Scamp-ventures in Remodeling

Almost a year after we bought our beloved Scamp, we have finally completed the remodel! Luckily, we had a coupon for a Shutterfly scrapbook that was expiring on Aug. 1st to help motivate us to hurry it up so I could make a memoir of the process. That, and the insanely hot weather and forgiving race schedule helped buy us some time to work on the last changes.

Our lil 1981 Scamp was fully up and running when we got it, but the decor was a little worn and outdated in the original yellow / brown motif...

Over time, we replaced the yellow trim tape, curtains, and carpet with black. The 30-yr old cushions were replaced with brand new ones in steel blue. The woodgrain doors were redone in white.

Then, to take it to the next level, Hwood made shelves for me in the closet and some AWESOME doggy steps for Rosco to get up into the bed! Not only does he build up some sweet bikes, but my hubby can sure pimp out a camper!

I LOVE OUR SCAMP!!!! It has been so much fun updating it and making into our own lil home-away-from-home. I can't wait to get away again and go Scamping. And, even though our projects are complete, I can already picture more changes to come... like that woodgrain table... sure would look good if it were white to match the doors....ADDICT!

In love with Scamping,

Kristy Kreme

Scamp-venture 15: Rockin' Birthday in our lil Home away from Home

Hwood and I played hooky from work on Friday for a nice long weekend away to celebrate my birthday. We loaded up the Scamp with all our camping and mountain bike gear, grabbed the puppy, and headed south to the Bay City Campground for a great weekend of R&R with Devin, Anna, Pip & Rocket.

We arrived first to find our campsite to be right on the harbor (picture on their website was from the site we had!). We parked the car, opened the camper doors, unloaded the chairs and proceeded to lounge away as we waited for the fam to arrive on a beautiful Friday afternoon. Rosco was AWESOME - lounging lazily on his blanket and chewing on toys as we relaxed and let the weeks worries melt away.

Room with a view..

Once the full crew arrived, our camp was on! Devin & Anna set up a great bonfire and we chilled as we ate dinner and basked in the light of the tiki torches as the sun set on this midsummer night. Jay couldn't resist a lil "Roxanne" mock when a hot dog plunged onto the sandy beach before making it to the plate...

Come Saturday, we all lounged around with little to do (AWESOME!), slowly building up to an afternoon pre-ride of Sunday's mountain bike course in Red Wing just across the river. The course was awesome and we had a great time checking it out although the falling rain kept us from taking a 2nd lap.

We returned to our campsite for more relaxing, and even squeaked in some time with pending Scamp remodeling on our list - Jay finished the new flooring, black carpet as well as an awesomely zebra-striped step! I took some time to finish the white trim on the last window.

We had an awesome time chillin' out with our friends, playing frisbee, roasting 'mallows, and just enjoying the great outdoors. Thanks again for getting us out!!!!

Our lil home away from home

Grown boys racin cars on the beach

Cute lil Rosco P Coltrane relaxing in Scamp during his first Scamp-venture

Come Sunday morning, we were almost a lil too chill to race, but we saddled up anyways. The Pip rode awesome, finishing 3rd overall of the Expert/Pro women and winning her age group. I tried to hold up my end of the deal, taking 4th overall, 1st in my age group. Devin rode hard for 7th overall, 2nd Pro. Hollywood had a rough crash early in his race, so he hung out for a bit and waited for me to come around, and casually rode a Happy Birthday lap with me before finishing his race. It was super awesome when Jake, Alye, and Dana sang happy birthday to me as I ran up one of the hills on the course - thanks guys, you made my day!

Most of all, thanks to my super duper awesome hubby-extraordinare for another amazing birthday! I love you babe! And I love sharing in all of our camping and biking adventures with you and Rosco!

Happily Basking in my Birthday Memories,

Kristy Kreme

Scamp-venture 14: Appetite for Bikes

Before hitting the road for another Scamp-venture, Jay took me out to Hell's Kitchen to catch Adler's Appetite, Steven Adler of GNR's new band playing the full Appetite for Destruction song list as well as some new tunes. After watching Steven's benders on my sinful "Celebrity Rehab" slumming I did one season, it was funny to watch him live. I don't know what the program was, but he was on some Happy pills for sure, smiling away like a church camp counselor behind the drums as the rest of the band tried to look 'cool'. None the less, it was a sweet venue and a fun show - thanks Randy & Kendra for gettin' us out!!!

Saturday morning came early, though, and we loaded up the car & Scamp in a sleepy fog, just hoping we hadn't forgotten something important for the latest weekend Scamp-venture. We headed out to St Peter for the State Time Trial Championships and, for the first time in years, it was HOT and sunny, with temps in the 80's and humidity on the rise.

A Houdini-ish wind played tricks on us by staying away from the parking lot we congregated in, yet appearing on the course as a headwind that you weren't sure was there. The wind was so deceivingly strong that my return was 5 min. faster than the way out! Top that off with getting stung in the ear by a bee (plus finding a way to get it out of my aero helmet w/o skipping a beat) plus a leg cramp 6 miles from the finish, and you can imagine how happy I was with my time. It was my 2nd fastest time there ever, but it still wasn't a PR... nuff said.

My lovely & talented husband, on the other hand, had one of his fastest times EVER, winning the 40+ State Champion title! He's riding so amazingly well this year, it's wonderful to watch. He did the full 25 mi (40K) TT in only 54:41!! I am so proud of you baby!!!

With Jay elated & me still licking my wounds, we loaded up the bikes and kept the train moving on to Mankato for some quality time with the Scamp and a Sunday mountain bike race. The heat was intense and we were exhausted so, when we arrived at Mt. Kato, Jay pulled the lil Scamp under a shady grove of trees and we lazily worked on some remodeling projects as the puppy wandered around and chased butterflies.

Three mountain bikes, two TT bikes, and a pair of trainers and spare race wheels....Nice pack job, Hollywood!!!

I had ripped out the 1960's yellow carpet a few nites prior, so Jay used it as a stencil as he installed our awesome new, black carpet. A little later in the day, we saddled up and took a loop of the course to prep for Sunday and try to spin out the legs a bit. Even Smokey joined in the action!!

Single Track Smokey Episode 2 - Mt. Kato from Kristy Henderson on Vimeo.

The sun dipped low and the lightning bugs came out to greet us later that evening. We sat around a 'table' Jay built out of a bike box (for Sophie's bitchin' new TOMAC FLINT 29'er!!! -waaaahh!) and enjoyed dinner and beers with Caveman and his boys, and made new friends with Dana & Eric & their dog, McKinley. It was a perfect evening for camping with temps in the 60's, we left the windows open, and fell asleep to the sounds of crickets chirping away. We slept until the sun work us the next morning and lounged comfortably under our canopy of trees as the racers gathered and the heat climbed back into the 80's.

I pride myself on my 2nd-day racing legs, but this weekend just wasn't my weekend. Saturday's hard effort and leg cramps coupled with Sunday's heat and humidity turned out to be my kryptonite. From the get-go, my legs refused to cooperate and, as the sun beat down on the hillside, it became impossible to keep myself hydrated. During my 3rd lap, the goosebumps came out, the sweating stopped, and I started losing the ability to control my bike... so I reluctantly pulled myself out of the race. It was one of the most difficult decisions I've had to make, but i knew my health and safety was more important than riding 4 more miles of trail.

Even though the weekend's high temps had their way with me on the bike, it was still one of the best ever. It was so absolutely wonderful camping with my family this weekend, that I cannot wait to do it again. How did we go this long without a Scamp before?!

Jay, I love how you love to go on adventures with me!

Road-worn and cheery,

Kristy Kreme