Bed up top!

Well, because of the unexpected smaller size of fold out bed/seat in the van, we decided to go ahead and buy some wood to make the penthouse bed. Last weekend we went to a super cool wood store (yes, I am my father's daughter) in Berkeley called MacBeath's Hardwoods. We got some less expensive 3/4" birch  plywood for the bed (has lots of plys!). We also got awesome prefinished maple 1/2" plywood for the cabinets. 

So the bed up top is in two pieces. One piece is larger and ends about where Adam's elbow is. When the top is down, this piece actually hangs from the roof (raising it up). The second piece is smaller and remains resting on the rails (the sides of the top that hold the whole bed up) even when the top is down. The smaller piece can also be stored behind the seat below. 

We are going to get some thick foam and upholster it onto the boards. Double bed sheets will work just fine! 

Below is a bad picture of the prefinished maple just to give you an idea of what it looks like. It's really light in color but has a nice grain. It's not as "white" as the birch which both Adam and I like. 

Right now the prefinished plywood and the cushions from the bench seat/bed are being stored in our guest bedroom (also known as the cat's room). It's a little crowded in there, but what with 5 bikes, a motorcycle, stuff in storage, more plywood and hardboard, etc, the garage is full, too!

Cute picture of Carex:

Sportsmobile asked us to come back down to Fresno in December to have the top adjusted after we sent them pictures of the corner of the penthouse top that sticks up. So, we are planning on making a winter camping foray down near Oakhurst (I think) that weekend. 

Other planned travels include going to Sykes Hot Springs for a weekend backpacking trip with the dogs. We have been home every weekend for three weekends in a row--that's not like us!! We are both dying to get some exercise and spend time outside. (We found out about Sykes through another blog The Commentators ).