Thelma & Louise

Thelma is our 2002 Monaco Diplomat RV. She is 40-feet long and has a main living area with a custom built dining section, kitchen section with a fridge, freezer and pantry, two custom built bunks for the kids and a wardrobe with a large cabinet and drawers. The bathroom area is in between the main living area and the back bedroom, which has a queen size bed, large closet and plenty of cabinets and drawers for storage.

Thelma tows Louise, our 2016 Jeep Wrangler.

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About Thelma

About

Thelma is our 2002 Monaco Diplomat RV. She is 40-feet long and has a main living area with a custom built dining section, kitchen section with a fridge, freezer and pantry, two custom built bunks for the kids and a wardrobe with a large cabinet and drawers. The bathroom area is in between the main living area and the back bedroom, which has a queen size bed, large closet and plenty of cabinets and drawers for storage.

Thelma tows Louise, our 2016 Jeep Wrangler.

Learn more

♥

Cockpit

Gamble Family Adventures RV Travel Blog | Thelma Gallery Photo

Driver’s seat with recycled sheepskin covers.

The cockpit is nice and old school, just like the rest of the bus. Grant converted an old sheepskin rug into seat covers, so the seats are quite comfortable.

Jana working while on the road.

The passenger sits over the stairs to the bus, so when in motion, I push a button to cover the steps up. I either use a stool to put my feet on or the seat has a foot rest pull out feature. While on the road, I spend most of my time working using a lap desk and my computer.

Grant’s Compass

Grant uses his phone for a GPS. He also installed an old school compass, which is kind of fun. And the bus is loaded with maps, which he pulls out to plan the different legs of our trip. It’s not always easy to find an RV park with vacancy, so that plays a big role in exactly where we stay and for how long.

Phoebe trying to co-pilot.

The dogs love to co-pilot, so we had to install a baby gate that separates the cockpit from the main area. It was becoming too much to handle and at times a little dangerous as Phoebe’s big foot crept closer and closer to the accelerator. It wasn’t much fun fending off both traffic and the dogs while passing through NYC.

Thelma’s Yellow Curtains

When stopped, we draw curtains across all of the front windows for privacy (and to spare the potential onlooker from shock ;-). When we got Thelma, she was beige with accents of beige and beige trim. ? So I took her beige front curtains and replaced them with bright yellow ones. ?

Jack & Stellie’s Funny Photo

We’ve incorporated a lot of knick knacks into the cockpit area.

First, I put a photo of Jack and Ellie pulling silly faces out of a classic Mustang window when they were little below the spedometer. This is to remind us to always keep the carefree kid spirit alive and not take ourselves too seriosly.

Grandpa’s Ladybug

I also placed a Czech wooden ladybug on the dash. This is a connection to my grandfather, who passed a couple of months ago at the age of 96. He was amazing and I love having him close.

Gifts from Sweet Friends ?

Lastly, we have a bunch of things “hanging from the rearview mirror.” Obviously, Thelma doesn’t have a rear view mirror, but we hung stuff there anyway. There is a Turkish evil eye, which wards off bad luck and bad intentions and several gifts given to us by sweet friends before we left: an I ❤️ Cville ornament from our friend and neighbor Pam, to remind us of our last home, a beautifully hand turned miniature bird house by our crafty & talented neighbor and Pam’s husband Drew (he also gifted us a beautiful large bowl he made that is now the centerpiece of the dining table. You can see it in the Dining section below.) And what would a silly bus be without a set of fuzzy dice? These accompanied well wishes from our dear friend Ted, who is anything but dicey IRL. ?