Good morning, morning! After rearranging and putting vintage souvenir plates back on the camper wall, I had to take them all down! But I was so excited! They had to come down because-we went to Yellowstone!
Now that we are home and not driving over the Big Horn Mountains, I can finally rehang the plates and add a few Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore ones!
I’m not convinced that the plates needed to come down. Things rode amazingly well in the 5th wheel.
The shoe shelf and a few shoes were scattered by the door. That stopped through, when I put most of the extra shoes in the closet. Probably didn’t need 4 pair of shoes each. Extras are a good idea, but not right by the door.
One night, there were paper cups and plates on the floor. It could have been much worse- I had left the cupboard door open after a rest area lunch!
Thankfully, the glass plates, water pitchers, instant potatoes and vegetable oil didn’t also fall. The cupboard is taller than the pantry, so it holds odd, tall items. After that, the middle one started checking the cupboard doors when we traveled.
A few things also fell from the bathroom vanity until I rearranged it, but most things in the 5th wheel rode amazingly well for traveling 3,400 miles through 6 states.
While I’m not convinced that the souvenir plates needed to come down, it made the husband (and only driver) happy.
Even though most of the souvenir plates were missing and the hooks looked lonely, they were helpful on our Yellowstone vacation.
I was able to hang washcloths, small towels and swimsuits on the hook to dry before they went into the hamper.
In 15 days of vacation, we made a lot of dirty laundry. I did get 5 loads done on vacation, but our main campground (Rex Hale in the Shoshone National Forest) did not have a laundry.
So when I ran out of space in the bathroom to dry washcloths, the hooks were very helpful to hang damp washcloths. Once dry, the clothes could go into the hamper and wait to get washed at home-without getting moldy or mildew-y.
Now that we are home (and my 10ish loads of laundry are done!), I can rehang the vintage, souvenir plates!
I don’t buy new souvenir plates. Searching garage sales and auctions for inexpensive, vintage plates is fun and frugal. Most of my plates have cost $1 or less- a few were only 25 cents!
I also love having something on my garage sale ‘to buy’ list– something specific to search for. Though, sometimes, that means I’m searching for a souvenir plate long after our vacation.
Thankfully, I had already found Yellowstone plates and a few more South Dakota/Mt Rushmore plates. Even though the friend we followed to the North shore suggested visiting Grand Tetons, there wasn’t enough time to go everywhere! I guess I’ll need to save the Grand Tetons and Glacier plates until another vacation
When I’m searching for vintage souvenirs to help decorate the camper, I don’t always buy just small plates.
Coasters and ashtrays can also be light weight and easy to hang. The Yellowstone plate is actually a light weight tray. It also has a really fun tag on the back ‘Doug bought at Yellowstone 1970’-how cool!!
There were a couple of problems when I rehung the souvenir plates. On one plate, I had used the hanging strips. They work great, but the foot of the plate was too deep and the strips wouldn’t fasten together. I used a heavy weight hook instead.
Then, the really cool Yellowstone tray is large and bumpy. Maybe too bumpy for hanging strips, definitely too large for a hook and regular wire plate hanger.
So, the youngest and I put thin wire and duct tape around the back of the tray. Now it can hang on the hook.
I’m so excited to have the vintage, souvenir plates decorating the camper again.
Currently, I’m searching so I can replace the Iowa and Minnesota plates that broke. I’m also looking for more Yellowstone plates, because I can’t wait to share our vacation with you and I can’t wait to go back!
Happy Camping (or hanging plates-or maybe laundry!)
Frugal Campasaurus