Adventuring with Amelia

We FINALLY got our replacement camper. It only took 4 months and 6 days. Not joking.

Our original camper was Amelia’s Make-A-Wish and we got it the end of September 2020. Amelia had been approved for a Wish in February, before the Covid lockdowns. However, Make-A-Wish stopped granting Wishes for a bit as everything and everyone was on hold. Her camper is a very basic and beginner friendly option. It was backordered for months and we were a part of that waitlist during the early Covid craziness.

We took the original 17B camper on LOTS of adventures from beach camping, to dessert camping, to everything in between. We visited National Parks, we roadtrip-camped to Minnesota and back to San Diego last summer. We boondocked, we did KOAs, we camped in the mountains, we camped at lakes, we even camped in my in-laws front yard. Our camper did just what we told Make-A-Wish it would do… it became Amelia’s home-away-from-home with all her supplies and got her out exploring and experiencing more of the world.

After our accident on March 9, in Louisiana, we have been dealing with insurance and the whole bit to finally get everything settled for our new camper.

Our original camper was picked up several weeks ago for the salvage auction for parts.

Fast forward to today… we picked up our camper at the Camping World of Manassas, VA. While the basic camper is the same there are some differences. Some of these differences are:

There is no 3rd drawer in the kitchen like the original. (Yes, I just punched that panel out today. More destruction/demolition to come…)

The awning on our new camper is quite a bit smaller/shorter.

The power cord to the camper just plugs into the outside and is not permanently attached with the extra cord stored under Amelia’s bunk.

The “wood” used throughout is a lighter grey, which already helps it seem a bit brighter.

Some of the sizing is just a little different. I’m not sure we will be able to mount the long tension rod with the curtain to close off the queen bed like we did the other one.

There isn’t a USB port charging station at the foot of the queen bed.

They moved the outlet and the hot water tank buttons, which is actually helpful to not have them to the left of the kitchen sink.

It only came with one battery… TBD if we need a second at a later time.

I’m sure there are more little differences… like the mattresses aren’t the “Teddy Bear” ones (which we kept from our original).

Now onto our demolition day…

But first, how our new camper looked when we picked it up today…

And here’s where we currently are:

DJ removed the entire dinette/couch and the bunk wall. The photo below isn’t ours, it’s the goal (minus the fact we aren’t adding a futon). I’m in a 17B camper Facebook group that people show their modifications and ask for help/get ideas. This group is a fabulous resource and motivated this entire demolition. We want to open up our camper to have more floor space for Amelia and our newest member of the family, our puppy Messi.

Isn’t Messi just the cutest puppy ever? Since he hasn’t been formally introduced on the blog yet, we have had him for about 1.5-2 months now. He was rescued in Puerto Rico and we adopted him thru a rescue group called Toby’s Rescue that flys puppies to the DC/Maryland/Virginia area to be adopted. He is the best!

Anyways… back onto our modifications…

I added a screen door protector today, knocked out the panels in the upper cabinet and added the mesh netting, knocked out the panel under the 2nd drawer, vacuumed up all the saw dust and metal shavings that I could (they are terrible about this and our first one was a mess too… especially storage spaces), added the mirror to the door in the bathroom, attached our magnetic board for our spices, added the paper towel holder, helped DJ a little with his demolition and picked up some pizza for dinner!

We have lots more work to do to get this camper ready to leave on another epic road-trip in July. Yep! We are heading to Colorado and then Minnesota. Adventures here we come!

Obviously, more modification updates to come! I’ll be sharing it all and our upcoming crazy adventures. We love to go “Adventuring with Amelia.”

Goodnight!