Last Day of Preparation

By now I am sure you are hopelessly hooked and thoroughly engrossed.

So here is what has happened today:

Final arranging and packing in the RV is almost complete.  If you travel in an RV you know that containers are a must, as are those rubber shelf liner things.  They are great to keep things from sliding around.  I have often wondered by manufacturers line all the cabinets with a felt like substance that acts like an ice flow on anything that you put in the cabinets.  I can't tell you how many times I have opened a cabinet and been showered with whatever was inside.  A story I am sure can be related by any RVer.

One thing I notice since we moved out of our first RV is that the cabinets above the table and couch areas are not as tall (in fact, won't even accommodate a cereal box, so I have had to change a lot of the ways I stored things in them. 

So, here are some shots of the storage:

 You can't seen the labels, but one holds spare shelf and drawer liners and one holds those plastic command hooks, as well as zip ties and electrical tape.   I find zip ties and command hooks (the removable ones) also an essential. 

 This jumbled mess is the "stuff" for the dogs.  Treats, medicine, first aide, flea and tick stuff, shampoo, collars, vaccination records, etc.  Traveling with and packing for two dogs is not nearly as difficult as traveling with children, so this one cabinet seems to be plenty (oh, except their raincoats are stored under the bed and their food which is in another area and their beds.....and......)

 These totes hold snacks and breakfast and protein shake ingredients.

 These are ready for lunch items; bread, chips, crackers, etc.

 Dishes.  Now if you know me you know I am not a big fan of eating my dinner from a paper plate every day.  I know a lot of RV folks use only paper products when they travel, but I like a dish.  After much consideration given to space and weight, I settled on Corelle.  I can pick it up for about 25 cents at almost any thrift store and it is lighter weight than most dishes and pretty durable.  My "serving" bowls, for salad and the like are plastic, however.

 This cabinet holds paper plates, throw-away cups and paper napkins.

 This is for fire starters, our giant insulated cups we use as well as flashlights, battery powered lanterns cozies for canned drinks.  I should mention that those insulated mugs that I like so well do not fit in any of the cup holders. 

 I even use the microwave for storage.  Since it is just above where I put the coffee pot, it is the perfect place for creamers.  In the basket are a microwave steamer that I just love and a single serving crock pot that I can't live without.  I find storing this stuff in here keep the glass plate from rattling around so badly while we are moving.  I used to store kitchen towels in the microwave that helped keep it quiet, but in the new rig this works better so far.

 Coffee cups and plastic drinking glasses grace this cabinet.  I think the tension things are essential.  If I have one that is too short for the cabinet (since this is RV number three) I use it vertically as you can see here.

I used to use the pink corning ware cooker thing all the time even on the stovetop.  Then my good friend Janeen told me about the wonder of an electric skillet.  Now I use that almost exclusively to prepare things.  It doesn't heat up the RV as bad as running the stove burner and it is easy as pie to use and to clean.  So, this may be the last trip for the old corning ware cooking pot.  We shall see.

I know that I have many things that I probably do not need, but most of what is here are things that I have wished I had during a previous trip.  And, as I said before, there is plenty of room (so far).  I know I thought that about our previous RVs, but the more we traveled in them, the most room I seemed to need.  One of the good things about changing RVs is that all the stuff gets cleaned out.

 

 

That pretty much covers the main cabin.  The drawers hold flatware, kitchen towels, utensils, etc.

 

Just to keep you coming back for more, I will save the fridge, pantry (yes I have a pantry can you believe it!) and bedroom for another time!  Clever of me, right.