hard for him to see all the changes?
He said he would love to meet us and come see it. I hope he likes our changes and that he will know how much we love it and how great of a fit it is for our little family.
Forth Worth was quite the haul from Louisiana so we opted for a quick overnight stay at Huntsville State Park. What an adorable park. We sure do love state parks but Texas really gets you with their DAILY entrance fees for campers. SO EXPENSIVE. We forgot that when we booked our site.
However, if you do get into Huntsville State Park, we ended up with a great site that I wanted to share with you. Raven Hill Camping Area, site #10! Its a gem.
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I guess it’s time to update on where we have been the last month on the road! We’ve been so busy playing catch up from the renovation that I haven’t taken the time to record where we have been. Although its mostly for our benefit, so that we can remember our travels, I know some one out there may find the information helpful as well.
When we left Indiana we drove 3 hours and overnighted at Kentucky Horse Park Campground.
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After months and months (and months!) of pouring our days and nights into this renovation we are finally finished!
Both the interior and exterior of our 1972 Airstream Sovereign Land Yacht came to us in pretty pristine shape - eight track and all!
It was so loved and taken care of by the family that owned it before us that we wanted to make sure we did the renovation right. We owed that much to them at least.
As we’ve talked about before, we had lots of reasons for downsizing from our 37’ 5th wheel to a vintage Airstream. The biggest being that we fell in love with boondocking (camping without hookups) and wanted an RV that was built from the ground up with that in mind. I think it’s safe to say that Airstreams have always been built with the goal of exploring off the beaten path, even if ours did need some upgrades for true off the grid living.
We also wanted to make a legitimate family home out of this trailer. Something that all 6 of us could live comfortably in full time and that would last another 45 years. Not just a showcase of beautiful interior design without practical functionality. Afterall, this is our HOME, not a showroom.
This drove us to spend hours upon hours of research on everything from solar panels and lithium batteries to water heaters, gray tanks, cabinetry latches, hooks and internet boosting antennas. Every single part of this Airstream has been thought and re-thought through so many times I am just happy not to have to think about all this stuff anymore.
Before we show the final results, you may want to read through the process.
Now that you're all caught up - here we go. The official Airstream renovation tour. Or as we like to call him - Metalhead (we’re Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle nerds).
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Ashley Longnecker / April 29, 2017
We’re Jonathan & Ashley Longnecker. We love weird ideas, great food, travel, drawing, music, homeschool, tattoos, dreads, woodworking, design and our 4 amazing kids.