Our Turtle lost it’s shell!

 Here we are dancing in the Coconino National Forest….with our “Turtle” in the background.

Yes, the Turtle is our “gem” green F350 with a slide-in camper on it’s back, hence the “Turtle.”

Our truck has had the camper on it (with very few exceptions) since the day we bought it over 12-1/2 years ago.  We have gone on seven 5+ month long road trips and spent over 3-1/2 years sleeping in our Turtle. We have traveled all over our beautiful country, camped in dispersed areas far away from any other people, and seen sights and marvels that we never even knew existed.  

It has been a glorious journey…..traveling through life together!

This week we removed the shell from the Turtle.  We hardly recognized our truck. It is no longer our Turtle.  It is now just a big-assed truck, albeit a very dirty big-assed truck. Although the tailgate is remarkably clean with no desert pinstripes because it has been stored in our garage for the past 12+ years.

And the turtle shell is now nestled under the pine trees next to our cabin.

After all these years you may ask, why we disassembled the Turtle?  It isn’t because our road trip days are long gone as we near 80 years old.  No way!

It’s because Owen, Mila, and our four grandchildren, Hannah, Vernon, Robert, and our littlest grandchild in Mila’s belly are going to live in our cabin for the winter—while we migrate south to our sunny, warm home in Leisure World, Nuestra Casa.

Owen, Mila, Hannah, Vernon, and Robert playing around at the log cabin that Owen is building for them on their property north of Spokane:

So now our cabin will be their home this winter, and our snug little Turtle shell will be our winter retreat!

We have spent the last several weeks getting our cabin ready for Owen and Mila….AND child proofed! Which means emptying all our drawers and closets, removing all poisons and cleaning supplies, and storing all our possessions and breakable knickknacks in our shed (which our grandson Alden has named the Squash—don’t ask why.  We’re not sure, except that he said since their shed is named the Pumpkin, our shed should be the Squash. So Squash it is.)

We put a small oil filled radiator heater in the Squash to keep the pipes from freezing that run from the cabin to the washer/dryer.

We have spent days making the cabin child-friendly and safe, and installed beds in the spare bedroom (which we have renamed the Children’s Room).

Here are some photos of the recent transformations of our cabin….

Gate installed at the bottom of the stairs to the loft:

And a gate at the top of the stairs:

Wire and rope securing the china cabinet to the wall and preventing the little ones from opening the door:

Folding tables placed against the rail on the edge of the loft to keep the little ones from squirming through the rail and falling to the floor below:

Children’s table for crafts, writing, and play area in the loft:

Door locks on the kitchen cabinets:

Created a “dining room” for family meals:

The Children’s Room….

 

Inflating Hannah and Vernon’s bed:

Robert’s portable crib:

Children’s beds ready for a long winters nap:

More baby necessities:

We replaced our vintage mugs with colorful enamel cups, so our dear little grandchildren won’t need to worry about breaking Grandma and Grandpa’s cups….not that we’d care if they broke them.  They are just things, and can always be replaced!

We are so happy that this little, growing family will be nesting in our cabin for the winter….just a few hours away from us.  And when we visit them, we will “camp” out in our beloved Turtle shell. 

We will live close enough to see them often….and experience the marvel and wonder of the world through Hannah, Vernon, and Robert’s eyes.  And we will get to share in the miracle of new life growing inside of Mila.

The sign that we installed today outside the back door of the cabin says it all….