The Parker Travels

Our kitchen in the PUP has gone through quite the makeover! The first thing we did was rip the old stove out . That left this nice hole in our countertop where the stove used to be. We then took out all the drawers and cabinets, leaving more holes to fill…  Time to start rebuilding this galley. We primed and painted everything. Including the refrigerator door. That got a nice new coat of primer and then black chalkboard paint! The galley handle and chain cover also got a coat of black paint to match. New doors and drawers were built , primed, painted and installed as well.  Next it was time to tackle the countertop . Building the countertop from scratch was the best idea we had. It turned out so nice with its matching sink cover! Here we have all our hard work put together! The last bit we did to the galley was replace the basket strainer with a bar sink basket strainer  from Lowes. The old...

What a wonderful birthday gift from my parents! You know its a good gift if your husband enjoys it too! haha. Mom and dad bought us this new Camp Chef Explorer 2x Stove  and all the goodies! The stove itself runs off of propane and has two 30,000 BTU burners and a wind shield. Then there is a griddle attachment  that you can place over a burner for grilling, a drip tray  for grease to run off into and 2 folding red side tables . The whole thing folds down, legs and all, and fits into a carrying case . Kyle also bought this Wide Range Infrared Thermometer  which helps check the temperature of the griddle and burners. We love our new toy! We tested it out tonight and made roasted potatoes with onions and steak. Delicious! We also took it camping with us and made grilled onions and burgers for dinner. Very good! The thermometer is super handy when its time to clean up too so you don't fold it up while its still hot.

Updated: 4/29/17 Love is what this outdoor stove needs for sure! Lots and lots of love! By ripping out the stove from inside the PUP we now have spare parts to use to replace some of the more rusty and worn down parts on this outdoor version. The rest of it just needs a good scouring with a wire brush and some paint. We bought this High Heat paint by Rust-oleum  which can withstand up to 1200˚F. We also bought a wire brush set  with different types of tips to put into our cordless drill. Kyle already used some of them on the trailer tongue and they worked great! The latch is working well, just needs a good scrub. This hinge needs to be replaced. We might try and use the hinge from the indoor stove here and cut it down to size. If that doesn't work we can just replace it.  Hinge from the inside. This track looks good, this is where the outdoor stove will slide onto the side of the PUP. There is also a stand under the stove that props up a...

Update Below: 04/30/17 We have no use for an indoor stove, so we ripped it out! It took some persuasion to unscrew the gas line so we could take the stove out, but once we got it undone the stove came out in one piece. Easy peasy.  Now we need to cap this off, so we don't get gassed out every time we turn the propane on.  So much room for activities! Our vision is to possibly buy a larger sink, then use the rest of the space as extra countertop space. You find quick in a PUP that everything you do is to either make more room or storage space for everything that you plan on bringing! We plan on doing most of our cooking and cleaning outdoors, but its always nice to have a sink inside for brushing teeth, washing hands, quick tasks, etc. A larger one would be nice so we could wash dishes inside too but its not a requirement. The next step for us with this area is to build a new countertop to replace this one, cut a hole in it for the sink and t...