SMALL SPACE LIVING TIPS #2

I've come to realize that a single linkpost will not be sufficient to hold all the suggestions for maximizing the efficiency of the very small space inside an Interstate.  That was my original intention when I set about summarizing the best ideas from the Air Forums thread on this topic.  For this reason, I've created a post category called SMALL SPACE LIVING TIPS under which I will continue to compile ideas.

Here are some expounds from our first overnight shake-down.

Farm animals?!  Beasts of burden!!  Four asses in four-mation!!  We did not want to stray too far afield before we had thoroughly tested all of our Interstate's systems, so our first trip could be described as "ranch sitting" or "ranch squatting" depending on your perspective.  That's perhaps a uniquely-Texan tradition whereby you temporarily occupy a portion of someone's ranch (with permission, of course).  

Throw the dog a bone - a "dogbone" adapter such as this one:  If you plan to use your Interstate off the beaten path, carrying both a 50-to-30 amp adapter as well as a 15 amp adapter is a good idea.  We had only the latter with us for this trip, and the unoccupied ranch had only 15 amp and 50 amp outlets (the owners usually park their own large Class A RV there, as the ranch currently contains no fixed habitation).  We hooked up to the 15 amp supply but that allowed us only limited use of our Interstate's resources, so it was a quasi-boondocking situation.  

Most of the suggestions I have in this post concern the management of food, meals, and associated waste.

You can take the camper out of the backcountry, but you can't take the backcountry out of the camper:  Thus far, I have been unwilling to drink water from the Interstate's fresh water tank without boiling it first.  And on this trip I was very glad for having done so, because we discovered that our tank was so thoroughly caked in slime and bacteria that the pump filter had completely clogged shut.  This despite the fact that we had flushed the tank twice prior to use.  We will, of course, fix this, but for this trip, I had to deal with some slimy water.

I recommend a stainless steel kettle - any brand but I like this one for its size and low center of gravity (CG).  It is unbreakable and almost un-tippable.  

The Tea Trilogy:  Years in the backcountry taught me that boiled substandard-quality water is most palatable when made into tea.  White, green, and oolong teas have far less caffeine than coffee, and the aromatic notes of the tea mask yucky water overtones.

That blue mug in the foreground is a GSI Outdoor product that I would not travel without.  It it one single item that can serve all of these purposes and more:
(1) Measuring cup for cooking.
(2) Drinking cup.
(3) Individual serving bowl for meals too runny to place on a plate (soups, stews, etc.).
(4) Leftover dish for either wet or dry food, refrigerated or not.
(5) Dog-proof storage container for snacks (chips, trail mix, nuts, etc.)
(6) General storage container for non-food small items (e.g., first aid supplies).
(7) Teapot, as you will see below.  

The Teavana Voyager is also a product I never travel without (in fact, I have two - one for work travel, and one for personal travel).  It includes two cylinders for tea storage (I store green and oolong) and an infuser.    

Years of experience have taught me that, with loose tea, a well-constructed submersible infuser is far better than any strainer or screen (those are just too messy).

In this GSI Outdoor cup, I can make a liter of tea at a time, retain some in the cup for immediate consumption, and store the balance in the thermal carafe  in the background for later consumption.  Very efficient.  

Here is the little silicone collapsible colander I mentioned in the first small space linkpost.  Four bucks at HEB (Texas grocer), or five bucks in Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  No link on the internet as of November 25, 2014, but it's on the shelf in both brick-and-mortars.  

You pop it up...

...and it has a bottom cap so that it does not drip.  Excellent product.  

The day we returned from this trip, I went shopping for the "right" pot to use in the Interstate, taking stove configuration and functionality into account (I had been using one of my old MSR backcountry pots).  The Anolon Advanced Umber 2-quart is what I found to meet the following criteria (remember to use your 20% off coupons if shopping at Bed Bath & Beyond):
(1) Aspect ratio (tall relative to width means large cooking volume for small footprint).
(2) Pour spout (two, in fact).
(3) Built-in strainer.
(4) Non-stick.
(5) High quality.
(6) Sold as open stock - you don't have to buy an entire set of pots, which is the case with most products.

This lid is genius.  

Anolon pot and older Calphalon frying pan fit perfectly on the small Interstate stove together.  A pot even one inch larger would have been too large for this space.  

I also picked up a silicone pot holder which also serves as a trivet for the wide-bottomed kettle, but I was not happy with the variety of silicone products I found at BBB.  Time to start surfing the internet for more.  

Also in the kitchen area, I did pick up some of these magnetic containers.  They will hang like bats from beneath the heat shield if nothing else.  It requires patience to get those sticky price tags off.  There are several brands on the market; these were about three bucks apiece at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  

We kept the Interstate's original fluorescent light fixture above the sink, but we replaced the bulbs with an LED configuration.  However, this fixture is not a true under-cabinet light.  The light shone through the side straight into my face, which had a blinding effect (I am severely myopic and things like this really bother me).  My husband lined the inside of the plastic fixture cover with a strip of aluminum foil so that I would not be blinded.  The rest of the fixture is not lined, so it illuminates the sink.  

And speaking of chow time, this little fold-able aluminum table proved to be worth its weight in gold.  We have the four-foot table that came with this model of Interstate which does not have a lounge but rather has dual jack-knife couches.  However, it is a pain in the ass to be hauling that table out from under the bed every time someone needs to use a small table space (some users on Air Forums report "eating on their laps" rather than dealing with their full-sized tables).  This one folds up in two seconds and stores behind the driver's seat, PLUS, it can be used outdoors as well.

We got ours at PPL Houston's store and paid close to $50 (no URL can I find, but it's in their paper catalog).  This similar product called Ozark Trail Folding Table is for sale at Walmart for about half of what we paid.  You can tell from the product pictures that the legs are a bit different but otherwise the design appears quite similar.

We don't yet have a screen fitted to the rear doors of our Interstate, so that's a generic screen draped across the back.  The dog is listening intently to something on the outside.  

This simple little custom dog bed was one of the best ideas I've had so far.  The dog now uses it religiously and I can move the bed to the front or the back of the vehicle to signal to the dog where I need her to remain so that I can have enough space to work without stepping on her.  She really liked that I would move it to the floor in front of the open back doors, allowing her to rest in comfort while keeping an eye on what was going on out there (she is well-trained and will not run away when presented with an open door).  

Million dollar view:  If you are thinking of buying a used Interstate, consider looking for one without the rear lounge configuration, which cuts off back door pedestrian access.  Weather permitting, we actually go in and out of the vehicle primarily through the back doors, not the side slider.  We have floor-to-ceiling unobstructed views out the back, which makes the vehicle much, much less claustrophobic.

Right now what you see here is a relatively standard view across a Texas ranch, but imagine what this is going to look like when it is instead the Grand Canyon.  I would not trade this vehicle configuration for the world.  

I'm straying from my original post topic.  Back to the kitchen for a moment.

Our dog may be well-trained with respect to doors, but she is hell on trash cans.  For this reason, we split our trash into food-based and non-food based.  The food-based material goes into a zip-lock bag mounted in this small pop-up trash receptacle.  I used the elastic loop to affix it to the new smoke detector I installed on the overhead cabinet bulkhead.  I am quite sure that the smoke detector manufacturer would not recommend this kind of a use, but it sure was convenient in keeping this receptacle directly above the sink and well above what the dog could reach.  I made sure that the zip-lock would not block the inlet screen on the smoke detector.  

The larger non-food trash receptacle can go anywhere as the dog will not pull it apart.  Here, for travel, I attached a velcro loop to the elastic loop and hooked it to the spice rack bar, just to keep it from rolling around.  Because there is no food residue in here, I can use it to hang the dish cloth and dish towel there for drying.  

As I mentioned previously, I cut a piece of standard shelf liner to cover the countertop when the sink and stove are not in use.  This is to prevent scratches in the glass covers if anyone places objects on top of here.  Additionally, one Interstate owner reported to me that an object dropped onto his sink cover, shattering the glass.  It cost him $175 to replace it.  This liner will give a measure of padding to help prevent that kind of thing.  

Also on the subject of lights, there is no way I would travel without my Mighty Bright Xtra Flex 2 LED book light.  It clips on everything, including the hose of the hand-held shower in the Interstate's wet bath (if you get up during the middle of the night, you might not want to turn on blazing bright overhead lights).    

I am also going to be installing these things deep inside the Interstate's cupboards.  That will prevent me from having to shove the Mighty Bright in there every time I am trying to locate an object after dark.  About three or four bucks apiece, battery operated, no wiring required.  

Sunset scene:  A lot was learned on this trip, and we will have many more tips to come because there's much more I intend to do to maximize the efficiency of our Airstream Interstate.  Thus far, we have only scratched the surface.