Progress on a couple of fronts:

 I've told you about the "before you can do that, you have to do something else" nature of this project. It can be frustrating, but, on the other hand, when you see different elements of the project come together, it's quite satisfying.

I'm dealing with two things on this project that have been recently controlling what gets done and in what order they get done.

1. These vintage campers are built from the inside out. So when rebuilding one you can't just finish the exterior and then proceed to work on the interior protected from the weather.
2. We are modifying this camper to make it the way we want it. Purists would say I'm ruining the little trailer, spoiling its "vintageness." To which I reply. "No, sitting in a backyard in Mt. Nebo WV was ruining it. I may not be restoring it to the standard of an aficionado of vintage trailers, but I am making it into something that my wife and I will enjoy (though Kathy is still not completely sure). If there are any plans for modifying a 1968, 15 foot, Frolic Camper, I haven't seen them, so there is some experimentation and trial and error involved. I'm trying to make the errors at a point that gives greater leeway for correction.

I was about ready to start putting the siding back on the sides (I wonder if that is why it is called "siding"?). But especially since I'm leaving some of the interior paneling in place, I needed to get the wiring roughed in. The little trailer actually has two wiring systems in it. Three, if you count the

running lights, that make it legal to pull on the highway. It had lights and a few receptacles, but I'm adding in a refrigerator, water pump, and a charger for the onboard battery. I'm also adding a 12-volt receptacle that will be useful for charging cell phones, etc. at times when we aren't hooked to 110-volt AC power. I figured I needed to get all that in while the sides are open. I wanted to make sure it all works. It does. PTL! The picture shows the power distribution center for the little rolling home, 110v AC on the left, 12v DC on the right. I'm preserving what I can, so I used the little 2 circuit fuse box that was in the unit. You youngsters, ask a grayhead about a fuse box. If the camper ever had a fuse box, or block, for the 12-volt circuits, it had been taken out long ago. So I got a cheap one from Amazon and put it in. So I don't scare someone who opens the cabinet, I made a

little screen to cover the wiring. It'll get painted when the rest of the cabinet does. 

Kathy and I decided that since there are only two of us, that we'd make the camper for two people. Almost all of the older campers are set up with a dining booth that can be converted into a bed, or, depending on your perspective--are you hungry or are you tired--a bed that can be converted into a dining area. Ours had one of those arrangements in the front of the trailer. We wanted to set it up, so someone could lay in bed and someone could eat at the same time. There was a couch/storage-box/bed along one side of the camper. We thought maybe could make a breakfast nook kind of unit there, but with the limited space and a wheel well in the way we weren't sure, so I needed to experiment while the wall was open. The anchor points for the table and seats need to be built into the wall. I'm glad to say that the idea worked.

I intended to get some pictures of the cozy eating area, but before I took the time to clean the area up, the light was gone. Stay tuned.

I got the final three pieces of siding painted. I started insulating the curbside wall and got one of the newly painted panels hung. There were about a million little things that I did along the way. I have the trim that joins the curbside wall to the front, roof, and back, pretty much stripped of paint and roof-goop and cleaned up. I learned a lot cleaning up the two front windows so I figure the rest will go quicker. In other words, I think I am, I hope I am, at a place where visible progress will be quicker.

In my life and in my observations of other's lives, I often see a similar paradigm at play. Faithfulness in

mundane tasks provides us with the where-with-all to take giant steps. Often those in Scripture who did great things, spent time in the wilderness, out of sight, grinding it out, so to speak, living lives that were spectacularly unspectacular. Yet, the lessons gained in that out of sight realm prepared them for their time in the spotlight. 

Do what you are supposed to do today. Only God knows what we'll face tomorrow.

After fifty-three years this light, 110v or 12v, still shines. It'll get some cleaning up and keep on throwing light into the darkness. Lord, may I be as faithful. Keep me shining. 

Amen.