blueberry.taco build and adventures

spent a nice week+ up in the upper peninsula of Michigan

gotta take a picture at the Mackinac Bridge to start the trip


found a beautiful new spot we'd come back to again



got to enjoy our new alpacka raft too


dog enjoys the sunshine

had some good appetizers


more sunshine naps


pie iron meals

 

next place we checked out was all the way at the tip of the keweenaw peninsula. basically the northern tip of Michigan
went a bit farther on the rocks than most subarus are probably willing to go, so we had the place to ourselves (and the 100000000 mosquitoes)
first day was a rain out, but the camper kept us dry and comfortable, got to read a book for a day, which i never seem to have time to do recently, so that was a nice change of pace.

in the small gaps between rain we braved the skeeters and took some walks along the beach

 

Jesus H. Christ

 

after the rainy day we were treated to days of sunshine and fewer mosquitoes due to a steady breeze.
i hooked a beautiful giant rainbow trout off our raft but because i forgot to pack a net we tried paddling to shore to reel it in but it jumped off the hook before landing it.
so we starved that night. no not really, fridge and pantry are still stocked so we still ate well, just no fresh trout. maybe next time.

 

last location we found was just too epic and nice to share details on, so only some non-location-giveaway pics on here
great long sunsets (due to the high latitude) and nice firewood (driftwood) all over


nights got a little chilly so the dog enjoyed some blankets


Michigan beaches mean rock hunting. I don't know exactly what I'm looking for but found a collection of pretty ones.
some might be Agates?


more fires


more deliciousness


more attempting to catch fish


and a fun pic showing how our dog likes to travel. and a trail turtle


aaand finished off the trip with another bridge picture, just a little dirtier.

 

Here's a photo of me getting ready for work...

 

Amazing build with the FWC ... a lot of what I had in mind for my 2019 AC prior to lockdowns. Your garage is also nice!

Congratulations on the build and wow, what awesome memories you'll continue to have! Thanks for sharing.

 

This thread has not disappointed. Bravo

 

We’ve constantly snagged little branches and collect leaves on the awning hanging off the side, so finally made a little skid plate to help deflect the brush around the awning and not get snagged, or a hypothetical nightmare of the awning getting totally ripped off the camper. Had to add the complication of the hinge due to the roof latch being immediately in front of the awning and requiring easy access while being unable to relocate it. Gas spring both keeps the ramp open or closed, but not in between


Getting a little busy back here but the shovel has a non just-ratchet-strap-to-something home and the upper frenched ring doubles as a rod holder when we camp by water.
Bonus: fresh coat of paint on the rusty shovel because it was getting embarrassing to look at

 

That mount you have for the Maxtrax and shovel is nice I need something like that for mine

 

Productive weekend for the camper: checking off a few things from the never-ending list of small annoyances and updates to do.
Fresh (warranty replaced with no hassle from Overland Solar) solar panel mounted on a better fitting and appropriately trimmed frame. Factory frame was too long with jagged cuts that constantly snagged branches, hoping it having less overhang and 60deg lead-ins helps mitigate that annoyance. This is boring as a photo, but shortened and beefed the wiring between truck and camper. Factory wiring was about 10awg and snaked back and forth about 15 ft.
It is now 4awg and down to about 4 ft to the charge relay. Also relocated the water tank sensor wiring that for some reason ran outside the camper from factory. We’ve smashed the originally relocated to under the bumper rear view camera (since we don’t use a tailgate) on various rocks so it was time to give it a safer home. Now mounted on the camper rear door, it has a better downwards perspective to hopefully help make backing up a less scary endeavor Relocated the thermostat from the “constantly smashing my hip into it” corner of the cabinet (far right holes) to a slight inset that hopefully sees less hip traffic. Now I just need to come up with a clever way to hide the original Tstat holes.

 

These updates look great! I really like the camera relocation!

For the thermostat, I've switched over to

$30 Emerson Thermostats 1E78-140 Non-Programmable Heat Only Thermostat for Single-Stage Systems, White

digital. Something you might consider. The one I use might not fit the space, but they do make

$39 Honeywell TH1100DH1004 Horizontal PRO 1000 Non-Programmable Thermostat Heat Only Dual Powered Backlit

horizontal "heat only" ones. For me, it's so much easier to dial the heat in, compared to the sliding switch.

Also, for the hole, you might consider switching to the Lagun table, and adding a 2nd mounting bracket there. We love ours!

 

What paint did you use on the leafs?


Very nice & functional build

 

Thanks! We've only used the furnace about twice so far, and basically just turned it on the minimum temperature setting possible, so haven't felt a need to upgrade to a different t-stat yet. But then again we're still so used to tenting in cold weather too so maybe we just need to learn to embrace the glamping some more and turn the heat up more often.
Interesting thought about a second bracket for a table. Do you have a pic of how you're using it? I feel like that would get in the way of "walking around" inside the camper.

that was just some generic rustoleum gray enamel i brushed on. the leafs came pre-painted but they ship bare so UPS really beat them up enough i needed to cover them with something.
Historically my experience is that leaf springs will never hold paint long term, they just flex too much, so I didn't put much effort into prettying those up, hence painting them as a pack and not taking them apart to paint each leaf individually.

Recently I've discovered "Seymour stainless steel paint" which seems both durable and flexible so in the future I'd be painting leafs with that paint instead.

 

You might be right about walking around the camper. Our Lagun table is mounted like this, but some folks do get creative, like this upside-down mount for an outside table. For example, if you had another mount up high, then the table might double as a kitchen prep and/or bedside table.

 

Thanks man, similar situation here. Just got my Icons delivered and UPS put some nice scratches on them lol

Which, I fully understand but would like to throw something at least to cover them for a few weeks

 

labor day weekend we headed towards Drummond Island.
Drove northwards after a workday so decided to find a little dispersed campsite on Lake Huron.
Enjoyed a nice sunrise

and then headed to the ferry to make our way to Drummond Island.

Our 'usual' camp spot was already taken by some Jeeps so we crossed some light water and mud and headed to a new area to us called Shale Beach and found a nice area far from where all the side by sides like to take pictures by the water.





just before getting onto the beach we managed to bump a slippery rock just enough to bounce us sideways into a tree.
Most rigs would have had no issue but due to our width up high, we managed to smash the brand new awning skid plate I just finished up prior to this trip.
Thank god I had that, pretty sure the awning would have been a goner if the skid didnt take the impact.


and during regular inspections at camp I found the stock turnbuckles had yielded, most likely earlier in the trail where I had to climb some rock steps and needed a little bouncy action to get over it.
luckily this is a common enough issue on these campers so I already had spares on hand (left hand in picture) which should hold up to a little more stress before giving out.

 

our dog's ear being up is the first indication of the crazy wind we were in overnight.
the truck/camper was being buffeted by the wind but FWC sure knows how to make their soft sides taut! no wind noise, no issues.
I know roof top tent people would have hated sleeping in that wind storm!

 

next morning we had a friendly snake join us for breakfast

I adjusted the awning which no longer opened smooth after the bump (now it's 100% good again, whew)


and we splashed out way back onto the trails after a nice "fancy ramen" lunch






(I admit we went back and forth through this long water just to get the perfect insta-shots!)

and then back to the same place for camp




Aurora Borealis visited us that night

 

I never seen a shop/garage with tape onto the floor before... This is first for me.