Travels in Sophie is more than just a blog of our travels. It is also a blog about Sophie and what we have done to make her more compatible with the way we travel. Even though we had never physically seen a Unity RL before we picked up Sophia, Linda had already started a list based on the LTV video we watched many times over.
The first to go was the privacy shade in the front. Besides looking terrible, it let in an enormous amount of heat. In its favor, it did provide excellent privacy. Linda's approach was multifaceted. First buy something to keep as much heat from entering in the first place, then keep what heat that entered in the cockpit area and also provide as good or better privacy while allowing easy access to the cockpit from the living quarters.
The solution we found was a WeatherTech Sunshade front kit which provides coverage of all the cockpit windows. It is pricey, but it also works great, with a press fit in all five windows. It has a silver side and a black side. When the silver side is placed outward it reflects the sun, when placed inward it reflects the heat during cold weather back inside. Since we most always try to be in sunny warm weather, the black side is inside making photos somewhat difficult to take.
The pieces fit quite well, with very little gap. We had to make sure to order the correct one for our windshield, one for the road assist unit which is wider than the non road assist unit which they call the large sensor sunshade. The difference in the amount of heat radiating into the cockpit between the OEM privacy shade and the WeatherTech Sunshade is unreal. Long ago we gave up on the Auto Store, Walmart, etc. sunshades actually doing much good.
Her next step was to put the sewing skills to work that she learned as a girl helping her mother and later as an award winning 4H member. And I can't leave out that she also modeled those same clothes. (Farm girls are best, especially those referred to as Appalachian Hill Girls.) Unbelievably Lucky Bob.
After much searching and a few or more utterances best left unrepeated, she finally found what she was looking for. And to put in my two cents, I was a big assist when she was just just about ready to give up (Good Husband Bob). Gray curtains that went well with Sophie's interior colors that were close enough in length and width so she could easily modify them to fit. Next came the search for a suitable curtain rod and though it took a little convincing, she acquiesced to what I had picked out. Amazon's no hassle return policy played a major part in her acceptance I am sure. In the end I think she was totally surprised that my selection was exactly what we needed. Once every few years I luck out and do something good. Bad Bob.
Curtain panels come in equal sizes. The question becomes where do you make the opening? We talked it over and decided to place the opening to the drivers side of the space between the seats. That meant cutting down one of the panels, an easy task for Linda. I can't recall for sure, but I seem to remember the very first carload of items we moved from her parents house to our apartment when we were married had her sewing machine in it. She had to modify the curtain rod pocket for the rod we bought, then add a snap to hold the panels closed (I got the job of of adding the snaps to the tabs she sewed). You can see the tab next to the table in this photo.
The final part was hanging the rod. It was a snap. Pun intended. (Bad Bob.)
With cubby's on both sides of the front overhead, it was an easy decision as to how to hang the rod. I installed snaps into the side of the cubby. Linda sews a short strap the perfect length, into which I installed another snap and the rod was hung with great care, knowing for a long ling time it would be there. ( Hey, it's my blog, I can write what I want.)
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