Tag: end of the road

Master Bath: Final Product

And after an eternity between the master bath demo and reassembly posts, pictures of a finished product! Well, let’s call it mostly finished. Curtains would help soften the log wall, but that will be a separate post when decisions are finally made.

The master bath has been functional for a month or two now; but we finally got the vast majority of the dry wall dust cleaned off the log walls, new towels (after determining we had our previous towels for over six years) and shower curtain purchased, and the closet door knob installed.

This is not a large bathroom, but it works well for us.

So glad for

  1. The double vanity. It is really nice having two separate sinks so we don’t have to stagger our night time routines.
  2. The medicine cabinets. Why houses built in the early 90s favored larger mirrors over medicine cabinets is beyond us. So happy to have a space to store our toiletries.
  3. The door to the bathroom. Our rental in Loveland had a master bath that was open to the bedroom; exception being the poopatorium. Ridiculous set up, especially if you have one person rising early for work.
  4. The upper storage. This utilizes the void space above the closet and dramatically increases the storage capabilities of the house. We already have our suitcases, Christmas decorations, and a couple of other miscellaneous storage boxes tucked up in this nook.

What we miss

  1. The separate poopatorium. It was nice having the toilet sequestered off so the rest of the bathroom could be used in tandem.

What the (far) future holds

  1. The current tile in the tube is a standard subway tile. Completely functional, just a little boring. Someday, this will be replaced.

Gallery

California Move: Trip Summary and Statistics

OverallTripMap
Cross country route to Davis, CA. It wasn’t what one would call direct.

Total mileage: 4596

Gallons diesel: ~315

Average MPG: ~14.6

Well, it only took us two months to get our travel diary entries into blog form. Looking back, it was a bit of a rainbows and roses view of the trip. This is not saying that it wasn’t all storm clouds, but 2 adults, a toddler, and three dogs all sharing 150 feet square feet for a month can wear on all parties. All creatures seemed to have less tolerance for everything. It was nice to get out of Abby and into something a little bit more generously sized. So we survived our journey, and a wonderful time (with a few clouds thrown in here and there).

We made some improvements over our last westward trip (June/July 2015 – hope to get some summary posts up regarding that trip soon).

  • The main improvement being that we added rest days. We stopped, relaxed, and didn’t have to worry about jumping into Abby and heading to the next destination.
  • We coordinated our food/fuel stops. We filled Abby up just before we arrived the night’s campground and filled up when we stopped for lunch. This allowed us to save time in the morning when we had a long day and needed to get on the road. The single stop during the day reduced our total travel time.
  • It was really nice to visit family and friends during the course of the trip.

There are still opportunities for improvement.

  • Our travel days were not leisurely. We had a schedule to keep, so if we passed something of interest on the road, we couldn’t necessarily stop and check it out. If we really enjoyed a place, like Big Bend, and wanted to stay longer, it just wasn’t feasible.
  • This was a dual purpose trip. We were moving across country so that meant extra stuff came with us that normally wouldn’t have been on this trip. So much extra stuff.
  • We also learned that setting the cruise control while towing is not the best option if there are hills/mountains involved (lets just say positive grades). It taxes the engine and transmission and completely destroys gas mileage. We learned that lesson pretty quick.
  • Covering 1200 miles in the first three days (~1/4 of the total mileage in ~1/9 trip time) was brutal.

So what was Abby’s state at the end of this? Poor girl was filthy, inside and out, despite our best efforts regarding the inside. Abby smelled of laundry, wet shoes, wet dog, and dog urine (thank you Buster for deciding your bed was an appropriate place to pee when you didn’t want to go out in the rain). Abby’s exterior was covered with Amish country road apples (horse crap), road salt, grease, dirt, and sea spray. A little bit of elbow grease and a truck wash cleaned Abby right up. And freed of the trailer, Abby was down right sporty in handling and acceleration.

Day 25: 01/20/2016 – Davis, CA

Day25RouteDestination: Davis, CA

Route: I-280N, I-80E, CA-24E, I-680N, I-80E

Mileage: 99 miles

Our last day on the road! At least for a while. We are three days short of a full four weeks on this adventure. Abby just needs to get us 99 more miles before she gets to rest. We need to be in Davis by 1:30 to meet our landlord Karen and collect keys. Should be easy right?

Looking at the map, we notice we pass through Concord, CA. Which just so happens to be the home of a More Beer flagship store. That is just too tempting to pass up. So we stop. And fritter away time deciding what all grain kits to purchase (our recipe books are in the trailer, somewhere, so to take it easy on our travel fried brains, a kit it is). Alex plays happily with the assortment of toys and chalk that the store has in child friendly area, so we have some uninterrupted shopping time. We finally pay attention to the time and realize Google Maps estimates we have 75 more minutes of driving. Quickly adding 10% to that time to account for Abby’s slower speed, we realize we should have left 5 minutes ago. We weigh our grains, pay, collect Alex, and return to the road.

We make relatively good time, even after stopping to pay a $15 toll for I-80. The road after the toll was smooth, so it is money well spent. We arrive in our new neighborhood, immediately dropping home values with road grime covered Abby and trailer. After going through the house with Karen and paying February rent, we squeeze Abby and the trailer in the driveway and start unpacking.

It is a bit surreal standing in a kitchen that is approximately 3 times larger than the living space we have in Abby. Not being able to get milk out of the fridge while sitting at the dining room table is going to take some getting used to.

We are home.