Queen of Stealth

first night camping report:

crawled into car around 11:00pm

between the full moon and the outside light it

was awfully bright without curtains

even with a few clouds i enjoyed a stellar

view of the stars before drifting off to sleep

dreamed about stealth camping in a residential

neighborhood with a plethora of friends and

acquaintances showing up throughout the dream

i live in the country and don't have close

neighbors   (.....very strange dream)

woke to the sound of gentle tapping and 

was immediately reminded of finding a 

mouse in the car last summer

realized the sound was rain...  grabbed keys....

leaned over front seat to start car and roll windows

up....

SET OFF CAR ALARM

(cue the police song king of pain and insert

queen of stealth...sigh)

after much fumbling managed to get

alarm turned off

potty break

pulled blanket over head and

slept until morning

first night:   done!

Honda Fit Conversion Part 2

things are slowly moving along with my "camper" car.

i wasn't able to find a fleece blanket at any of the thrift

stores around here so i finally just bought an inexpensive

full/queen fleece blanket at wal-mart for $10. i was able

to cut two long strips and two squares out of one blanket. 

here is one of the strips that will cover the side windows:

i glued velcro strips along the top with E6000 glue.

from what i've read it should hold up to the heat. (the

white showing is some parchment paper i put under

the glued strips so the window cover doesn't become

a permanent part of my kitchen floor) i won't be able

to tell if i need to put velcro along the bottom until i

see how they are going to hang. i really didn't want to

glue the mounting strips to my car headliner so i'm

going to try securing them with horizontal straight

pins to see if that will work...seemed to work fine

with a sample but we'll have to see with the weight

of the curtain. i've made velcro curtains for the side

windows and the back hatch window but have

opted to stretch a bungee cord across the front from

overhead handle to handle and clip the curtain onto

the cord with binder clips so i can slide the curtain.

i'm also planning to use binder clips in each of the

corners where the curtains meet. i'll post pics when

everything is in place.

meanwhile.... i'm going to spend my first night in

the car in my yard tonight....sans curtains. here is

a pic from the back of my couch pillow bed:

i've got my handy dandy window screens on the back

windows so i can leave them open if it's too hot. i'm

thinking of cutting a little drop down panel in the 

curtains over the back windows for when i need

them open but i did buy the battery powered fan for

comfort. you'll notice i left the passenger side back

seat up...here's why:

the seat part folds up leaving plenty of room for me to

stand stooped over in the car for when i need to potty. 

i purchased a freshette...

 

 

 

......which i totally

expected to cause tears of laughter and tears of

wee to run down my legs but was surprised to see

there was no learning curve....works like a charm.

(WHERE was this thing all those years i was on the

road in law enforcement????) i think after getting used

to sleeping in the car i won't need standing space

to wee in a jug and can leave both back seats

down for more storage space.

so....first night

wish me luck!

Honda Fit Camper Conversion part 1

i've been spending a LOT of time researching this

car camping thingy. i've even started making some

basic purchases

i already have a two burner propane camp stove but

bought this one burner butane stove to save space. since

i don't have solar i got this fatmax that plugs into my

car so i can charge my phone and laptop while i'm

driving. 

 

 

i got three of these Luci lights. they are roughly about

the size of a softball and you just blow them up with

your breath. they are solar led lights and are hung in

the sun through the day to charge...with three

settings....low....bright....and blinking (whaaaaaaa...

i'm thinking disco!) they actually put out a lot of

light....enough to read by.

 

 

i spent the afternoon (YES...it took me all afternoon!)

making two screens for my car windows. those of you

who are long time readers of my blog know that the

sewing machine is not my friend. this material is tulle

which i found extremely hard to work with. it's slippery

and my old eyes had a hard time seeing if the edges

matched up. even though i pinned the tulle between

a strip of cloth to sew the edge it still slipped and i had

to resew lots (partly because the bobbin thread ran out...

took me three tries sewing one side before i figured

out why it wasn't working!) 

here's the screen on my car window. it allows you to

crack (or roll down) the window for a breeze without

letting in the bugs. the screen just slips over the top of

the open door and when you close the door you put a

magnetic strip across the bottom (the white thing) to

block entry. the peel off backing on this magnetic strip

keeps coming off so i'm going to try sticking some metal

heat duct tape on it to see if that will stay.

 

 

 

again....since i don't have solar...i'm planning on buying

this battery operated fan and getting some rechargeable

batteries. i know i won't be able to sleep in the car if it's

too hot so i'm hoping the screens and fan will do the 

trick. i'm also planning to get a uv tarp to set up over

the top of the car for shade and to be able to sit/cook

under. 

originally i had planned to purchase this REI 3.5 self inflating 

camp bed but it's pretty pricey and with all the other things

i need to get i've opted to use my couch pillows...they are an

exact fit for the space where i will be sleeping and really

comfortable. i plan to get a fitted twin cotton mattress cover

to put on the cushions under the sheets so hopefully they

won't get dirty. 

this is a pan that mechanics use to catch oil drips that

i bought for under my supplies when i use encaustic

wax. it's very light...about the weight of a cookie pan.

it's the same width and length as two of my couch

pillows and i plan to use it on top of the pillows/bed as

a work station with the back hatch up to prep food or

whatever.

soooo....that's where i am. my next project will be

curtains for the back of my car. i'm going junking

for a fleece blanket that i can cut up to make

 curtains....and trust me....they will NOT be

 anything that needs sewing!

Yep....I'm Cra Cra

this time every year i get all hepped up and want to 

plant flowers everywhere. i do dearly love me some

flowers! this area across my front porch always gets

too much sun during our hot southern summers for 

anything to do really well so this year i decided on

succulents and lemon balm.

another reason for the succulents...i'm hoping to take a

few road trips this summer. i really...really...really would

like to have a class b rv....like a pleasure-way:

truth is...i can't afford one...and if i had one

i couldn't afford to keep insurance on it plus my 

car. i have a honda fit:

 

the back seats lay down and make a nice cargo area

for hauling things around....which i'm wont to do...so

i thought...hmmmm...maybe i can use my car to camp

with. well...i immediately got lost in you tube land 

because....wow....there are bunches of folks doing this!

it appears to be some kind of new movement to do

"stealth camping" in modified conversion vans and 

cars.....who knew? it sure looks like something that

can be done on a shoestring budget.

here is an interesting video of a woman my age that 

travels across the country in her prius... which size wise

is pretty much like my car. i know the whole "bathroom"

thing will probably freak most of you out but as someone

who spent a lot of time hauling horses around and camping

in the boondocks...i've already done my share of this kind

of thing. i think i really need to give this a try...my honda

gets 40 miles to the gallon and i could do a lot of road

tripping with this set up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suiPFn3xa2E