RV projects and more

So, this entry will likely be a bit long, but I’m trying to catch up for everything that’s been going on. 

It’s taken us a bit more time than I expected to get settled. I guess I didn’t fully appreciate that this was essentially like moving into a new house. We’ve discovered new things about the rig and completed a bunch of projects to make it ‘liveable’. Here is the list of things we’ve done:

bedroom shelves (went from 3 to 6)

• Installed shelves in our bedroom
• Installed shelves in the bathroom
• Installed a wall hanging device for our bathroom items
• Installed toothbrush and toothpaste holders
• Installed soap dispensers in the bathroom and shower
• Installed hooks in the ‘hallway’
• Installed a wall hanging device for games
• Unclogged the toilet (this was particularly stressful – it turns out that the water conservation strategies that you use for your fresh water and grey water tanks DO NOT apply to the black water – you need to use lots of water when you flush or things get plugged up pretty quickly)
• Revised the shower drain
• Rewired the fan in the kids’ room so that it is no longer on the light switch
• Rearranged everything in the cabin and the exterior compartments (garage and basement) – we actually have everything put away

a more functional bathroom

Dave working hard

This may or may not sound like a lot, but it is a solid two days worth of work. The kids were very patient during all of these projects, taking plenty of time to play outside. Thankfully Dave is a wizard with projects.

We’ve managed to sneak in a fair bit of fun and education as well. I haven’t started any of the formal education yet, but they are still learning. We learned a lot about the mangroves, swamps, and alligators at Big Cypress and the Everglades. There was an excellent astronomy program one night in the Everglades. 

Our experience at Kennedy Space Center was incredible. I was really proud of the kids – especially Andi, who maintained focus for the vast majority of the very long day. We were there from 9:00 to 6:20, taking about 30 minutes for lunch and 15 minutes on a playground. The rest of the time we spent learning about the space program. They paid very close attention and learned a lot. We had a really nice follow-up to the day by watching Apollo 13. It reinforced a lot of the things we saw, especially about the Saturn V rocket. The Kennedy experience also complemented some of what the kids learned about in Houston at NASA last summer. There was an exhibit about the International Space Station. The kids were in the functional model last summer and were actually able to tell the exhibitor a few things that she didn’t know. The Kennedy IMAX theater played a movie about the ISS and it was filmed when Colonel Terry Virts was on board; Colonel Virts served as the tour guide for the kids in Houston.

The kids in control of the command module

Saturn V rocket

Today we are in Fort Clinch State Park. The kids spent some time combing the beach for shark teeth. They were excited because the sand on the beach here is ‘squeaky’ underneath their feet. Tomorrow we’re going to start trying to get on a schedule.