Turning a Leprechaun into an Imp

At the start of this current adventure, we bought this almost new 2017 Coachmen Leprechaun RV:

Keep that in mind - this is a 2017 model.

We then set about gutting the poor thing since the interior looked like something out of the 1970's.

Brown, dark brown, tan and gold ?!?!  WTF?!

We also had specific ideas about what we wanted and needed in a tiny house on wheels, so the first things that went were the gold and brown drapes, vertical blinds, cushions and the microwave.  (We didn't have a microwave in our stick house either, so ditching this one was a no-brainer.)

The next things gone were the swoop and swish decals on the exterior.  We'll be replacing those with personalized, custom-made decals shortly.  (Did you know that an RV with no decals is called a snowball?)

Then the husband demolished the dinette. We wanted a more open main sitting area in the RV. We didn't get any pictures of the space immediately post-removal since we were in a bit of a crunch for time.  We had 6 weeks from the day we drove the it off the lot until it had to be move-in ready for us and the kittens. (Keep in mind that we were both still working full time while the renovation project was going on - AND we were trying to get our condo ready to go on the market for sale as well.)

We painted all of the brown stuff white to make the interior feel larger.  (We've actually got about 162 square feet of space, though some of it is storage only.)

Original bed nook - ick.

Cozy bed nook with new privacy blinds!

Even the refrigerator was covered in brown paneling!  We fixed that too :)

New fridge with dry erase board and magnets!

During the next crazy 6 weeks, we practiced driving the RV by driving to Fort Collins to visit the ever accommodating Ginny and Zach.  

The husband and Zach had been talking about the various things that needed to be built to make the Imp a little more livable.  But first - Zach made a custom door frame for us to replace the original dark brown leather frame (Trust us, it was hideous!):  

New door frame with Cthulhu, Dude or Fish coins and a Rad charm.

After a few more weeks, the condo closed, the jobs were exited from and we headed up to Fort Collins where the RV and the kittens would be staying while we went to Greece.

We had 3 days before we left for the guys to plan out the new kitchen. They also did a bunch of ripping out and roughing in.  (Bye bye scary tiny gas oven!) 

Two weeks later, we were back and the kitchen project was going full steam ahead.  The stove was gone, the leaky sink removed, resealed, two new cabinets with doors built and installed. Then, the piece de resistance: The Countertop

Two layers of nicely finished plywood, framed by lighter oak wood with a inset for the sink AND a matching cover for the sink so that we have that area usable when we're not actively using the sink.

So, for reference, here's what we started with:

Original kitchen. Counter space?

New kitchen with LOTS of counter space and storage

And this has made all of the difference in the world for livability.  25" x 43" of wide open level, beautiful counter space.  

We've still got other projects to tackle, but for now they're on the back burner as we take the winter to test out living in the Imp.  (And enjoy the counter - thank you Zach!)


(Yes, that is an Instant Pot you see on the counter - we joined the "cult" since we knew that we would be cooking in a small space and we'd heard almost nothing but rave reviews of the thing from other folks, especially RVers.)  If you've never heard of the Instant Pot, Google it - they're cool :)

The Erkharts have landed

It's been an interesting 26 days....

On October 30th, we sold our condo. (Thank you, Vanessa Holmes!)
On October 31st, the wife left her job.
On November 1st, we headed out to visit a few friends before taking off for parts sort-of-unknown.

We hung out with the Taylors for an evening, then up to the Forsters' place in Fort Collins, where the ever amazing and talented Zach worked on some custom woodwork for the RV while Jeff helped and the wives watched and visited.

On November 5th, we hopped a plane to Munich and then Athens to putz around in Greece for 10 days eating good food and taking pictures of old stuff.  There are tons of stories and pictures that we haven't processed yet.  Maybe there will be future posts...

We got back to Fort Collins and chilled for a few days with the Forsters again, recovering from mega-jetlag and reassuring the kittens that we weren't leaving them again any time soon!  Jeff and Zach also installed the woodworking projects - they absolutely deserve their own post!

On Monday, November 20th, we hugged everyone goodbye, battened down the hatches on the RV and hit the road - SOUTH.

We know we said Seattle, but while we were chilling in Fort Collins, we were actually freezing our butts off in the RV. So, North wasn't looking good, at least for now.  We WILL go North, just not until after winter.

First stop, Trinidad, CO.  Trinidad Lake State Park is beautiful!!

The next morning, it was off to Lubbock, TX.  6 white-knuckled hours later, we arrived.  Holy crap, the wind!  Keeping the RV on the road was a total upper body workout.   (The Imp is basically a medium sized box on wheels that catches every breeze and pushes it around - A LOT.) Add to that some close calls with crazy drivers.  We didn't rack up a ton of miles, but by the end of the day we were exhausted!

Day three ended in the burbs of Austin, TX with us crashing at a KOA for the night. There were no sites there with any hookups, so we basically paid to bookdock for the night. : P

The next two days, we visited with the wonderfully accommodating Lisa and Thorvi while we did laundry and hunted for a spot to park for the next 4 months.  (Thanks for the talks and walks Lisa!)

And today, we landed at a nice RV park in Georgetown, TX where we can put down some temporary roots and stop driving for a little while.  (The kittens appreciate this - as soon as they hear car keys jingle, they freak out a little and run for cover in the under bed storage (a.k.a. The Garage).  

We're about 45-60 minutes north-ish of Austin, sort of in the burbs, out of in the country.  We got an end spot, so we've only got 1 neighbor - the other side is a field.  There are tiny little sheep in the field next door too - baa!

The people are friendly in person, but as soon as they get behind the wheel, it's all agro, all the time.

The next big step is for us to find some temporary work to make a bit of $$$ while we're here.

Stay tuned for when we can get a post up with some cool pics from Greece...

So. Many. Cats.

Since the Internet is for cat videos and pictures of cute cats, here's a sampling of the kittah friends (and a few stalkers) we've met so far.      

We're training an Adventure Cat!

Since Song is always begging to follow us outside when we leave the RV, we decided to see if we could teach her to walk on a leash.

Here's how far we've gotten in 6 weeks: 

We've got to get out of this place!

We're back! 

A lot's happened since that weird Wyoming trip in 2014.

There were new kittens: 

River Song

River Tam

Lots of amigurumi:

 


Lots of stuck in place wanting to go places and do stuff, but not being in a place to just do it.

Guess what - that changed!

In July of this year, the wife came home one night and declared that we were going to buy an RV and run away.  

The husband's response - after asking if she was okay - was "Ikimasho!"  (That's Japanese for "Let's Go!")

After that, we were a snowball in July - literally. (This will make more sense in a minute.)

That Saturday, we bought a 2017 Coachman Leprechaun that was decorated like it was built in the 1970s and began planning our escape.  
"Let's go to Seattle!"
"Let's go RIGHT NOW!"

A couple weeks later, we picked up the RV, christened it the H.F.S. Impetuous (AKA The Imp) and began tearing it apart.

First thing to go were the swish-mark decals on the outside. Now the Imp was NAKED!  (Fun fact: an RV with no decals is called a snowball.)

Then we ripped out the brown and gold suede window coverings, partitions, overhead bunk and dinette.

Over the next 6 weeks, we went to our jobs, slept and worked on rebuilding the interior of the RV while also cleaning up the condo we'd been living in for 8 years, selling our stuff and disengaging from obligations.  We were READY! We were running away in September!

Then we remembered......the wife had promised to participate in Pugs in the Park for the Colorado Pug Rescue in mid-September AND we'd planned and paid for a 10 day trip to Greece in early November.

So much for leaving - and really, we weren't' ready yet. We hadn't quite gotten the condo on the market, the wife didn't have many amigurumi pugs made and both of use were still working and hadn't given notice yet.

So, we gave notice, called the awesome Realtor Vanessa Holmes, moved out of the condo and into the RV and  made a ton of pugs. And then we waited.....

Then we waited some more. And so on. We're still waiting on:
The closing for the condo
The wife's last day of work
The first travel day on our way to Greece 
Our return so we can grab the RV and kittens, say goodbye for now to all of our awesome Colorado peoples and hit the damn road! 

(And no, we're not going to Seattle - yet. More on that in the next post 😸😸😸😸😸 )