Exhausted in Evanston

If I had to use one word to summarize how I felt when we made it to Evanston, it would be exhausted – “drained of one’s physical or mental resources; very tired”. If you’ve been reading along with us, Arthur and I just spent 520 days living in a Class B RV and traveling the country. It was a grand adventure, but it left us depleted.

Other than some work trips, this is how I slept for most of those 520 days. Estella – our Class B RV – has a slide-out with a sofa that converts into a full-sized bed. I tried a number of things to make that bed comfortable. The problem was that when you fully unfold it, you lose a lot of space because it takes up the entire “living room” area, which is the most spacious part of the small RV.

I tried a self-inflating mattress pad, which was fine, but I’m a side sleeper, so there wasn’t enough cushion from that on my hip even when I folded it to double the cushion. The previous owners had used a “egg crate” style mattress pad, but I have tried those in the past and knew it wouldn’t work for me. My ultimate solution was a combination of using a series of things that I ordered or already had in the RV to create an extension to the sofa (middle picture). I had a storage cube that sat between the driver’s and passenger’s seats and and bigger storage rectangle (?). I also had a small, hard-sided cooler. Then I leveled them out with pillows.

On top of that, I modified a 3″ memory foam mattress topper by cutting off the end to fold it under for more of a level across the pillow-storage cube-cooler extension. A set of full-sized sheets were the best fit over the makeshift mattress, and I slept with my head in the corner.

On the left is blanket set-up I used most often (SandCloud XL Towel + MacAuslands Wool Blanket). When it was warm, it just used the SandCloud towel. On the right is the sleeping bag (yes, the kid’s size) I used as a comforter for cold nights; I’ve raved about its “zip plow” before, but that thing makes zipping so easy.

Other Supplies to Make the Extension

• Storage Cube 1: I had something similar to this link, and it mostly sat between the driver’s seat and passenger’s seat when we were traveling. It was handy to keep books and reusable shopping bags and assorted odds / ends.
• Storage Cube 2: I bought this one when I dreamt up this bed extension. It offered a lot of great storage and was a wonderful foot rest. These two different cubes were also great for creating a lot of different seating options.
• Cooler: When we went to Wisconsin, I knew we wouldn’t have regular power, so I bought a cooler and ice packs for the stuff we needed to keep cold. This late edition to the bed extension made it a lot easier to keep the mattress pad in place.
• Memory Foam Mattress Topper: This was a game changer. I could sleep on my side again without my hip hurting. To mitigate the smell of the mattress and keep the parts together, I used a mattress cover.

I will say that this is a one-short-person-and-cat set-up. I’m 62.75 inches tall, the sofa is about 52″ wide. With the sofa extension, I could sleep stretched out and at an angle, but I mostly slept with my knees tucked up with Arthur sleeping in the crook behind my legs. During the day, the blankets and mattress pad got folded up and tucked on the driver’s seat, and when we traveled, I secured the folded mattress pad to a towel rack in the bathroom.

In Evanston, sleeping every night in a real bed was a life-changer. After we arrived in April, I unpacked the car and had a great night’s rest. When I wasn’t working, Arthur and I spent a lot of our time in Chicagoland resting and cooking.

Arthur loved having the space to spread out and found a new hobby – hiding under pillows.

Next time, more on our time in Evanston, IL, when we weren’t sleeping.