One More Jaunt for Jemimah

Just when we thought Jemimah was done traveling for the year, we had an opportunity to spend a weekend in Haugan, Montana. Where is Haugan, you ask? Well, how ‘bout a map?

View Larger Map

Our church (Bitterroot Family Fellowship) spent the weekend with New Day Network Ministry in Haugan and St. Regis, Montana. We had food, fellowship, fun, and we threw a bit of work in there too. Most of these photos don’t have Jemimah, but most do have one or another of her inhabitants.

Our lovely Jemimah still needs a bunch of work – some replacement paneling (and who knows what we’ll find when we remove the paneling that’s there), a new refrigerator, a fixed-up (gutted and rebuilt?) bathroom… but she’s cozy and takes good care of her people. For the winter I will use Jemimah as my office – that’s a great option! But I’m already looking forward to getting her ready for next summer’s travels.

Stay tuned for the future adventures of a trailer named Jemimah!

Poor Jemimah’s blog has been neglected

I wonder if Jemimah feels the emptiness.

I never did get a chance to tell you about Jemimah’s last trip in July. It was a lot of fun! The church got together for a weekend at the Larry Creek group camp site just north of Stevensville. There weren’t a huge group of us, but those of us that made it had a great time. Wanna see?

		BFF Campout VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Lotsa fun, lotsa laughs, and lotsa awesome. I hope we do this again next year!

Jemimah has had fun this summer!

We haven’t gotten out quite as often as I’d hoped – this summer has been crazy-busy – but Jemimah has had a great time anyway. A couple weeks ago we packed her up and headed off to Salmon Lake (northeast of Missoula, Montana). It was a great trip! This was the first trip that didn’t require a trip back home or to the store for something we forgot. Yay! Success!

Here a few shots of Jemimah and her denizens.

Little Man wasn’t sure about playing in the lake.

I think Dale found out horseshoes is a bit harder than Dad makes it look!

Here’s a view of our campsite.

My darling does dishes!

And he does school work.

Huckleberry hunting.

Little Man did enjoy cruising around the trailer while I cooked or washed dishes.

Jemimah was a superstar! It was so comfortable to sleep on that bed, and so easy to cook at clean! It was especially easy to clean because I taught the bigger boys how to wash dishes in the trailer kitchen.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that Jemimah is finally a legal Montana resident. She got her permanent Montana plates right before this trip. The next thing she’s going to get is a whole bunch of new drawer slides. It is quite frustrating to deal with the old, old, old ones she currently has.

We’ll be back with more pictures of Jemimah’s adventures after the church campout this coming weekend!

Fun with Jemimah

Last weekend we went to Bass Creek Recreation Area for two days. The weather wasn’t too promising on our first afternoon, but it improved quite nicely the next day. We had some fun adventures!

 

This trip included some other “stuff” that wasn’t as fun – a camping neighbor that made us a little uncomfortable, a couple minor trips to the first aid kit… But it also included the first good night’s sleep in Jemimah – I finally figured out how to fix our bed up so it was cushy and comfy! Yay!

Jemimah behaved like a perfect lady the whole weekend – the battery worked perfectly to run the water pump, we stayed nice and cozy despite the lack of a heater, and we had no difficulties when it was time to dump the black water tank. It was our first time doing that, but there were no re-creations of the awful scene in RV. Whew!

We won’t be camping again for a few weeks because we have Vacation Bible School coming up, but I’m really looking forward to our next trip!

Jemimah's first adventure

Scrivnerburg has journeyed alllllll the way to Victor, MT for Jemimah's initial excursion. It's about an 8 mile trip. We wanted to try this trailer camping thing close to home the first time.

We have recently (yesterday) discovered that something is draining the 12-volt battery, but we haven't figured out what it is yet.  The battery being dead means we don't have a water pump. Bummers. No biggie - we're using pitchers for now, and Ken is going to try to diagnose the problem tomorrow.

Other than that, everything is going great, even if the weather is a bit damp. We're camping!

Update: Ken found a workaround for the pump/battery issue shortly after I made this post – we have been able to have running water! Yay!

Same trailer, different day

I realize this photo of the interior of Jemimah doesn’t really appear any different than the last one, but from a photographer’s perspective it is different. I needed a better version hosted on the internet somewhere.

I have to say, Jemimah is really getting homey. And one of the best parts of this fix-up project is that I’ve been able to combine two things that I love – getting Jemimah ready to camp, and re-using/refashioning thrifted items. All the curtains, some of the pillows, and the mattress cover were thrifted fabrics (some were clothes in their previous life). Some of the bits and pieces used to fix her up have also been found or thrifted. That’s part of the fun – treasure hunting for tongue jacks, furnace regulators, or pillow covers.

Paint and stuff

I had some fun with Jemimah today! I painted (well, primed) the galley wall. I just wanted to see if I would like it all painted white – so far I’m liking it. I have also finished all but two of the curtains (I shot so you couldn’t tell that), and made the new cover for the couch/futon mattress. I like the way it’s coming together.

(For reference, click here to see where we started.)

 

I must also note that my men have been busy. Ken and Dale fixed almost all of the drawers so they work properly. Whoohoo! Ken has also taken the furnace apart. That’s a good thing, right?

What we found out from the shop we took it to is that the only systems that really worked are the water, stove/oven, and electricity. The A/C doesn’t work, the refrigerator doesn’t work (which we knew), the furnace doesn’t work, and the hot water tank doesn’t work. I guess we have plenty to keep us busy!

Right now we’re going to get her ready for her first camping trip. We leave next Sunday to camp at Nana’s Victor Resort and Campground. We just love the campground hosts there.

She’s getting ready!

Jemimah is getting ready for her Scrivnerburg camping debut. She went to the propane doctor today to make sure we can use the stove/oven when we want to. She is still there, but we did find out that the hot water heater wasn’t even hooked up. The assumption is that there was something wrong with it so it was just bypassed. It’s a little frustration – I’m not going to let it bother me.

Just a week-and-a-half until we take her off to the most friendly campsite in Victor!

We have water!

My darling husband replaced the 12v battery and fixed up a cap for the water tank so we now have running water in the trailer! Whoohoo! Not only that, but all the 12v lights inside work. He’s my hero. Now we just need to get the propane stuff checked out/working, and she’ll be ready to go! Well…okay…she needs a little more than that, but we’ll be able to camp, anyway.

Can’t wait! Can’t wait! Can’t wait!

(If you look back there on the couch you will see the new, cute, corduroy pillow I made just for Jemimah.

A peek inside

Here are the promised shots of the interior of our new trailer.

Ken got a few things taken care of today – replaced a broken part on the hitch, found the answers to some electrical problems…I don’t know what else. I did some cleaning inside. We’re working on figuring out the water and power stuff. Then I guess we’ll take it to someone who knows what they’re doing to get the propane system checked out. I’d rather not accidentally blow up our trailer.

As you can see in the last photo, there’s some work to be done. There are a few spots like that around the trailer but I think the bathroom is going to be the first to get done. If you have any thoughts for us, we’d love to hear them!

She’s home!

Jemimah came home today! Yay!

There’s quite a bit of work to do. Right now we don’t even know where to start, but I think I’ll tackle some basics in the bathroom tomorrow. Tonight I’m finding out where to get the things we need. That part is fun, too.

Tomorrow I’ll share some shots of the interior. I need to get my widest lens out to get good shots in there, and I just never got that done today. Thanks for checking in on Jemimah!

Introducing Jemimah

After many years of tent camping, a decade of wishing, and a month of hunting, the Scrivner family has taken the plunge and purchased a 1973 Auto-Mate 20ft travel trailer. It’s so exciting! I (Elli) am excited about the whole thing. Dale is excited about the shop projects it will provide. Ken is excited about…um…me being excited. She needs work, but I’m actually looking forward to that. Something tells me Dale and I will both be getting those shop lessons.

Here’s one peek at Jemimah.

Many more pictures to come!