Pop-up Pilgrimage

Our Pilgrimage into Pop-up Ownership and Travel

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You have to say goodbye in order for a new hello. No holding on to the past.

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Exploring the fields

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Tree bathing, out in Wander this weekend! So peaceful and relaxing

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We have arrived and are all set up for our camping adventure here in TN.

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The gentle breeze and the song of the cicada- this is bliss.

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Time to explore

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Finally finished the custom dining table and got it in place - what a beautiful addition!!! Other minor upgrades include a featherbed and new quilt for added comfort while we "camp". With this kind of luxury, can you really call it camping? Countdown to weeklong vacation in TN- 4 weeks!

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As I slept in our beautiful little camper last night listening to the night critters, I felt some long distant gypsy ancestor rise within me and say that this is right, and for a few fleeting moments contemplated giving up civilized life.

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First Morning Light

Oh what a sound the earth makes as it awakes. As the first rays of light are beginning to touch the sky turning the darks blues and grays of night into dazzling shades of violet, pink and orange, you can't help but to hear the enchanting song surrounding you, engulfing you and bringing you gently awake into the new day. Indeed, it seems as if every living creature has joined this choir to sing this song in honor of the Creator. Even without words, you can hear in the melody the purest of joy and though the voices number in the hundreds, they meld into one seamless refrain offering a cacophony of thanksgiving for this new day.

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"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and to see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." - Thoreau In the wilderness proof of a Creator is evident. In the forest we hear the cacophony of all creation singing his praise, we can see the glory of his hand and in the wind feel His Spirit.

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The 99.9% complete project. The kitchen table and valances are really the only things left out these photos but it started to rain...again, so I had to hurry and take Wander down before I got everything in place. 

All  in all, I am very pleased with the make-over. 

Summary of all the things we did:

1- move the sofa from the king sized bed end to the dinning room end. Cut the sofa down from a 3 cushion length to 2 cushion length and reupholstered (using dyed drop cloth), and Mark made a super cute end table for the couch.

2- Since there were zero cabinets in the pop-up, Mark built this cabinet from scratch. It is made from reclaimed barn wood, 2 old farm-house windows, glass removed and chicken wire in its place. Under cabinet storage and top-side storage are old cilantro crates found at a yard sale on the side of the road, and some peach baskets from of my Dad.

3- new window treatments all the way around which consisted of some more hand dyed canvas drop cloths and the bird pattern fabric from Hobby Lobby.

4- my “sink” is a galvanized wash tube, that brings back memories of playing in larger versions of this one when I was a kid at my grandparents’ house.

5- new flooring, which I love, love, love. It is a vinyl plank that is waterproof and looks like driftwood. 

6- paint of course, $5.00 a gallon from habitat for humanity. 

7- LED lanterns that look like old kerosene lanterns. 

8- camp toliet added and hidden under a custom made end table.

9- oillow, 2 made and 1 (the green VW bus one, obviously) purchased.

Last but not least, and my favorite- the decal applied to the wall on the king bunkend... and where Wander’s name came from!

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Rain delay 😢

So as it turns out the rain has put a halt on our first outing with Wander. I gotta admit, I was very sad that we didn't get to go as planned, but we never overlook the obvious: usually there is a good reason plans don't work out and this rain delay was no exception. Last night Mark discovered that one of the tires was in bad shape on the back side. God was looking out for us as usual so we didn't head out to SC and then end up shredding a tire on the way.

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After a good wash inside and out, the musty smell was gone and we could see the potential. We began measuring and drawing up new floor plans.

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And her name shall be called.... Wander

My amazing husband Mark finished all the hard work today installing flooring. And oh my gosh are they gorgeous!!! I hung curtains and did some last minute work hanging our lights and got the little camper packed in preparation for our debut trip this weekend. Praying for a change in the forecast because as of now, the forecast is calling for 60% chance of rain all weekend, and that could totally put a halt to our plans.

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Just a few things to finish up, like this, our custom-made maple table. Thanks to our back-porch umbrella, Mark is undaunted by the rain. Just a quick shout out and thank you to Elliot Guitars for the gift of this beautiful piece of wood. This table has a brother or sister somewhere out there who is living out its life as an amazing guitar.

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Just a little teaser photo before the big reveal on Friday! Still trying to figure out a name for this little guy (or girl). I like Waldo as in Where is Waldo this weekend, but I also like Calliope. Any suggestions on names?

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Welcome to the Blog!

Pop up Pilgrimage is a blog devoted to our passion for nature and to chronicle our adventure into Pop-Up Camper ownership. A little about us: Hi, I am Joanne and I will be the chief writer of this blog. I am truly, madly, deeply in love with my best friend and husband of 26 years, Mark. He and I share a passion for photography, bird watching and "tree-bathing". On any given weekend you will find us somewhere in the woods, cameras in hand trying to coax the local wildlife into letting us take their pictures. Our adventure into the camper/rv world started in 2015 when Mark convinced me to embrace the tiny house movement and move from our 3200 sqft executive home and downsize to a 40ft 5th wheel RV. I will be honest, in the beginning the process of letting go and evolving was not easy and there were some long nights when, living in 200 sqft you have to just talk through issues because you have no-where else to go. I am beyond grateful to Mark for his faith in me and his keen judgement that we should make that move. The process allowed me to really let go of alot of junk and faulty thinking I had held onto my entire life- namely that you need "stuff" in order to be happy. Sadly our going off-grid, living on a farm, having chickens and a garden and living tiny only lasted 6 months, but it was so very much worth it- in the process, we found a deeper relationship with each other, and renewed our faith. Fast-forward 18 months. Since technically we still own the RV but can't use it because it lives in FL with my dad, (we are back in NC now and love it) and we really missed our tiny living, and we enjoyed hiking and we love to travel... purchasing a small camper that we can pull behind our Ford Explorer made perfect sense to us- so we purchased a 2002 Coleman Sea Pine Pop-up. The Pop-up was in very good shape structurally, but being the kind who still wants what I want, I decided it needed a total make-over. With wonderful blogs on Pinterest, like popupprincess and others as inspiration, we began the demo and remodel. I have thanked God everyday that I am married to such a smart craftsman. On more than one occasion I have had to ask him how to solve some geometry issue I was having related to square foot calculations or yard to inch conversions! As I write this first blog post, we are 3 days away from the big reveal when we go down to SC to visit my Dad for Father's Day. This has been a whirlwind so far, doing a total remodel in 2 weekends. There have been plenty of sweat (mostly Mark's because he did all the really hard work) and a few drops of blood spilled in the remodel (mine mostly related to chicken wire and scissors).... gratefully there have been no tears! Thank you for reading and stay tuned. The plan for this blog is to treat is as a Travelogue and share tips for pop-up camping and share some of our amazing adventures!