New 177, here we go !

Do you think the mirror will be damaged by the moisture inside? I'll let you know if the oven liner sticks as I'm going to do it this afternoon. We are having a pod warming party this evening!

B

  We're back from our first trip! We picked up the Gastropod Saturday morning as planned and headed directly from there to Miquelon Provincial Park-maybe 50 km. (30 miles). The goal was to see how it towed and check out some of the systems before we ventured too far from home.

  Tom found the towing easy enough after he relaxed a bit but the gas mileage! He is not used to seeing that needle drop so quickly.  He'll get used to it.

  There was still snow and meltwater around the campsites and we ruled a few out due to excessive mud ruts but found a nice one with a wide driveway and Tom was able to back into place pretty easily. It may have helped that we often tow a small cargo trailer so he pretty much knew what he was doing. Since we were only staying one night, we did not break out the r-dome but will leave that for 24th of May weekend. We had fun taking stuff from the van and finding places in the pod for it. Sally checked inside but preferred to be outside. I think the "new" smell was a bit hard on her even though she has the worst sniffer of any dog we have ever known.

  The stove worked well-after we remembered to turn on the propane outside. The refrigerator came on fine but we decided to dispense with the middle door shelf to leave space for taller juice containers. We cooked inside to try it out although it was a beautiful Alberta blue day.  Steak in a cast iron pan and baked potatoes done in the mircowave were on the menu. We soon discovered grease splatters were going to wreck the kitchen walls but have decided to use a tin foil oven liner lightly tacked to the wall with Scotch reuseable tabs. (Something like a clear sticktac square). 

  While cooking, we discovered the first rule of cooking in the pod; take out the smoke detector battery, the second rule is put it back in afterwards! We apologised to our neighbours after supper.

It seemed no amount of venting or fans was going to stop that thing from shrieking.

  We slept comfortably under the new quilts I made during the winter while waiting for spring and camping season. The heater was noisy but we soon got used to it.  Sally went from dinette bench to floor several times and we have decided to bring an old sheet for her to sleep on to keep her fur off the bench. She is an old dog and needs her comfort.

  We went for "the long walk" in the middle of the night. We had no water for the toilet so that system will wait for another time. There was a hard frost so it was cool, but we heard coyotes howling and yipping and admired the stars.

  In the morning we cooked bacon and eggs outdoors and watched the cow moose and her calf browsing nearby. Sally was not excited by them at all. She was too busy staring at the collie next door.

  We have decided to create a moving-on checklist to be sure we don't overlook something. We nearly forgot to turn off the propane. We think we may lend the Gastropod to our sons occaisionally and they will need it.

  During the day we watched thousands of snowgeese heading north. Is it just me or do they really sound more cheerful in the spring? We stuck a few command hooks near the door for things like the leash, hats and flashlight.

  The Gastropod handled well on the expressway coming home. Nothing moved inside but I noticed the upper kitchen cupboard came unlatched. Tom thinks the latch just needs to be squeezed tighter.

  So much for the first adventure of Tom, Bette and Sally (don't we sound like a first grade reader?) in the Gastropod.

  Mods are going to be a mirror on the bathroom door, and a counter cover for the stove. We already bought the TV tray. What a good idea that was! I like the clock Hodge-Podge put up too.

 

The girlfriend was away at a rug hooking show in Fairfield Ct., so she was unaware.

Got it all set up before she got home. She was pleasently surprised!

Yes, she's a hooker.  A rug hooker, that is. 

 

Ordered pizza, ate in the pod and toasted to many happy camping excursions!

 

Time to start the mods.

 

Recieved an email from my sister in Vt. There has been bad flooding up there and there's still snow pack in the mountains. They just lost the last of their snow four days ago. We don't expect to get the pod up there until late May or early June. Waiting for a driveway report from the brother-in-law. Suspect the driveway will need some work before we can go in with the pod.

At least this gives me some time to get the pod ready. Axel risers first!

 

I suspect we'll be making a weekend trip with it somewhere before taking it to Vt. Can't wait!

 

Love Seatle pabloa3, climed Mt. Rainier back in 88.