Breaking Camp
Joseph captured some good footage of us breaking down the trailer to get ready to hit the road. Check out his video....everything you ever wanted to know about breaking down our trailer in under a minute :) |
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How We Get Around
Moving around the country with a family of 8 required a few special preparations. This page has some tidbits of how we are arranged to make this trip.
Personalized Touches
Hands Door: There was a spot in the bunk house for a TV...which wasn't going to happen, so we made a custom door for the space featuring each of the kids' hands from before our trip. Now the cupboard holds everything from an electric pencil sharpener to Joseph's knife collection to spare socks (and more). Trash - Foot stools: Open topped trash containers didn't work so well....they stunk! So we used 5 gallon buckets as trash and recycle containers so we could keep a lid on odors AND provide a way to take a load off our feet! We've also used the buckets to wash the truck and trailer. Laptop Desk: Sometimes finding a place even for a laptop was a challenge...so I made a snug fit cover for a pull-out drawer in our bedroom that will easily hold a laptop or provide a writing surface! One of us can sit on the foot of our bed and pull out a drawer on the dresser to have an instant work-space. |
Seating for 8
We added a 24" cab in the bed of our truck with 2 additional seats so we didn't have to leave anyone behind. The kids can enter through the door in the bed of the truck or climb over the back seat of the crew cab. So we have 3 people up front, 3 in the backseat and 2 in the "jumper seats" in the extra cab.
We added a 24" cab in the bed of our truck with 2 additional seats so we didn't have to leave anyone behind. The kids can enter through the door in the bed of the truck or climb over the back seat of the crew cab. So we have 3 people up front, 3 in the backseat and 2 in the "jumper seats" in the extra cab.
Heaps of Shoes
We found out early on that 8 pairs of shoes piled up by the front door wasn't too practical, so we made a shoe rack to fit behind one of our chairs. The shoe rack doesn't push the chair out so far that it interferes with the slide-outs and the top of the shoe rack has proven to be a convenient shelf
We found out early on that 8 pairs of shoes piled up by the front door wasn't too practical, so we made a shoe rack to fit behind one of our chairs. The shoe rack doesn't push the chair out so far that it interferes with the slide-outs and the top of the shoe rack has proven to be a convenient shelf
Lots a Bikes
Finding a good place to carry 8 bikes was a bit of a challenge and we finally decided to get a receiver hitch welded to the front of the truck to carry 2 bikes and a receiver hitch welded to the back of the trailer to carry 5 bikes. Mariana's bike is really a one-wheeled "trailer" that attaches to my bike and it folds up and fits inside the storage bay of the trailer. Even though our bikes are within the weight limit for the 5-bike rack, we found that 5 bikes at the end of a 40ft trailer bouncing around on sometimes rough roads was starting to bend one of the arms of the bike rack. So we just carry 4 bikes on the back rack and we put Michael's bike in the bed of the truck below the hitch....so far we haven't smashed Michael's bike while hitching/un-hitching the trailer.
Finding a good place to carry 8 bikes was a bit of a challenge and we finally decided to get a receiver hitch welded to the front of the truck to carry 2 bikes and a receiver hitch welded to the back of the trailer to carry 5 bikes. Mariana's bike is really a one-wheeled "trailer" that attaches to my bike and it folds up and fits inside the storage bay of the trailer. Even though our bikes are within the weight limit for the 5-bike rack, we found that 5 bikes at the end of a 40ft trailer bouncing around on sometimes rough roads was starting to bend one of the arms of the bike rack. So we just carry 4 bikes on the back rack and we put Michael's bike in the bed of the truck below the hitch....so far we haven't smashed Michael's bike while hitching/un-hitching the trailer.