Dewinterizing Abby

 Camping season is probably going to look different for us this year, but we are still excited about whatever we are able to do! When we purchased Abby (our fixer-upper RV, if you're new around here), we were working at WillowBridge and we were able to choose our weekend days. We almost always scheduled them during the week when we wanted to go camping, because it was easier to find open spots during the week. 

Now that Ryan has a regular job, we will need to weekend-camp like everyone else. And because we didn't know what to expect for work for either one of us, we were not able to plan our camping season ahead like we really should have to even have a shot a camping spots. We might have to modify some of how we camp, but we plan to spend as much time with Abby as we can this year!

First, though, we had to dewinterize her! I know some of you who read here have asked about this before, because you live in warmer climates and it's not a thing where you live! Because we live in Indiana and have such (ahem) chilly winters, we have to put antifreeze in the plumbing lines over the winter. This keeps them from cracking/bursting. This also means we can't use the RV during the winter - unless we use it strictly for sleeping and not for any cooking/bathing/bathroom use. So in the late fall, after our last camping trip, Ryan winterized all the plumbing lines, and this past week, we flushed them out to be ready for use! 

Because Abby doesn't live at our house, we had to go pick her up from where she stays and bring her over for our project. While she was here, we also gave her a good interior cleaning, put in the things we acquired for her over the winter, and organized all the pieces and parts we need for camping so we're ready to go when our first camping weekend arrives! 

This was really also Lexi's first time to see Abby. The RV was covered all winter, so even though we walked by it often at WillowBridge, Lexi didn't know what was under the cover. And she'd never been inside it. So we introduced her!

She was pretty curious! 

Then we brought her home to clean her. We have a rug in the RV that was in desperate need of a proper shampooing, so I took care of that! Shout out to my clothes-drying rack in the background!

I also dusted, swept, and cleaned out all the cobwebs and such inside the RV. I was impressed that it wasn't in worse shape after sitting since October!

Ryan did all the technical stuff:

We also rewashed all the bedding and towels so they're fresh for the road. 

And, most exciting of all, we have some new stuff for inside Abby! Most of the things were Christmas gifts, but a few of them were purchases we acquired over the last few months. I think I've said this before, but our goal is to eventually outfit the RV with everything we need except for clothing and food. That way when it's time to go camping, those are the only things we have to add. It will speed up packing time tremendously. Last year there were a number of things I didn't have duplicates of, so I had to carry those things from our house supply out to Abby and back again after the camping trip. We don't have a ton of things left on our wish list, so I'm excited for packing to go faster this year!

We got a few more collapsible food storage containers for Christmas this year. We didn't always have enough last year, so I'm excited to have doubled our collection. (These are great for leftovers or food we prep the night before we need it.)

I'm also THRILLED we have plates and bowls now. No more paper plates!

My mom gifted us this cute kitchen towel - just because. :) 

We also purchased a few cutting boards to keep out in Abby. This was one of those items I forgot to pack more than once last year!

So she's all ready to go, and we are interested to see how things work with a dog this year. We did take Phoebe camping once last fall, so we sort of have an idea, but Phoebe doesn't have nearly as much energy as Lexi, so we'll see how it goes with an energetic pup! I'm sure it will be a lot of trial and error for us as we learn what things we need to have on hand for her to be successful in our trips! 

So...for whatever our season may look like this year...bring on camping!