Please don't take my house!

One of the greatest things about living in a mobile home is that it's mobile. No need to pack for a vacation. Home-cooked meals wherever you go. Right? Well in this case, that mobile part, bit us in the ass!

We had four days off for the fourth of July weekend and decided to head up to LA. Universal Studios, Hollywood, Venice/Muscle Beach, Santa Monica Pier. We had a great weekend planned, and we were so excited to take the RV out of town for a few days. I had never been to Universal Studios before and it blew me away. We ran around the park all day long taking frequent trips back to the parking lot for snacks and to cool off in the Minnie's AC. It was about 95 degrees with hundreds, probably thousands, of sweaty people rubbing elbows. We rode all the rides, participated in the special effects show, where I got my arm 'cut off' and Jonathan got to fly like an astronaut, and best of all, we met a minion. Check him out

We couldn't wait to put our feet up and go to bed after an exciting day. We drove around Venice Beach, knowing that Santa Monica doesn't allow oversized vehicle parking at night, trying to find a place to sleep for the night. The street signs were confusing, so we found a city parking official and he pointed us in the right direction to avoid getting a ticket.

We knew parking would be a hassle later in the day, being Independence Day, so we found a great spot, just a block from the beach early that next morning. After eating Jonathan's delicious home-cooked hueveos rancheros, we went for a walk down the beach stopping to watch Germany clinch a spot in the World Cup semi's. Several hours later, we decided to make lunch in the RV and...

IT WAS GONE!

What a nightmare! Our house and everything we own got towed! We found another city parking official standing by who gave us our $100 parking ticket and the directions to the LA Police impound. Five miles later, hot, sweaty, and tired, we made it to the impound. It was closed. Duh, it's a holiday. Why would we want to get our towed vehicle back on a holiday? After calling the number on the sign, we learned we had to go another 9 miles to the office to pay for the release of our vehicle and then come back to pick it up. No way were we ready to walk another 18 miles so we called a cab. We just wanted our home back and hoped nothing was wrecked too bad from the tow.

Almost $500 later, ($100 parking ticket, $70 cab ride, $300 tow and release fee) we despised the City of LA and just wanted to go home to our peaceful beach in Carlsbad. And so we cut our weekend trip short.

A word of advice... read every street sign ten times over and don't get your home towed. It sucks!

Rig Improvements

The previous owner of the Minnie used it as a mobile office. This means he painted over the big window by to top of the bed, got rid of the couch/pull-out bed and the dining table, added a small table that he sat at with a folding metal chair, and added power strips everywhere for his computers, etc.

Since we're living instead of working in the Minnie, we obviously have to change a few things. The carpet felt dirt even after vacuuming and the wallpaper just looks too much like an old RV and not a beach home. Since the floor and the walls are foundational issues, we knew we had to start with those. The process took several weekend, but here are some pictures to show the start of the RV remodel.

The boring before

Starting to patch holes in the walls

Getting dirty scraping carpet glue away

Check out the wall color!

And the beautiful clean look of hardwood

We still have a long ways to go with new curtains, taking that ugly paint off the top front window, tiling the kitchen back splash, etc. etc. etc. It's hard work, but it feels good to do it ourselves. I've always rented and it's nice to own something and be able to customize it to our personal style.

Do you like it so far?