The Hudson has a hitch…. 11.25.13

Jim spent all day laying around.

Unfortunately he spent most of that time measuring, cutting and welding.

Funny…..it doesn’t look a bit different.

Oh….I forgot …you have to remove the license plate.

He did it this way so the receiver would be hidden when we take the hitch off. Then it just looks normal. He’s going to put a bracket on the hitch for the plate when we are towing.

This is what we’ll look like going down the road. The camper is white with black trim around the windows etc. The  interior of the car is white .….both the camper and the wheels on the car have a red stripe, so it kind of ties it together. We definitely are not going to paint the camper black to match the car! So this will have to do. I’d like to get some moon hubcaps for the camper to match the car.

We took it for a drive around the block….tows well. Can’t wait to take it on a test run at highway speed…and spend a night in it to see how the bed sleeps.

I don’t normally like an air conditioner. Much rather have a Fantastic Vent and windows open….but….in a place this small …a hot night would be very uncomfortable. Might have to rethink my likes and dislikes.

When someone asks why we have such a small camper….we tell them we had to have something to carry the AC.

Wild Asters, African Blue Basil and Honey Bees

I noticed Wild Asters while on the river. They were climbing Asters, I believe. When I got home,  I saw several patches of them growing along the canal near our place.

I started riding my bike to see what the bees were working and spotted another type of Wild Aster. They are on a stalk instead of branching out. Some are over 6’ tall. I guess those are the ones competing for space and sun.

My neighbor has two big stands of them and told me I could take all I wanted. I now have about 12 bunches planted around the edge of the woods and near the tree stump (above). I am hoping that they will reseed and I’ll have a lot more of them next year.

Here’s a few bees working the Asters. It did not take long for the bees to find them. I had some working on them as I planted.

This is where I put a few. I have one behind the bee hives, 2 in front of the tree stump and 1 behind it. The bees have been working the Bottle Brush, the African Blue Basil and the Asters.

When I walk under the Bottle Brush bushes in the front yard they are just humming with bees.

The white box below the Asters on the R is one of the hives. The other is behind the Cana Lillies to the L, almost behind the stump.

As you can see, the woods are pretty thick and there are lots of Palm trees. The 3 you can see are Cabbage Palms, but there are also Sable Palms a little farther in.

A closer look at the African Blue Basil. They work these from daylight to dark. I have 2 more that are bigger than this and 4 more that are a bit smaller.

There are at least 3 Honey Bees in this picture below.

This video shows you how busy they are. The plants in full sun get worked the hardest but there are bees on all of them.

I hope the Basil winters well. I’ll increase my number of plants next year if it does.

I really like the Wild Asters, but I don’t know how long they bloom. Late blooming plants are nice because it gives the Honey Bees something when everything else is gone.

The African Blue Basil blooms all summer.

We’re Goin’ Scampin’ 11.7.13

How about this little cutie!!

It even looks good behind the truck….but we bought it to tow behind the 1949 Hudson. Jim is installing new aluminum heads and then it will be off to Wayne’s (he has a lift). It will be much easier for Jim to weld the hitch on with it off the ground.

I didn’t realize it…but the red strip on the side of the camper will match the red around the rims on the tires…

Overall length is 13’ and 3’ of that is hitch. Less room than the front of the camper/hauler….but still roomy. It actually looks bigger in the above photo because I was closer to the camper when I took the picture.

I think it weighs about 1000 lbs, empty….. tongue weight about 100 lbs. It had been sitting in a sandy spot and had settled in a little… but Jim and I were able to lift the hitch  and move it ahead about 3 inches to drop it on the ball. I was surprised how light it was and that we were able to roll it forward out of the depressions.

It has a great bi-fold screen door.

 

The table drops down for a bed. ….(this is the original look)

We had trouble squeezing by the table so Jim shortened it. (It had been shortened in the past and then put back to normal ) Much easier getting in and out and gives the impression of a larger space. We’ll still need the extra piece for making the bed.

 

  The table drops down very easily…I was able to do it myself with no trouble.   Even easier now that it is shorter.                                                                                                                                                                 There are 3 windows with screens that open in the table area…and a small crank out over the stove and one in the bathroom. Should be plenty of airflow when in a rest area or truck stop and no electric hookup. Storage overhead for bedding etc.

Storage over the sink for dishes etc. 2 burner propane cooktop, small sink…silverware drawer and 2 small doors with storage behind them.

It has an “ice box”…literally…we’ll try it awhile but could put a small fridge there if we feel we need it.

It has a fresh water holding tank and city water hook up. Ice cold AC.

I wanted one of these toilets for our boat but it was a bit pricey. It has it’s own holding tank.

No shower….so it will be truck stops (we are very familiar with those), campgrounds or friends. Jim will put an instant on hot water heater in so we can do dishes, sponge baths and shampoos….kind of like trucking again.

Most people start out in small campers and work their way up to bigger ones when they retire…I think we got it backwards…but we don’t do a lot of camping other than weekend car shows and a trip to VA, NY and VT to see family…we can do it in this and have fun traveling in the Hudson.

Jim can’t quite stand up straight anywhere inside so he’ll be sitting a lot. We do need to get a bag awning so we can keep rain out  when the door is open and have a place to sit outside.

Lots of ideas…we’ll try it as is for awhile and gradually add things.

Jim has done a lot of work on the Hudson. AC runs great now and it is a very comfortable ride. We thought it would be fun to do some car shows away from home. The Hudson won’t fit in the car hauler/camper. So…this  will be up for sale, as well as, the 1929 Mercedes Benz Replica.

You know how it is….you just can’t keep all the toys.