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1. Shakedown for The Bug

   
   We traveled to Mississippi and did an overnighter at a KOA campground 150 miles away. It was a good test of The Bug's systems.

   The Bug Proves Its Metal

   This project has FINALLY reached its end. We just wrapped up a 300 mile round-trip overnight shakedown test of The Bug …

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2. The Air Conditioner

   Run Home to Mama: The Bug Pages

   I Did It My Way

   We are spoiled. All of us. Anyone born into the world of air conditioned summers is spoiled by that experience. We just don't want to even imagine life without that cooling hardware.

   The Problem

   Have you priced RV …

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3. Galley

   Run Home to Mama: The Bug Pages

   It's a Galley When It's Mobile

   One of the more important functions of our Bug-out trailer is meal preparation. So a full 30% of the interior space goes to food storage and cooking and cleanup. No surprise there. We all love to eat …

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4. Propane

   Run Home to Mama: The Bug Pages

   We Have a Really Good Case of Gas

   If you got bad news, you wanna kick the blues,
   Propane.
   When your day is done, and you want to ride on,
   Propane.
   She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie.
   Propane.
   

   

   Camping without …

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5. Water

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   Water: The Simplest System

   When I was thinking about fresh water, hot water, cold water, city water, water storage, water pump, water heater, etc., I was feeling a tad overwhelmed. It seemed like so much.

   Turns out it was one of the simplest …

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6. Bathroom

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   Head, Crapper, Showers, Bathroom, whatever.

   It seems a bit of a stretch to call this toilet/shower combination a 'bathroom', but 'shower/toilet combination' is just too hard to type over and over.

   I could revert to Navy lingo and refer to it …

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7. Power and Light

   Run Home to Mama: The Bug Pages

   
   Here is a recent photo of all the pieces and parts.

   
   Like everything else, it starts with pen and paper I write it down if I even think it might be important. Ideas are cheap and disposable. On the left are my earliest …

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8. The Bug: Tanks

   Run Home to Mama: The Bug Pages

   Three Shades of Water

   There are three tanks every RV needs:

   • Fresh water: holds water for washing and maybe drinking.
   • Gray water: holds kitchen and shower drain water.
   • Black water: holds the really nasty smelly biohazard stuff.

   I purchased all three of my …

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9. The Bug: Planning The Layout

   Run Home to Mama: The Bug Pages

   
   This is a good place to be. It took a LOT of work to get here. Learning never stops. Never.
   

   I have a long history of managing projects as I go.

   This project, however, was obviously too big to handle that way.

   So …

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10. First Steps - Disassembly

    Run Home to Mama: The Bug Pages

    
    The trailer had neither insulation nor a ceiling. First order of business: strip it down to the frame on the inside.
    

    I stripped out everything down to the steel frame on the inside of the trailer. Then I used a foil-backed foam board …

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11. The Trailer Has History

    Run Home to Mama: The Bug Pages

    
    The Bug started life as a working trailer.
    

    From 2006 until 2014 I was the sole proprietor, CEO and Chief Systems Engineer for Full Circuit Technologies, LLC. I normally flew everywhere and lugged my tools in huge Pelican cases in and out of …

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