Bing's First Trip: A Surfer's Hangout, Glampin' Style!

Destination: Jordan River Campground, near Sooke BC on the wild, west Pacific Coast! 

Duration: Three Nights

Departure Date: July 11th, 2013

For my birthday this year, I wanted one thing only: to finally go camping in Bing either on or before the Big Day, July 17th. Doug's holidays started on July 8th so we set a hell-or-high-water departure date of the 11th and worked like mad to get Bing on the road. 

We succeeded! I didn't get any of my wall decor hung up in time, but who cares? We were off, on the road, actually out camping after 10 months of longing. Here's the story, starting with a few last minute projects I managed to squeeze in before we left. 

Pick a Pillow

I hadn't sewn any pillow cushions for Bing, and I wanted everyone in the family to have a special one to take glamping. My daughter is in love with cheetahs and had picked out a cheetah-print swatch in the Sidney Captial Iron a couple of months ago. I also had a quilting panel of retro Little Golden Book covers that I'd intended to use in some way for my little guy, Graham. I decided to pull everything together following this Annie Sloan online tutorial for a simple, trimmed edged pillow cover: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjsyxp-Smgs

I appliqued the train picture onto a fun checkered patterned fat quarter I had in my stash. I love the retro look!

This pillow method gives you two finished sides. Simply flip the pillows over for a completely different look. Ariel and I have this Paris thing going on, so I cut out a French Patisserie graphic from a tea towel and appliqued it onto some plain pink cotton for the back of Ariel's cheetah cushion. Here's what the pillows look like on the backs:

Project: Pack a Glamper

Here are Ariel's things, all packed and ready to go.

And Graham's glamping goodies, including a red plaid shortbread tin for his matchbox cars.

They each get a roomy drawer under the front bunk for their clothes and toys. The drawers were originally rough, unfinished, and grimy, so I painted them inside with several coats of white melamine to make them nicer to use. They are big enough for a week's worth of clothes.

I still didn't have a curtain for the bathroom, so I quickly sewed a piece of ribbon onto the tops of a pair of vintage embroidered guest towels from my linen closet and hung them up with some curtain clips I had in my crafts room. Later, I'll paint the curtain hooks white.

We also bought a Dometic 19L portable toilet from Canadian Tire, which proved super easy and clean to use. During our entire trip, I was so darned glad Bing has a bathroom!!

I also used up my Martha Stewart chalkboard paint on this swatch of wall in the bathroom, and embellished with the same plastic scroll work stickers I decorated the fridge with. Unlike the rest of the glamper, the bathroom has lots of wall space, which I plan to decorate!

I bought a closet organizer from Canadian Tire for my clothes and Doug's.

This shoe holder on a hanger from Homesense kept all our toiletries and loose items organized and within easy reach in the closet! We were packed and ready to go!

Hook 'er Up and Hit the Road!

Jordan River is a teeny logging community about 30 minutes northwest of Sooke on Vancouver Island (about two hours from our house on VI's southern tip). It's a favourite hangout for surfers, especially in winter, when the seas kick up some decent wave action, albeit in freezing cold conditions! The view encompasses panoramas of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, with the mountains of Anacortes, WA and remote Cape Flattery across the other side. It's a windy spot, but one of the best places on Vancouver Island to camp pretty much right on the beach.

We picked a site made private by a small thicket of blackberry and trees, parking Bing on a little plateau above the mouth of Jordan River. The beach is covered in rocks worn smooth and round from the constant pounding of the surf. Those rocks are fascinating enough to keep any geologist happy--next time I'll take along my old geology textbook and attempt some rock identification! Ariel collected several dozen swirly, sparkly, marbled specimens, some of which she is sure are ancient dragon eggs, camouflaged among the regular rocks while they incubate for several thousand years. Of course we didn't keep them all, but I believe Ariel and her dragon egg collecting habits could give Lucille Ball and her Long, Long Trailer a run for her money.

The mouth of Jordan River spilling into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Pinch us--we're finally glamping!

Time to frolic.

That first night, I celebrated with a carton (doesn't have the same ring as bottle, does it?) of this organic red wine. Scrumptious. I wish I knew the story behind the silver-plate wine glasses, but I can only speculate because I found them in a local thrift store for a $1 each. They're engraved with the names Frank and Jane. Who are (were) Frank and Jane? What special occasion warranted the engravings? (A silver wedding anniversary? A long ago wedding? A gift from a friend?) And why did their special occasion glasses end up in the thrift store? I'll never know, but it's fun to speculate about Frank and Jane. And anyway, the glasses are practical. Glamourous in a quirky sort of way, yet unbreakable. We gave 'em a good polish beforehand as I brought them home from the thrift store with Frank and Jane's fingerprints tarnished on. I suppose a little forensic science could have solved the mystery of Frank and Jane, but I just don't have the right connections for that.

This little cafe was a stone's throw from our campsite. Word had it they served up the best plate of fries this side of Victoria, so we headed over for a snack. The fries were delish, as was their coffee--the best cuppa of my life. The outside railing is fashioned from old logging/shipping salvage from the beach. Incidentally, Doug found an identical piece of chain and we brought it home. We'll seal in its rusty patina with a coat of varnish and hang it up as wall art.

The cafe is ultra cozy inside. I can imagine surfers warming up in here all winter. Cool, dude.

The playroom is also wicked awesome.

After lunch we headed down the highway about five minutes to the trailhead to Mystic Beach. The hike is rough, and takes you through rainforest and even over a suspension bridge. Adults in decent shape can get to the beach in about 45 minutes, but we had a pair of tiny legs with us so the journey was more like 90 minutes both directions.

The beach is worth the hike, don't you think? Gorgeous.

There's even a huge cave...

A trapeeze swing slung over a tree teetering over the edge of the cliff above...

And a waterfall. In summer's drought conditions, the waterfall's more of a splash, but in winter, great gushes pour down onto the beach.

Nothing's more fun than dragging around a strand of sea kelp all afternoon.

By the time we got home to Bing, we were all wind blown and happily exhausted, but not too tired to accomplish a few housekeeping chores. Graham does love to sweep...

That night, Jane and I celebrated a gorgeous day and the glory of glamping in Bing with a tiny bottle of sparkling wine. Cheers!

The view from the dinette while I poured my champagne.

The third day, we hiked to China Beach, which has its own provincial campground in the trees with a ten minute hike down to the water. The trailheads to China Beach and Mystic Beach share a parking lot which is just up the road from Jordan River. You can actually hike along the water to China Beach, even at high tide. Mystic Beach tends to be more wild and windy, while China Beach, at least on this day, was hot and full of people there to play, like us.

Higgins found it a bit hot, so we tucked him into a shady spot near a pile of driftwood.

After another day in the sun, Graham was happy to snuggle down for the night, even though the sun was still up outside.

Ariel befriended a little girl at the campsite next door, and they were thick as thieves the entire weekend. See the sunset reflected in Bing's dinette window?

I built a fire and the girls spent their last evening romping through the tall beach grass until late at night.

When the moon set, it caught fire and burned deep orange as it sunk into the sea, while the bonfire further down the beach burned well into the night. A stunning end to our first adventure in Bing.


Now you tell me--does life get any better than this?

A Quick Project: Vinegar Spray Bottle for All-Purpose Cleaning

When it comes to household cleaning agents, I'm pretty much a vinegar and baking soda kinda girl. I like to keep a bottle of vinegar handy for spot-shot cleaning around the house. 

I'm kind of an upcycling nut, too. I'm always fishing stuff out of the recycle bin--cans, jars, bottles, you name it--and jazzing them up with scraps of fabric. (We'll talk about my fabric obsession later.) 

In my stash was this empty Norwex mattress cleaner bottle--the perfect size for all-purpose cleaning jobs in Bing! I decoupaged on a swatch of chevron print canvas, a bit of lace trim, and a freebie apothecary label from Cathe Holden's blog, Just Something I Made (justsomethingimade.com). I painted "Vinegar" onto the blank label with acrylic paint, and sealed everything with two coats of decoupage glue.

Even utilitarian items need a bit of Va-Voom, don't you agree? If a girl's gotta clean house, she may as well do it with flaire!

More Bling for Bing

For a collector and vintage-lover like me, the treasure-hunt for Bing has been more fun than any pursuit I've taken up in a long while. Right now, these treasures are piled on the dinette table, waiting to be hung on the walls or tucked in the appropriate drawer or cupboard.

Now here's a crooner whose golden voice captured my heart even as a little girl. I can't resist those eyebrows, can you? 

My camper's namesake will have his portrait--an original, 1945 magazine ad I found on eBay--hanging in a place of honour in my glamper. 

Ah, Bing.

Just for fun, this is what's on the other side:

I've wanted a coffee carafe for years, but never found the right one until I spotted this little gem in a thrift shop:

We found this for $5 at a local dollar store and cut it to fit the doorway. It won't stay white long, of course, but it can easily be washed.

We couldn't resist this retro bicycle from Homesense. It actually works too. Graham fell in love with it and I let him play with it until we discovered that, like a real bicycle, the chain is greased. They say you have to learn the hard way; let me just say that black grease doesn't look good on my brand new, red cushion covers. Don't panic: the grease came out. 

Whew!

My dad has saved probably every single license plate since before I was born. This one used to perk up our family's boat trailer. 

B.C. 74. Just like me: born in British Columbia in 1974. 

I bought this DVD collection on eBay. The movies are hilarious, while the cover makes for perfect wall art for Bing!

This eight-place cutlery setting was a total score at Wal-Mart for only $12! Ariel and I did a happy dance right there in the store when we spied this set. Not vintage Bakelite, mind you, which would have been groovy...still, this set has lots of little forks and spoons perfectly sized for children's hands. They are decent quality too--stainless steel with plastic handles.

LOVE!

A fellow glamper sent this little Mary Engelbreit plaque to me all the way from Nova Scotia. Too cute for words. Thanks, Beth!

We had camping tumblers just like these when I was a kid! Talk about a trip down memory lane...I just picked one up and suddenly, I could smell the sun-baked forest floor of the Cascade mountains. Had to have them because they trigger so many memories! 

Another Wal-Mart score: 98 cents each.

I'll add a few (or maybe only one) of these stick-on mirrors to Bing's bathroom door so we can get our glamp on at camp without risking broken glass from fallen mirrors. You know, seven years of bad luck and all that...

Every glamper needs a little Paris chic, non? A French soap label is just the thing for the tiny water closet. 

Ariel and I have this thing about Paris. Someday, we'll take a trip there together. For now, we can't resist anything depicting the Eiffel Tower, Parisian cafes, or French-looking bicycles. We happily dug these sweet stickers and cards out of a discount bin at Michaels. 

We love Paris in the spring time, we love Paris in the fall...

I picked these plastic picture frames up from a thrift shop months ago, planning to repaint them with Annie Sloan Chalk Paints and hang them somewhere in the house. But I think I'll hang them in Bing, instead, to pick up all the gold accents. What should go inside the frames? Hmmm....

What shall I do with these? Not sure, but I adored the colours. I'll probably string ribbons through the tops and hang them somewhere, like little ornaments.

Doug's grandmother (pictured in the bow) was an avid paddler, and this cedar-strip Peterborough canoe is still in the family. I think this photo belongs in our travelling cottage.

You know what? I wish Bing had more wall space.

A Chalkboard Fridge

I always had my heart set on using chalkboard paint somewhere in Bing. I just love the idea of incorporating kid-friendly features like that into a camper. You never know when it's going to rain, right?

I finally decided on the fridge door for my chalkboard. I wasn't crazy about the idea of painting it black, or green--the other institutional colour of choice. Fortunately, Martha Stewart offers some interesting colour alternatives, like this pretty blue and soft greyish brown:

Here's the door before:

And after three coats:

Just for fun, I added some pretty scroll work stickers from the scrapbooking section at Michaels:

I was hesitant to add such a big block of blue to Bing's overall red, white and gold palette, but I think it's a fun shot of colour. I may embellish a little more with the stickers but for now, we have a pretty and functional chalkboard in an area where the kids can sit on the floor and create fridge-art all day if they like.

Excuse me while I get snap-happy....

I think the overall effect is: 

Spit 'n Polish: Before and After

I always love the spit 'n polish stage of any renovation project. It means the hard stuff's done and the fun part--the decorating--is about to begin. 

Before: The stove was grimy, greasy, and covered in rusty spots.

After: A little baking soda and steel wool did the trick for the grime and most of the rust spots. I couldn't get in around the dials perfectly, but it looks much better.

Before: The lino had decades of dirt packed into every groove. 

I got down on my hands and knees--Cinderella-style--and scrubbed with all my might. My tools? A Norwex SiriSponge and these: 

This shot shows both dirty and clean tiles:

The lino is totally '70s, but they don't look half bad now that they're clean. I'll probably never get all the discolouration out, but the whole trailer looks brighter and sparkly clean inside.

Some day, I'd love to have a black and white tiled floor. But for now, the old lino looks kinda pretty in its humble, retro way. Besides, the gold tones tie in with cabinet hardware, counter and table tops, and the heater grille.

I still need to do something about the rust around the fridge.

Now that everything else is starting to sparkle, this rust really stands out in an ugly way. But it's nothing that a little Rust-Oleum can't fix.

To Do List

The painting is done, we've installed the new tow hitch receiver and ball, and our mechanic wired the trailer brake controller and electrical receiver in our Ford Escape last week. We still have a lots to do before she's "finished," but aside from the safety check, we don't need to accomplish everything on our to do list before we take Bing on the road at last.

I don't plan to polish off all the decor all at once--I really want to savour the experience! (And let's face it, I don't wanna spend all summer sewing pillow covers!)

Bing's latest To Do List:

1. Re-install cabinet/drawer hardware and hang cabinet doors
2. Post-painting clean up: remove all tape, newspaper, plastic and put tools away
3. Scrub lino floor, polish aluminum trim/stove, and wipe down grimy ceiling wallpaper
4. Finish sewing curtains
5. Install curtain rods and hang curtains
6. Iron new cushion covers, put them on cushions, and move cushions back out into the trailer
7. Stop and admire. Take lots of photos to share online!
8. Install fire extinguisher and carbon monoxide detector
9. Fix hole in the bathroom floor where the icky old toilet used to sit
10. Buy portable toilet
11. Install toilet paper holder, towel bar and kitchen towel holder
12. Stock with dishes, cutlery and cooking utensils
13. DECORATE!!
14. Stop and admire and take more pictures to share online.
15. Sew pillow cushion covers
16. Make a small doormat and find something to use as a step stool
17. Practice towing!! (Eeep!)
18. Take Bing to RV shop for a safety checkup (tires, propane lines, etc.)
19. Pick our first glamping destination (hmmmm.....)
20. PACK 'ER UP AND HIT THE ROAD!