See the USA in a Car Camper

During Medieval and Tudor times, women of noble birth would stay home for a period before they gave birth. This was commonly known as “lying in.” This period started when their “condition” became obvious. The women went into their private rooms which were closed off and tapestries were hung over the windows to block out light. They were attended by other women and no men were allowed. This was a time when large families were cherished. This is a family reunion picture of one of my dad’s brothers.

I think our lives are going to change drastically. We need to be creative and original. My neighbor and I are practicing social distancing in my garage. We open the man-door and the garage door, put our masks on and set up some lawn chairs at least six feet apart and close to the outside air. It somewhat feels like an adventure.

Yesterday when she came over we started talking about what we can do to visit our grandchildren. Both mine and hers live in New York. We have, of course, ruled out flying, or going by train or bus. So she is thinking of turning her car into a temporary bedroom. She doesn’t trust hotels either.

This idea is appealing to me. So turning to google it was easy to find information and products to DIY or find the completed product to buy or rent. Yatoo turns your car into a camping car. They have three modules: The TIPOO, the LIDOO, and the KINOO. I really like the LIDOO.

An ESSENTIAL for car camping is keeping your electronics charged. You’ll want a battery pack that can be recharged by solar power. There are several options available for solar panels: panels only, panels with integrated storage batteries and panels with separate storage batteries. For advice on choosing the right one for you, click here.

There are many car camper conversion kits to purchase so you can use your car for long trips. This turnkey minivan camper conversion looks affordable and relatively easy and includes seating for 4-5 people depending on your minivan, a bench seat that folds out into a bed, memory foam mattress. The kitchen features a sink with 3-gallon fresh water and 3 gallon gray water tanks, flip-up locking table and storage for a cooler, stove and pots & pans. There is under bed storage. It also has options that will make your travels more like home.

UhOh. I just found camper/trailers for smart cars and they are sooooo cute! Check it out here.

Having never camped a day in my life, all of this research made the project too complicated for me and I knew it would never fly with my husband. Then I found out there are several options for renting for long term or short term trips. Now that appeals to me as a way to possibly get to New York to visit my granddaughter during this coronavirus. This site might give you some alternatives for renting.

Our current “lying in” period is a perfect time to make some changes in our life. If we want to protect our health, we will need to be a little creative. The car camper may not be the answer for a trip to New York to visit my granddaughter but it is a start to thinking out of the box and maybe creating a new family memory.

Real Estate Update April 30 through May 25

According to the MLS statistics, the period from April 30,2020, through May 25, 2020, there were 164 new listings in St Louis City and 358 homes went under contract during that time. The St Louis County statistics show that 309 homes were listed and 1472 went under contract during that period.

A breakdown by price point of these totals (both St Louis City and County), indicates that in the $0 to $300,000 price range, there were 365 new listings and 1259 went under contract. In the $301,000 to $600000, during this period, there were 182 new listings and 421 that went under contract. In the $601,000 plus price range there were 121 new listings and 151 went under contract during this time period.

Through mid-March, year-over-year showing activity was higher nationwide compared to 2019. The current volume is indicative of the industry’s response t, which is changing daily.The data points represent a rolling weekly average in ShowingTime’s 100 top markets, with each market recording tens of thousands of appointments in 2019 and 2020.

Statistics for Missouri