This should be it...

[Guest]

Cathy,
Do you remember any names of nearby towns, what road you were on, or any landmarks?
Let's see if I can jog your memory; I'll throw some names out that are nearby where redwood trees and sand dunes are found in the same location or nearby each other, where you could camp.
Starting from the North and working South in Northern California...

Smith River
Crescent City
Mill Creek
Klamath River
Fern Canyon
Praire Creek
Orick
Redwood Creek
Freshwater Lagoon
Dry Lagoon
Stone Lagoon
Big Lagoon
Patrick's Point
Trinidad
Luffenholtz Beach
Moonstone Beach
Little River
Clam Beach
Mad River
Arcata Bottoms
Eureka

South of here...

Elk River
Cock Robin Island
Eel River
Ferndale
Wildcat
Petrolia
Mattole River
Lost Coast
Shelter Cove
Fort Bragg

Any Of These Names Ring A Bell?

[Arne]

Dean, nope, just trying to gain additional insite. You are fortunate where you live allows that type of thing. Here on the East coast, things are much more congested and finding any place along those lines would mean a trip to Maine, Tenn. or KY, maybe upstate NY..... but not here in CT, that's for sure.

We have 156 miles of coast line in CT (on Long Island Sound). 6 miles is public. Camping is very limited (state parks fill up fast in Jul/Aug)... 99% of the rest is marked "Private (ie, keep out).

[catrinka]

Sorry Dean, none of those sound familiar. I remember driving through Portland Ore. From there we went out to the coast through Salem and basically followed the coast line all the way down to San Diego. Not sure if this will help but I remember getting something made out of myrtle wood near the sand dunes. I think we will have to do another trip down that way someday to refresh my memory.

[Guest]

Cathy,
I talked with Joanie about this during breakfast this morning.
She thinks it is a campground near Fort Bragg and she may be right. Fort Bragg is an artsy little coastal town, it was featured in a movie called, "Overboard." (Goldie Hahn & Curt Russel)
Joanie is an educator and she has done extensive travels thoughout this world. She told me this area has the highest per capita of places to camp.
She told me that many places in this country don't have many campgrounds and some areas don't even have places to go backacking.

Arne,
That really surprizes me about CT, because when I went there and installed that stained glass ceiling in Foxwoods Casino, I remember saying to myself, "Man, I would sure like to come here to go camping sometime." (Maybe it was the fall colors, I'd never seen fall colors that intense before) I got a kick out of the everyone's accent and they told me that I was the one with the funny accent.

Mike,
I called my customer this morning and put them off until tomorrw.
(I don't remember the last time I did that) I'm going to take a day off from work and rest up for next week, so maybe, just maybe... I'll go plunk around in the shop today and get the material for the template glued up. I was reading Arne's post about what he would do different next time. He mentioned that 54" was too tall and next time he would go 48" tall, with a dropped footwell. (Hmm... That would sure cut down on the material cost)

[mikeschn]

I'll go plunk around in the shop today and get the material for the template glued up.

Good for you... take pictures!

I was reading Arne's post about what he would do different next time. He mentioned that 54" was too tall and next time he would go 48" tall, with a dropped footwell. (Hmm... That would sure cut down on the material cost)

I was measuring my model this morning, and comparing it to the Baja Benroy. In the Baja I have 39" of clearance between the top of the seat cushion, and the headliner. In the Lil Diner I have 41". Plus, I think there is too much headroom in the Baja. I have almost 6" of clearance, and Michelle has almost 9" of clearance...

So I did the unthinkable... I lowered the roofline by 2 inches...

My package is getting longer, lower and sleeker...

I'm updating the model now, and maybe later I'll have a rendering for you...

Mike...

[Guest]

Mike,
Yaa... I explained the 54" vs. 48" thing to Joanie this morning. My biggest concern is cost difference. I'm only 5'-7" tall and she is shorter than me.
She said that she doesn't get clostrophobic either. I took mesurements from the bottom of the footwell and 48" will work fine, but I gotta check the clearences needed for that dog-gone furnace. Maybe I can get a bit more creative with my duct work?
Oh No!...Does this mean going back to the drawing board?
Yes!
(I'm running out of file names, for when I post pics on nowherenews.com)

[Arne]

Dean, using 48" is one less seam to have to deal with also.

When I added on the back of mine (to the normal 8'), I didn't realize the luan was a slightly different thickness.... very easy to spot once I paid attention..... but the back seam shows up now because of the difference.

Seams just create problems.

----

I put the hinges in today, and actually had a door working.... ah, I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel..... next, door latches..

And to think, I really thought I might have time to put a hatch/galley in.... oh, foolish me..

[mikeschn]

Mike,
Yaa... I explained the 54" vs. 48" thing to Joanie this morning. My biggest concern is cost difference. I'm only 5'-7" tall and she is shorter than me.
She said that she doesn't get clostrophobic either. I took mesurements from the bottom of the footwell and 48" will work fine, but I gotta check the clearences needed for that dog-gone furnace. Maybe I can get a bit more creative with my duct work?
Oh No!...Does this mean going back to the drawing board?
Yes!
(I'm running out of file names, for when I post pics on nowherenews.com)

Oh, can I ever relate... I ran out of file names a long time ago...

Since you are only 5'7, same as I, this profile could work for you... The crutial dimensions are shown... that is, 17" from the top of the cushion to the floor, and 39" from the top of the cushion to the headliner. Get that right, and you'll be comfortable.

So the body is now 52" high, but since I am covering the 2" frame, the side panels are 54" high. I can't get it any lower without making it longer.



Mike...

P.S. Oh yes, I also worked in some storage in the front...

P.P.S. Oh that 20# propane tank, it's in a sealed compartment, accessable from the outside!!!

[Guest]

Mike,
I like the idea of the concealed propane tank, very nice.
Well, here's what I came up with doing a quick modifacation of things.
10'-6" x 4'. The table got a bit smaller and the furnace will need some duct work to attach to the register. I'm still able to keep the 60" x 80" bed. Each square is 3" x 3", look it over and see if you see any glaring boo-boos.
BTW I filed this as the "New Final Design" Maybe it should be called "Shorty's Special"

Well, Joanie just found out I'm taking the day off, so I just got intercepted away from my shop for some time out on the bay. I'll check back in a while.

[mikeschn]

Hey Dean... it's no good... you are too low... your head is hitting the headliner. So is Joanie's... Better raise the roof a touch...

Remember you want at least 36" PLUS at least 3 to 4" clearance... and don't forget, you have about a 1 5/8" thick roof section, which you are not showing...

Mike...

[mikeschn]

Hey Dean... I have a model for you ... give me a minute to export it...

Mike...

[mikeschn]

Okay Dean,

Here ya go...

download this...

http://www.mikenchell.com/images/deansdesign3.wrl

and look at it in ModelPress Reader...

Here's a sneak preview...


Mike...

P.S. There's another wrl viewer for those of you that don't like Model Press viewer...
You can download that here...
http://www.parallelgraphics.com/products/cortona/
If you don't need to be able to scale it... if you just want to look at it, then Cortona is all you need... and it runs inside Microsoft Explorer...

[mikeschn]

Here's how it looks in Cortona... I will say, it's a lot less effort to pull it up in Cortona... but it's wild... it's all over the screen... here's a sneak preview of Cortona...



Mike...

[Guest]

Mike,
I can't open it, I guess I need ModelPress Viewer.
Is that a free download?

EDIT: OK, I found ModelPress and I'm downloading it now. (gonna take awhile on this hardwire phoneline)

[mikeschn]

Yes, it's a free download... grab it here...

http://www.modelpress.com/3ds-viewer.htm

Mike...