Airstream Memories

Just Something I Whipped Up - The Girl Creative

Westport, Washington

2010-06-17T07:14:00.000-05:00

We spent a day of our vacation on teh Westport beach and port. There is really no explanation that can describe the sight of the ocean and its vastness. Those of you that are priveledged enough to live near or on the ocean, probably take it for granted, but to see the ocean for one of the first times is quite an experience! While there, my in-laws took us crabbing. For those that don't know, crabbing can be done right from the docks. You can rent pots from one of the stores there, put bait in them, and then throw them out into the ocean to see what you get. When you pull them in, they have crabs! With four kids, they could barely leave them in long enought to catch any of the, but we did get one that was a keeper!While at the beach, we bought all different kinds of seafood from one of the docks. We also spent some time on one of the beaches, beach-combing. Fortunately for us, this beach was just filled with sand dollars and pretty rocks for the taking. (We've been to California, where there was nothing to be found for miles.) We brought home two and a half gallon ice cream pails full of sand dollars!

One of the other things that I did while on the docks, was take a close up picture of each of my kids. I wish I could share these with you, because they turned out great, but I have stalker that doesn't need to see my kids. Sorry I can't share that with you. Anyway, when you are out in a new, beautiful place, consider taking some great photos of your kids, not only together, but alone. I often turn these into their yearly blown up picture on the wall. It saves money and you will always remember that family vacation together!

Great Memories of Mt. St. Helens & Mt. Rainier

2010-06-02T14:08:00.000-05:00

We are at home and safe and sound after our 14 day trip. Mr. Airstream figured out the mileage for the trip and we drove 5323 miles and used 490 gallons of gas! Priceless!I did want to share some of the memories we had at Mt. St. Helens. As for most of our trip, it was raining for our visit to Mt. St. Helen's and had snow at the visitor center. We were determined, though to learn many facts about the volcano and check everything out. Fortunately, they had a wonderful movie that ended with a view of the volcano from behind the screen. Even though we couldn't see the very top, the view was fantastic. While there, the older kids completed the Jr. Ranger Program and got a wonderful folder, postcard, and badge. The Junior Ranger activities were a little difficult, as they had changed the exhibits, but not the questions, so some of the answers, the kids had to scramble to complete.We spent another rainy day at Mt. Rainier. We thought for sure that we had seen snow on Mt. St. Helen's but weren't able to get to the top of the mountain because of all the snow.The Junior Ranger program at Mt. Rainier was much more fun and doable for the kids this time. All of the kids were able to complete the program with some help from Mom & Dad. One of the activities that we had to do was a hike. Because of the rain, we only jumped out of the car and ran down to Christine Falls to take a photo and then jumped back in the car to warm up!At the Paradise Visitor Center, we were able to experience over 10 feet of snow and a beautiful facility. There were skiers and hikers who had been trying to get to the summit all week, but to no avail yet. They only made it to 10,000 feet of the 14,000 total feet. Not my idea of a great time, but hey, we were amazed with their ability to try and stay overnight at on the mountain in such lousy weather.Later in the week, we did get a glimpse of the top of the Mt. Rainier. We snapped a photo quick while it was clear. Stayed tuned for more updates of our trip.

Still in South Dakota

2010-06-01T18:11:00.000-05:00

For those of you following our travels, we are homeward bound, but still in one of the longest states ever - South Dakota! It seems to go on forever. Just wanted to give you a quick update - no time to give pictures, but many more to come very soon. We plan to be home around midnight tonight. Windy in SD, but everything is running great down the road! figured out that we need a full water tank to keep the Airstream from wavering down the road! A cheap and easy fix for sure!

A Day in Seattle

2010-05-27T19:46:00.001-05:00

We spent a day at the Pike Place Market downtown Seattle to watch the fish "fly." After getting through the traffic and finding a parking spot, we had a great time just checking out the people and the marketplace for the morning.The seafood look wonderful! Some of it was so huge that we had never seen anything so large in our lives! We would have loved to take it all home, but of course, even in the port, it was quite expensive, especially for a family of six. We did have a wonderful lunch overlooking the port. All of us chose some sort of fish or seafood (except the little ones!)Our other stop while at the fish market was to check out the Seattle Aquarium. We actually got a family membership with two guest passes for the year for $16 cheaper than it would have cost for individual passes to get in. I suggest if you visit anywhere with a family, to fully check out the difference in price, you may be able to save yourself a few bucks and often membership at one aquarium or zoo will give you a discount at another in the US.After a shopping trip at Cabela's, we went to the much anticipated Japanese Steakhouse, where we all had Habachi for dinner. The food was even better, as it came with an entertaining chef that kept calling us paparazzi for taking so many pictures. Here he is making a volcano out of onions. The kids were absolutely fascinated with the whole process and it gave us a wonderful experience with the Japanese culture once again. (We had a Japanese foreign exchange student last year.)

Fun in Washington, Oregon & the Rain!

2010-05-25T09:55:00.000-05:00

Here are my pictures as promised. It took a bit to get the pictures from one computer to another and then upload, all of which we don't seem to have time to do on vacation! This is the Jellystone Campground in Missoula that we stayed at. Very beautiful in the background and wonderful bathrooms!!!

To those that are concerned about our brakes - it was not a mechanical or driver error that overheated them, but an effort to have common courtesy to the driver of the Enterprise truck that was tailing us down the mountain. In an effort to move off the road down-hill, Mr. Airstream had to slam on the brakes to get everything to a stop, which in turn overheated them. We have brakes on the Airstream and a hand controller, but after some deep, technical discussions with Mr. Airstream's brake supplier, it was decided to keep the brakes on the Airstream set lightly. It is better to burn out the brakes on the truck, than the Airstream. Truck brakes can be changed easier and cheaper, whereas the Airstream ones aren't meant to stop the truck & tow, just the tow...hense the lighter brake setting. All is ok - the truck brakes recovered quickly, as did everyone's racing hearts. Hope the Enterprise driver appreciates the courtesy, but we have our doubts!

We went over the border to Oregon on our first day for a tour of the Columbia River Gorge. It was raining off and on all day, but it didn't deter us from having a wonderful time.After visiting many of the falls along the Historic route, we ended up at the Multnomah Falls, the big Daddy of them all! What a beautiful sight! We would have loved to hike up to the bridge in front of it, if it wasn't for the pouring rain!Our final stop before navigating the traffic home, was the Bonneville Fish Hatchery. We got to feed the trout in the picture and also saw Herman the Stergeon (sp?). He is 10 feet long and quite a novelty with the kids. All agreed they could do a few more hatcheries along the way. We may have to start hitting them in WI soon!

Washington - We Made It!

2010-05-23T11:40:00.000-05:00

After 3 long days of traveling on the road, we were all ready to take a rest and be done with the towing in Washington! We are staying at the beautiful Ike Kineswa State Park, where the sites are so over grown with the outdoors that we can't even tell that it is rainy, except to go to look out at the lake for rain drops. An added bonus is that the campground has water, electrical and sewer on each site! I love taking showers!

Our final day of driving brought us a few surprises - we overheated the brakes going over White Pass because of a rental truck tailing us coming down. After a sit for awhile on the side of the road to let them cool down, we were again on our way. Fortunately for the brakes, it was only 40 degrees there, so they cooled down quickly.

We have a forcast of 50's and rain for the week - wouldn't you know? Our garden at home is forcasted to not get any rain - sorry to our faithful friends who are caring for it. We aren't sure what we are up to today, but we will update you soon with some pictures...(when we figure out how to get them into my in-laws computer!)

Westward Ho! - Our first Boondock

2010-05-21T22:45:00.000-05:00

We achieved our first Wal-mart boondocking in Gillette, Wyoming! I know, it's well overdue, but our 1953 Clipper doesn't have a bathroom or 12-volt hook-up, so it makes a difficult time of boondocking. Last year, we didn't have the 1963, quite up to par for it yet, so we never attempted a Wal-mart stay.We were very excited to stay in a Wal-mart parking lot (I know it sounds sort of sick, but hey, to a 3 and 5 year old, staying at Wal-mart is gold!)We were proud that we made our first leg of our trip to Gillette from WI in one day. You might be wondering how our night in Wal-mart went. It was alright, until the street sweeper started to clean the parking lot at 4am! It went around and around us until 7am! He must have just loved driving all the RV's crazy at that time of the morning! Well, in one way, it was great to come in late at night and stay for free, in another - it was very noisy! All systems were a go for water and 12-Volt for the Airstream!

Tonight - the adults in the car (our sister-in-law is traveling with us) need a shower, so we are in a Jellystone Park in Missoula, Montana. A very nice park for $35 - water, sewer, and electric, wireless internet (for $4 extra) and wonderful showers - what more could a girl ask for?! Tomorrow - our plan is to make it to Washington....

Snack Attack!

2010-05-19T10:04:00.000-05:00

On a normal day in our family, everyone eats a simple breakfast and goes about their business. We don't snack, we don't eat until lunch and then the same routine for dinner. Well, for some reason, the moment we get into the truck for a trip, not 30 minutes down the road, we all are hungry! It never fails. (I personally think it is way better than everyone having to go to the bathroom!) So, before we go on a trip, I try to pack our Airstream heavily with snacks for the road. I figure that it is a little more trouble than usual, but it way cheaper than stopping for snack foods at the gas stations, or heaven forbid, the McFastfood! Here are the snacks I made the other day...Are you ready to dive in, yet? Starting from the top left are Ranch Pretzels, Energy bars (top Right), homemade granola bars (middle), Bear Party Mix (lower left), and Ranch Party Mix (bottom right). I also made a nut and M&M mix to go with these.

I'll tell you two of the recipes right now. I hope you enjoy.

Ranch Pretzels

given to me by my Mom - it's the best tasting snack ever!

2 - 1 lb. bags Pretzels

1 bottle Orville Redinbacher Butter Flavored Popcorn Oil

1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing

Put the pretzels in tupperware. Pour out a little of oil over the bowl. Pour the dressing into the bottle and shake well. Pour the mixture over the pretzels and stir well. Mix the pretzels every 2 hours until the oil is all soaked up. Eat and Enjoy!

Bear Party Mix

taken from "Mom's Camper Cooking" by Rita Hewson

1 (10 oz.) box Bear Shaped Cinnamon Graham Crackers

1 (14 oz.) pkg. Dried Bananas, broken into pieces

1 (12 oz.) can Honey Roasted Peanuts (I used honey roasted almonds)

1 (16 oz.) bag Candy Coated Chocolate Candies

Stir all the ingredients together and store in a tightly covered container. Yeild 11 cups.

* I added in Reeses Pieces too! Yummy!

To keep us from eating the whole gallon in one morning or afternoon, I am letting each child pick the mix they would like for the morning drive to eat. If they eat it right away, it's gone until lunch! Then they will get to refill their cup in the afternoon with another mix of their choice. This will keep it to serving sizes for everyone, including Dad, and no one will say "I'm hungry!" Stay tuned for our updates on our trip starting tomorrow. We will update this blog as we are able to get service!

Spice Rack

2010-05-02T13:45:00.009-05:00

I wanted to share with you my new spice rack that Mr. Airstream made. If you look to the far left of the picture, you can see the spice rack hanging on the wall. It was completely rotten, so it had to be replaced. We decided to make it the same size, but deeper for extra things to be put there.It looks a little different, because we didn't put up the paneling in the kitchen, the rack doesn't stand out as much. We decided to put the paper towels under the rack. To the left of the paper towel, we added an aluminum towel hanger for kitchen towels to hang on.

I am linking up to:

Something I Just Whipped Up - The Girl Creative

2nd Time Around - A Picture is Worth

An Upholstry & Zipper Tutorial

2010-04-28T08:32:00.013-05:00

You may have seen our front goucho in the Ambassador already. I upholstered this last year when we gutted the entire thing. One of the things that I had done was measure every angle of the goucho and then took the measurements and drawings to the fabric store to figure out my material needed. I always buy an extra yard just in case, especially on big projects like this.

Well, after figuring my yardage, there were just a couple of yards left on the bolt and it was the only bolt with this material, so I bought it all. I think I only had about four extra yards, but it is the wider, upholstry fabric on the big rolls. I found my new fetish - the Mill End Outlet Store, which has the nearest store in Rochester, MN from us. We made a side trip on our way out to South Dakota last year to pick out upholstry. I was able to purchase all of the fabric for the curtains (including lining) and the goucho.

As it turned out, I had enough fabric left to upholster the wall behind the twin beds in the middle too. Needless to say, I still had a stash of the stuff in my closet, so when we started to talk about adding benches, I thought I MIGHT have enough to at least do the tops of the cushions with my fabric from the goucho.

Here's the finished bench. I love the piano hinge that was used to lift the lid to the storage. Mr. Airstream found that purchasing the hinge in the largest size and then cutting it in two to the size that we needed was less expensive than buying two different hinges.

Just a view of the open bench that we added. (Those are the pedistals for the new table that will go here.) Plenty of storage space for Mr. Airstream & I to put rubbermaids with our clothes in it for trips.

The first thing that I did after finding the foam on the internet was to get Mr. Airstream to cut it the correct size for the space. We purchase very firm 6 inch foam in two pieces (one was the exact size we needed and the other had to be split in two.) We bought it from Buyfoam.com at the lowest prices we could find.

I then laid it down on the material to get the main top pieces cut correctly. Some of the things that I try to do is to make sure that the fabric runs in the same direction as the rest of the couch. In this case, I just was happy to get the top and then the side also going in the same direction.

I actually don't measure this part out. I cut about an inch away from the foam. Then I turn it to the next side down and cut another piece for the same cushion. I was very excited to be able to get three side pieces and the top of the cushion cut out of my leftover fabric from last year! I literally only had a few scraps left over.

I then laid the top and one back side of the fabric down on top of a coordinating vinyl for the bottom and back side of the fabric. These sides won't show in the camper, but will come in handing for turning over for young kids to sit on!

Next, I took one side from each cushion to put a zipper on it so the cover can be removed for washing. I chose the shorter side, because zippers can be costly and hard to find in really long sizes. These two sides, I cut in half and then sewed back together using a basting stitch, leaving a half inch seam. Press the seams open.

When I did the original goucho, we found this zipper by the yard and zipper slides and stops at the Mill End Outlet store. I again had purchased just enough to put these two zippers into the cushions. You just put the zipper slide on the zipper and add the stop at the other end.

Next, pin the zipper down the center of the seam you just made. You have to be real careful, becuase where the seam is will be cut open to reveal the zipper on the other side. Be sure to put the right side of the zipper towards the back side of the the fabric. (I know seems backwards, but trust me, the zipper will be revealed on the other side in the end!)

Using the zipper foot on the machine, sew along the edge of the zipper on both sides. I like to leave about a quarter of an inch gap, just in case I am too close to that seam. Now the fun part! Turn the fabric over to the front side and use a seam ripper to take the basting stitches out. Voila! You have a zipper that works and is hidden!

To finish the cushion, I put the pieces I cut upside down and pin the sides on. I take each pinned section to the machine and sew where the pins are placed. There's no real science to this, you just want the fabric to be straight and tight on the cushion. When you do the last piece, be sure to leave the zipper partially open, so that you can turn it right side out. There is nothing more frustrating than having to rip out a seam because you can't open the zipper from the wrong side!

Here's the new benches with cushions! (Don't worry, that little hole by the drawers got a false front added later to make it look finished. Oh - and because I had all the materials for the cushions were purchased last year and left over, these two cushions cost me nothing. Stay tuned for the table!!!

I am linkin up to:

Frugalicious Friday - Finding Fabulous

Friday Fun Finds - Kojo Designs

Trash To Treasure - Reinvented

Trash to Treasure - A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words

Talented Tuesday - My Frugal Family

Heater Installation

2010-04-25T08:21:00.000-05:00

Because of the flooding inside the Ambassador before we purchased it, the heater had been rusted out. The entire bottom of the heater that was located under the oven was gone to rust when we took it out. There really was no help, for it, so it went directly to the trash. This was not top on our priority list for fixing last year, as we really didn't know what we would do to replace it. At the WBBCI flea market in Madison, WI last summer, Mr. Airstream was determined to find a heater. After a few discussions with others in the Wisconsin unit, he had his heart set on a catalytic heater. He found one while I was setting up my booth at the flea market and tried to get his hands on it, but was beat by another eager Airstreamer to get one.

Mourning his loss, he continued on his search for another one, with no luck. Meanwhile, another Wisconsin unit member, who knew Mr. Airstream's plight, found one for $30 and snatched it up for us! We were astounded and elated that he took the chance that Mr. Airstream hadn't found one! Of course, Mr. Airstream, has been carrying this thing around with us since then, trying to find the perfect spot for the most covetted Catalytic Heater in Wisconsin (or possibly the world!).I wanted to give you a glimpse of the installation underneath the refrigerator. He used gas grade flexible gas line. The extra is for a reason, to be seen in a minute.

Now you know the structure that we used to hold up the refrigerator. It was similar to what Airstream originally used, but much sturdier now.

Ta! Da! The perfect little spot - except one little thing! With the heater attatched and running in this location, it was pointed directly at our bed! Not a problem for me, but Mr. Airstream likes it cool at night. There is also the entire rest of the 28' of the Airstream to heat, too.If you hadn't already guessed, we attatched the heater to hinges so that we could swing it around and face it towards the back of the Airstream as needed (most of the time!). A reason for this location, besides the oven space was that the gas was run in this location for the refrigerator, so it made sense.

Let us know what you think. We are expecting to use this on our trip to the mountains in May, so we'll update you then too! We do expect to use a small ceramic heater back in the bathroom for extra heat. I'm trying to convince Mr. Airstream that we need another one of these in the bathroom....We'll see!

Let us know what you think of our hot topic today!

A Bed of Our Own

2010-04-21T09:20:00.006-05:00

The original bed plan in the Ambassador was two twin beds in the middle and a somewhat small double pull out goucho (couch) in the front. We had several issues with this set-up, the main one being that we have too many people in our family for four beds. (I'll be showing you soon what we did to the goucho to make it comfortable for the two of us to be in the same bed at the same time.) I think most people who order these Airstreams with the twins in the middle don't actually sleep together. After 15 years of marriage, I find that I enjoy sleeping with my husband, and after spending a few years in our Clipper, where we couldn't stand sharing a tiny bed in hot weather, our goal for this "new" Airstream was that everyone would have a bed of our own.

We tend to be purists with the Airstreams. We talk about all the changes we might make, but find that we are very loyal to the way it was originally - to a fault! So with that being said, if I sound like I am trying to justify these changes, I am trying to just convince myself that it's not sin to change it!All that being said, we went first with what we knew, and that was our 1953 Clipper bunk bed. Mr. Right copied the base of the bunk in the Clipper in structure and built two of them. We planned to use the space above the twins, where the cupboards were beyond repair from water damage (yes that was a justification). We wanted them to fold up, since it would take up extra room at the ceiling level to have the beds in the down position.

Here was our next plan, a way to make the beds stable when kids are in them without putting too many holes in the camper. After much discussion about the ability of the ceiling structure being able to hold up the bunk (I know, many of the bunks that were originally in the Airstreams were hung from Elephant Hooks from the ceiling.). Another trip to the hardware produced and great find of Angle Aluminum. This we bolted to the walls and closets that are on each side of the beds.

The passenger's side did not have a big enough wall to hold the bed in place when someone was in the bed like the driver's side did, so when a child would climb into the bed, it would tip out of place. We didn't want to attach the other side to the aluminum wall or put in hinges so we could flip the bed up. (Mr. Right cringes at putting holes in the aluminum, something about all the holes he's had to fill with rivets already.)

To fix this unstability, we used aluminum pipe on each side to act as legs between the upper and lower bed. A plumbing filange was used to hold them in place. When the beds are up, we just put the pipe in the upper bunk to store them.

Now to the storage of the bunk while moving down the road and during the day. We figured that a hook and eye would hold it in place, but found after our first trip that the motion and weight of the bunk was too great for this simple fix. Instead of this, we drilled a hole in the wall under the bed and inserted a thicker bolt with a cotter pin to hold it in place. (Yes, another trip to the hardware store.) This pin is taken out and put in a drawer (where little mechanics can't find it) when the bunk is in use.Here's another picture of the bed in the up position. The bunk hangs about 2 inches into the window, but we felt that it was worth the extra sleeping space!

Please let us know what you think of our beds!

I am linking up to:

Frugalicious Friday - Finding Fabulous

Creative Cats - Poppies at Play

Friday Fun Finds - Kojo Designs

A Working Water Heater

2010-04-18T07:53:00.000-05:00

This was hard to show in a picture, but there is a real flame going in the water heater, and better yet, nowhere else! Everytime we used the water heater, it worked fine, except there were flames coming out of other places than the pilot. We were having black stains up the outside of the Airstream. After much searching, we could not come up with a new regulator for it, which Mr. Right was positive was the problem. A search on the internet, came up with the idea to take the entire thing apart, clean it, and reassemble it to fix the problem.

That's exactly what Mr. Right did, he took the water heater components apart, cleaned them and reassmebled them and Voila! It works just fine with no extra flames! The best thing, it was a free fix! That's something that doesn't occur very often!

Seal and the Door Works!

2010-04-15T08:16:00.000-05:00

For those of you that are married, you might relate to this dilemma - Mr. Right (or Mrs. Right) can get something to work, but you never can! You know, how the car makes that noise and he never hears it, so therefore, you must be crazy and need to deal with the problem! This has been the case for our door handle on the Ambassador since we took it out of the junyard! Don't get me wrong, Mr. Right did "work" on it and tune it up, but for some reason, he has the magic touch and can open and shut the door with ease, and more importantly, knows the trick to lock it. When it works so easily for him, and myself and the kids keep slamming the door (why do slamming doors never bother children but drive parents crazy?) and it won't stay shut, it gets frustrating for all involved. I can't tell you how many times we got yelled at for not closing, slamming, or not locking the door!

Well, Mr. Right found a way to really fix the problem (our problem, not his!). He rasied the door latch by adding an extra piece of metal under the original latch. It's the shiny piece under the old catch. Like a miracle, we now have a door that shuts with ease, and hopefully the kids will remember not to slam the door.

Another part of the door that was looking pretty bad was the door seal. Here is the before picture, as you can see, there wasn't much to it.

In theory, changing a door seal isn't a lot of work, but it was just one of those things that just didn't done in the rush to get the Ambassador down the road last year. Of course, after awhile, we were quite tired of it too, and just wanted to enjoy. The adhesive was pretty badly stuck onto the door, but Mr. Right found that paint thinner took it off easily.

I don't know if you can see the results (check the picture with the door lock for a close up.) Such small things make me happy! While Mr. Right was working with the door, he realized that it was bent and not shutting near the bottom edge very well. Upon further inspection, several rows of rivets were missing along the bottom edge. He replaced those, and found that the door was a lot more sturdy than before! He's afraid the wood inside the door, holding the structure together, may be rotted out, but for now, this improves the overall use of the door.

New Lights

2010-04-13T22:47:00.000-05:00

We took our first year of travels with the Ambassador with the original lights on the front (Mr. Right will have a real name for those lights, but I'm too impatient to wait for him.) not working and all.

As we are getting everything tuned up and ready for our vacation, this was one of the many thing we knew needed to be done before leaving. Unfortunately, the originals had faded and the wiring was bad, so we had to replace everything.Mr. Right spent a few minutes with new wires and new lights and got them attached in no time! I love having a Mechanical Mr. Right! Don't they look great?

Bed Restoration

2010-04-07T09:28:00.008-05:00

Here is a before picture of the door side of the beds. The fabric on the beds and the walls seem to be original along with the mattresses. This was the junkyard dogs house, so bother were thrown out right away as they smelled and looked horrible.The other twin bunk on the driver's side was just as grosse. The board you see in the the foreground is the tv tray - a much advertised inovation of the time in 1963!This was the procedure that we had for all the stripping and staining. I would put the stripper on several of the pieces at once and then go back over them and scrape them. I would used steel wool to touch up any smaller places or hard to remove paint. Believe me, it was very rewarding to see all that grey looking paint come off the cabinets!

After a washdown with paint thinner and a day of rest, I stained all the pieces with Red Mahogony stain. We knew this was a sort of risk in the "Vintage Airstream World." But we liked the look of the dark wood the best!We started getting the frames in for the cupboards and beds without the walls (they weren't finished yet, but we were excited to get things done.) It still seemed pretty big without all the furniture in, so we were really excited at this point!Here the drawers are back in with the frames. As you can see, we haven't veneered the drawer fronts that were ruined yet. That was the very last thing that we did, as the veneer was a pretty penny and hard to find.Finally, the doorside bed, with the uphostry of the couch on the back of the wall is in. I found these great blankets at a rummage sale for $2 for both! My friends that as were with me thought I was crazy with the bright color, but I knew it matched my couch perfectly! Stay tuned for the bunk beds that we installed over the top of these beds! Hope you enjoy!

I am linking up to:

Thursday Transformation - The Shabby Chic Cottage

Friday Fun Finds - KoJo Designs

Weekend Wrap-up - Tatertots and Jello

Make It For Monday - Cottage Instincts

Just Something I Whipped Up - The Girl Creative

More Pre-Ownership Pictures

2010-03-27T19:24:00.009-05:00

One of the points of contention in the purchase and bargaining for the Ambassador a couple of years ago, was the stove. When we made our original bid on the Airstream, the owner said "what just for the stove? It's a brand new stove!" Well, as we were to eventually find out, the stove was brand new in the 1980's!

Little did we know at the time, but the someone had purchased a new stove for the Ambassador, but had never even installed it. Luckily, it didn't completely fall out going down the road, but it could have really gone flying if it had!

Overall, the kitchen doesn't look too bad, but as we tore it apart, we found that the window above the sink had the worst leaks and had really done quite a bit of damage to the countertops and wall next to it.Here you can see just some of the really bad damage that was done to the woodwork from the bad air vents that were piped through the Airstream, under the California trailer code. Unfortunately, the seal around the vents were not tight, so water poured all the way around the pipe and into the camper. Also, the pipes at the top had no covers on them, so rain poured into the pipes too.

This is the wall between the kitchen sink and the driver's side bed. I was quite excited that the tv tray was still in the Airstream and worked. It swings out into the aisle so the tv can be watched in both the living area and the bedroom. We have yet to reinstall it, as with the technology of today, there is not much of a need of that big of a shelf for a tv, if we ever put one in. Flat screens go in so well on a wall without the shelving.

Here's a shot of the passenger's side bed. It's even got it's original bed cover and mattresses. Unfortunately, there had been a lot of flooding and animals on these beds. We threw them out first thing. If you had seen the dogs that were freely in the Airstream, you would have done the same.

I am linking up to:

2nd Time Around - A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

Bench Progress

2010-03-22T08:55:00.016-05:00

This weekend was spent making progress on the new benches in the Amabassador. After much discussion and disagreement as to the mechanics of this project, we finally just had to dig in. We have found the front goucho to not be big enough for the two of us.

Even though it was adventureous to try to use it last summer, we are over the 1,2,3 turn together routine all night. Unfortunately, I don't turn at all and Mr. Right turns every 1/2 - 1 hour, so someone was uncomfortable either way. We are determined, though to sleep in the same bed! The other issue we had with this Airstream was the size of the table. I know that was the big thing was to have elegant dining for two, but for a family of six, it just didn't cut it. We really enjoyed sitting around the table in our Clipper, so we've been determined to figure a bigger table out.

Here is the framing of the bench on the driver side. We made it deeper than the other side, to make it even with the kitchen cupboard. For me, it means more storage!The passenger side of the bench is framed in and has the front in place. These benches will loose us two drawers, but will gain us some storage. We plan to use the space under the goucho for rarely needed items. This side of the bench will be for all the shoes that we have. If every person has a pair of tennis shoes and a pair of sandles, we have a dozen shoes in our camper! We're hoping this will solve some of the clutter, while still making them handy next to the door. Plus, the dirt won't be dragged into the camper.

On to the staining - my department! Fortunately, it was a beautiful day for it!The bases are installed. I think they look beautiful. The top is cut, but not done yet. I'll give you more on that as it gets done!There is a little ledge on each front edge of the bench for the table to drop into. We have the pedistals and the table top purchased and ready to go to the next step. Unfortunately, we have a busy week and rain in the forcast for the weekend! Stay tuned for more soon!

I am linking up to:

Talented Tuesday - My Frugal Family

Frugalicious Friday - Finding Fabulous

Creative Cats - Poppies at Play

Friday Fun Finds - Kojo Designs

Weekend Wrap-Up - Tatertots and Jello

DIY Project Parade - The DIY Show Off

Make It 4 Monday - Cottage Instincts

Just Something I Whipped Up - The Girl Creative

Pre-Ownership

2010-03-19T21:49:00.003-05:00

I was doing some remembering where we have come from on our renovation project of the 1963 Ambassador and getting together a digital album of our progress, and thought that I would share with you what things looked like before we started. The pictures that I will be sharing were taken over Labor Day weekend 2007, before we were able to purchase the Airstream. We went out on a whim to where a friend had said she had seen it. The owner of the vehicle was nowhere to be found, but the Ambassador was open, so we went in (it was on the side of the road in a junkyard) and checked it out. We also took several pictures, so we could dream and wheel and deal on it.

This is a look from the front to the back bathroom. Please note that some brilliant soul put in blue shag carpet. The shag was so high that you couldn't open any of the bottom drawers under the bed! Seems like a waste to me!Ok - I have to say that after going several years of camping without any toilet or tub, I was quite excited with the toilet area and took several pictures. Yeah for us, the toilet worked! Mr. Right keeps saying that he is going to replace it and put in a normal (if you can call it that) size camper toilet, so it is higher for him, and therefore more resembles the throne that he enjoys at home! For my part, I'm afraid this adjustment, just may make me need a step stool to get on, or have my feet dangling!So I was so thrilled with the throne, I had to take a picture of the toilet paper, too! God only knows how old that toilet paper is or where it's been!This is the louvered window by the door, where someone thought they could break in. I would say they weren't all that successful, as they only got through one of the pieces of glass and the original rivets were still there!

And of course, the front goucho is still here! Many of the older ones, don't have the goucho still in them, so we knew we had a decent find. Please note the matching blue curtains that someone specially ordered for the Airstream from Sears. A couple of the originals were in unopened packages on one of the shelves.

Hope you enjoy the before pictures. I have many more to share, so please stay tuned. You might want to "follow" to the right, so you don't miss anything!

Shiny Propane Tanks

2010-03-14T23:01:00.010-05:00

Today, was a beautiful day, so I was on a mission to get some spray painting done. I have a bunch of things to spray paint, but thought I would do my part to get the Airstream on the road soon!

We have the original Propane tanks from the 1963 Ambassador, but they have the old valves that can't be refilled. After looking at new ones this size and finding them to be $150 each. After looking a little further, my dh found the new valves for the tanks for $23 each. Now all we had to do is make them look a little more presentable.

Have I said before that spray paint is a wonderful thing? Well, the kids sanded the bad spots down, I primed it and then used Rustoleum Aluminum Spray Paint.

Here are the results. They almost look better than the Airstream at this point, at least from this angle. Just a view from far away. It will be nice to not switch our small tanks back and forth from our grill at home to the Airstream everytime that we leave.

The other thing that my dh got done today was to shuffle the Airstreams around. I guess this is the downfall of having a fleet is that it's never easy to figure out where they go. We had stored the '53 Clipper besidePenny Pinching Party - The Thrifty Home the garage in the front of the house for the winter and put the '63 Ambassador in the back yard. We are working on the '63, so we wanted it out to get it ready to go for our trip. The '53 is going to retire for awhile in the back yard. I have plans of making a large yard ornament and planting flower beds around it. It will be a fun little place for the kids to have sleepovers, until we decide we need it again.

I am linking to:

2nd Time Around - A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words

Talented Tuesday - My Frugal Family

Transformation Thursday - Shabby Chic Cottage

Creative Cats - Poppies at Play

Frugal Friday - Extreme Personal Measures

Planning a Trip on the Cheap

2010-03-11T22:31:00.003-06:00

Most people are quite astonished when they hear that we go on extended vacations (for working folks , two weeks is a long time to leave work.) with all of our children and the dog. In fact, most of our friends locally think we are crazy and often comment that it must be nice to have so much money. What they don’t understand is that we go on the cheap. They also miss the opportunity to go on vacations with family that they never dreamed possible. I want to share today with you some of the things that we do in advance of our vacation to plan our trip on the cheap.

The first thing that we do as a family is dream. I know, this sounds crazy, but for us it works. We may come up with several options that we really want to do or show the kids in the near future. Now, this is where we tend to be a little different than most young families. Our top destinations are not Disneyland and water parks. We love to focus our trips on historical places and National Parks. We want to share our love of our country, so that is our focus. Early on, we realized that if this was our focus, the cost was greatly lowered in the end. I’m not saying that you can’t do any of the waterparks, or Disney type activities on a trip-on-the-cheap, but if the focus isn’t around that, it can be a a great addition.

After we’ve made our decision on where to go, then we go on the internet and research the area. For example, this year, we are headed to visit relatives in Washington State, so we contacted the Chamber of Commerces in that area and requested all and any free materials we can have from there. We will try to come up with some stops along the way to relieve us all from the dreary trips, so we also request materials from those areas also. For this trip, we plan a stay over on the return trip at Custer State Park on our way back over the Memorial Day Weekend, so we don’t have to driving in traffic.

At this point, we save money for our vacation. We figure out what we will need to go, not including the food we bring with us. With the prospect of gas going up to over $3 a gallon this spring and summer, the majority of our budget does go to gas. We also account for parking fees, eating out, and any extra entertainment that we want to do. This trip is nice, because our family is planning many activities for us based on local activities, such as clamming, fishing, hiking at Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens and many other fun, but cheap activities.

The next thing we do is pick some main activities (OK, it’s a little more dreaming) that look like fun or what we might enjoy doing. We also pick a big splurge that we all really want to do. On our trip to Glacier National Park a few years ago, we all wanted to go horse back riding in Glacier. We set aside the money just for that purchase (what we didn’t realize was that their horses were too small for my dh, our two youngest were too young, so only two of us could go!) We’ve learned not to set this one in stone, but maybe have a back-up plan. We went out to dinner in Glacier and had fresh trout from the lake as an exchange for our horseback riding. We all enjoyed being able to eat out somewhere, we might never have eaten otherwise (McD’s tends to be a better option with kids) and our back sides were spared the pain!

At this point, we have gotten to the nitty gritty of trip planning on the cheap. These were the more dreamy things we do to go on vacation with a family, but now comes the not so fun, but well worth the effort planning. We begin to do tune-ups to the truck and the Airstream alike. I also do extensive menu planning and clothing planning. In our case, there always seems to be something that we need to do to improve to the Airstream. (If you don’t believe me, see my honey-do-list on our blog!) All of this might seem like a lot to go through, just to go on vacation, but we have found that not only does our trip cost us less than most, we enjoy it more, because we don’t have to worry about things breaking down, and we all have fun because we took part in the preparations. Also, I think one of the most rewarding parts of the trip is the anticipation of going.

Stay tuned for more on our trip preparations, and of course our final adventures out West!

I am linking up to:
Met Monday - Between Naps on the Porch
Make it for Monday - Cottage Instincts

Plumbing

2010-03-08T16:17:00.001-06:00

Last year in the rush of getting our newest Airstream on the road, I didn't take pictures of the end and finished products of what we had done. Then came winter, and who wants to go outside and take pictures? Now that the weather is taking a turn for the better and the snow is melting, we are getting out to our beloved project and getting it back into order for camping as soon as possible. So today, I am sharing the plumbing. To the gentleman that asked more specific questions last year, I apologize for the delay!

This is the underside of the kitchen sink plumbing. I think the question that was asked, was how did we used the PEX plumbing on the sink drains. For the drain and the vent, but for the clean cold and hot water, we used the PEX. Here's the PEX behind the drains. On of the PEX travels along the floor along the wall to the tank under the goucho. The hot water PEX travels the same way to under the bed in the middle where the hot water heater is.Here is a picture of the drain pipe. The white elbow is the pipe that goes to the vent. Originally, we had it piped out the roof, but on one of our ah-ha moments, we realized that we could used a house construction in wall vent cover, so we capped it off next to the bunk bed. Eventually, we will probably vent it under the sink, but right now the damage is done with the hole in the wall.Finally, the PEX was also used for the toilet. We did learn a hard lesson and added the main in water source tube to have a valve that could be turned off when we are out of the Airstream. Unfortunately, on our second day at WBCCI International in Madison last year, the tube that my husband has used on the toilet burst and we flooded the Airstream. (The tube was not PEX, or the wrapped hose that you now see coming in - an effort to save money that didn't pay off!) The PEX is the blue tubing and the wrapped plumbing tubing is the clear looking stuff.

One of my favorite features of the toilet is the kitchen sprayer for flushing out the toilet. I'm not sure why we don't have this great feature in our house bathrooms, but it is so nice to be able to get the toilet clean without touch it! I think that Airstream was extremely genious in this invention. It does seem to be overkill, since the toilet can be flushed with water, but I made sure that it was put back in on the redo!

I didn't include the pictures of the bathroom sink plumbing, but that is similar to the kitchen, in that we used regular plumbing for the drainage and PEX for the water in.

Streamin' on the Cheap - Part 2

2010-02-12T07:44:00.001-06:00

Although, to many, it may seem that an Airstream is an expensive purchase, a persistent and vigilant search for the “right one” can turn up a very affordable option. If you can decide on what your comfort level is for a “fixer-upper”, there can be many options. I have heard of old Airstreams costing from FREE (I personally haven’t been fortunate enough to be that lucky) to no limits, but most are in the $1000-$8000 range. If you’ve checked out the RV market, you will know that this really is affordable.

Some advice to new Vintage owners is to not look for the “perfect” vehicle, as they are only on the showroom floor (I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about showroom Airstreams to believe that there really is no perfect one out there.) Look for the size and layout that makes the most sense to you. On our last purchase, the layout didn’t matter as much as finding a 26-28 footer that we could add bunks to sleep 6 people in.

Know that a floor replacement is common, but is not as bad as it seems. (OK – we are a year out of a floor replacement, and it seems I might not have a very good perspective anymore!) Even if you have to pay for some fixing by someone else, the life of the Airstream is so much longer than the life of some other brand. Take a look at our yard – we have a 1953 Clipper that is all original, except the floor and wiring.

More free advice, along the road, you will see those over-the-top, tripped out Airstreams, and think that’s what you need to do to yours. But along with those few fabulous showstoppers are many more that perfectly functional and carry the nostalgia of owning a piece of Americana. Don’t get me wrong, we all dream of the surround sound, flat-screen televisions and state-of-the-art refrigeration, but ultimately, is about the experience. You can always add the extras as you go.

So back to the floor replacement, I’ll try to make the future as bright as possible on this one. We’ve done two, one with the shell off, and one with sneaking the floor under the walls, and highly recommend the shelling route.

If you do it yourself, you are looking only the cost of plywood, flooring and rivets (and a lot of time.) If doing it yourself is not an option, you could do it for around $10,000, which would include the frame painting and new floor if you gutted it yourself. (Price quote is from Frank Yenson of Frank’s Trailerworks - frankyensan@verizon.net or click under My Blog Roll on Frank's Trailer Works) This could still be a potentially inexpensive option, especially if you get a good deal on the trailer in the first place. We’ve always believed, that if the first floor lasted 40-50 years, a green-treated floor should last at least that long.

Doing your own renovations is not without it’s frustrations or challenges, but with so many options out there, it is certainly rewarding! One of the most rewarding things that we have found in doing the renovation ourselves the friends we have gained because of it! The Airstream community has some wonderful resources if you just ask around. Trust me, asking may get you more information than you need! We have gotten so much reward, just consulting, encouraging and advising others, not to mention the pride in “showing off” what we’ve done.

All in all, if you’d love to own a Vintage Airstream on the cheap, set your money aside (cash speaks volumes when going to that farmer’s door to ask!), do your research, take lots of pictures, and ask for advice. Let people know what you are looking for, I promise that you will get many more calls that you can consider. Oh, and if you find that free one and you don’t take it yourself – let us know!

The Maiden Voyage of the Pooper!

2010-02-07T06:32:00.002-06:00

Each year, my husband and I have spent our anneversary weekend together in a Bed & Breakfast alone. For the last few years, we have been going to Airstream Rally's that happen to be on the same weekend, without our kids. The first time we went Airstreaming alone, we felt sort of strange, not really knowing what to do with all the space and not having to share with the kids (OK 16 feet of Airstream can seem large when you are used to sharing with 4 kids and a dog!) Soon, we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Last May, we decided to take out the 1963 Ambassador for the first time to a a rally. We had just installed our batheroom toilet, black and grey water tanks, and the tub and shower, so we had yet to work out the kinks. Funny enough, my husband had no intentions of using the bathroom that weekend, but I did not plan to spend my "honeymoon" weekend with no showers and a pit toilet!Here we are (the second one in with the tan Suburban) at the Marshfield Rally last May. Very nice facility, just missing nearby bathrooms with flush toilets and showers!

Needless to say, we did have some very intense discussions that weekend, and after some discussion with other Vintage owners, we I decided to try the toilet out and even had a grand plan for a shower! As it turns out, my husband thought that if we just never used the bathroom, we wouldn't have to worry about leaks, or messes! I on the other hand, have issues with using port-a-potties on a romantic weekend! All this being said, my husband figured he didn't need to try the bathroom out before our trip, or even warn me that I wouldn't have my own bathroom because it wasn't going to be used. I left on the trip thinking that since we went to the work and trouble of installing them, I could use them! See what happens when everyone assumes! I guess after 14 years of marriage, we still have some things to work out!

Use of the toilet went fine (more on that in a minute). The shower on the other hand, was a fiasco. We had a hunch that we didn't have enough grey water tank to hold a shower and dishes all weekend, but hey, you have to try sometime. Some of the Vintage guys showed my husband how to have a "convenient" leak in the tank, so that it would slowly drain grey water and not over fill. (Before you have a heart attack, we were at a fairgrounds and it was only grey water!) So, on Sunday of the rally (really I think I was very tolerant to go with no shower from Friday - Sunday!) I told my husband that I would be taking a shower. Yes, I didn't give him much choice. I figured "sink, or swim, buddy!" As soon as I started my shower up, water was spraying all over the camper (indoor plumbing had some leaks!) While my dear husband is holding towels over the spray, I took the very quickest shower I could. Much to our dismay, we got a knock on the door! My dh answered and found that all the men were gathered around our back end chatting with their morning coffee and noticed our "leak."

My husband quick shut the valve and immediately, I was standing in ankle deep water! At this point, I'm trying to get soap out of my hair and tried to convice my husband to open it back up! Unfortunately, the coffee clutch didn't leave, so my shower ended abruptly!

So, we poked around after the rally, not wanting anyone to witness our first dump! We eventually had to do the inevitable - DUMP! We had all the hoses, the water to flush the toilet with and my dh even had the rubber gloves for handling everything. (I was thinking raingear myself, but stayed clear!

Here you see my dh getting everything hooked up. You will notice that the valve is more under the Airstream than most. My dh moved it in, so one of kids wouldn't accidentally play with it and dump it out on us. (We found out at International Rally, this didn't work to our advantage, because when they came to dump us, they didn't realize the pan needed to be further under there, and we had to smell black water (that's putting it nicely) all week long under our Airstream!Everything went really smooth until just after this picture! (By the way, we had an audience too, so they thought the whole thing was hilareous!) The dh washed everything out, but as he went to fold it all into the PVC pipe under the Airstream, the other end splashed him with the washout water! I did start to laugh, but tried very hard to keep it to myself as he went into the Airstream to fully change his clothes. (I think he was thinking that a shower might have been a better idea at that point!)

So there you have it, our Maiden Voyage of the Pooper! Hope you enjoy!

Let the Vacation Planning Begin!

2010-01-18T04:31:00.002-06:00

We have had a difficult time trying to plan our summer vacation this year. For whatever reason, we just could not work out the dates for vacation this year. We already have too many things planned, but after much indecision, a final decision has been made! We are going to Washington State to visit my Brother-In- Law and Sister-In-Law! This trip is long overdue, as every time we tried to figure out how to do it, we would come back to not having enough vacation to make it there and back and a visit, too!

Well, we took advantage of a built in holiday - Memorial Day, which gives us a longer weekend. We are actually able to go for 14 days with taking only 5 days off. We really discussed not taking the Airstream with us to save on gas mileage and time (I know that was a sin!), but finally decided that for a family of 6 plus a dog, it is much more econmical to pay a little extra gas mileage, and not have to get hotels out and back. Plus, we have more room to pack clothes and food in. We found after a weekend in a hotel over Christmas, that we can barely get everything in for 2 days, let alone 14 days!

Needless to say, let the planning begin! For some, it may seem a burden to plan out many of the details of a vacation as much as I do, but hey, I hate to worry about food and laundry while on vacation (and believe me, with 4 kids, there's a lot of both!)

Something we haven't done in the past though, is stay at State Parks or Wal-mart parking lots in the past. Usually, when we have been on a long trip, we stayed safe by having reservations at RV parks at our destination. Locally, we love the state and county parks, but when going across country, we felt more secure in trying something new and saving money along the way! (We also had family to check out the best parks in Washington for us.)

So, with that in mind, we will be making some ~~repairs~~ adjustments to the Airstream in the near future to accomodate a long trip. Some of the things that have to be done on our Honey Do list to the right are:

Redo electrical
Hook up battery power (again)
Convert the goucho into bigger bed....(I pray!)
Make Table
Install Gas lines for heater
Install Heater

Stay tuned to our trip updates in the near future! We don't have long before our trip!

Streamin' on the Cheap

2010-01-12T10:25:00.001-06:00

As we enter the year 2010, it seems that the economy doesn’t have much sunshine in its future. In my opinion, this is a great time to be an Airstreamer, because we have what others need in desperate times – an Airstream! Many may think that I have now lost my mind, but I want to tell you why I think that owning and using an Airstream, is truly a cost-effective way to travel and enjoy family time.

As a family of six, I need to mention the savings along the road. There are so many rewards to taking your own bed, kitchen, and bathroom with you. For families, an Airstream can free up funds to do things you never dreamed you could provide during tight times. Really, the road is the limit as to what you can discover in this great nation that we live in! I want to point out some of the savings that can be found down the road.

Our family is often too big for one hotel room, so the cost of a vacation is double, just in rooms! The cost of sleeping is usually around $25 a night for us in a campground, giving us a savings of $150+ per night! If you add that up to our usually 10-day vacation, we could get an Airstream with our $1500 savings! One year of staying near home enabled us to save up money to buy a “new” Airstream last year. I was reminded at Christmas of the work it takes to load and unload and load and unload a hotel room with kids! We only add our clothes and food to the Airstream and go – so simple!

We have so often taken a trip and haven’t quite gotten on the road at the right time, so the kids (and Dad) are hungry an hour or two down the road. We can pull over at any wayside, park or parking lot and cook dinner. Most times its just sandwiches, but hey, we could make a five-course meal if we wanted! Our fondest memories of trips have been on those stops, because it never fails that someone can’t resist us and knock on the door to tell us their Airstream stories. Our savings for dinner – at least $60! Multiply that by three times a day and a ten-day vacation we have saved a whopping $1800! Now, all together, our savings for one, ten-day trip would be $3300!

Of course, you may be thinking, “well, you still have gas expenses.” Gas prices will depend on how far you go. Maybe some years you don’t go as far, and others you do. Several years ago, we took a ten-day trip to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks with three kids and a dog. The total cost was $1200 including all entertainment, eating out, gas (which was over $3/gallon) and souvenirs. I planned and packed all food and clothes for the entire trip (I just was not going to do laundry on my vacation!). The experiences we had as a family were priceless!

I never count the food we bring and make ourselves, or even the occasional grocery run, to be an expense of a trip, because we would eat at home and have the same expense at home. It takes more planning, but we find our trips to be more enjoyable, because we don’t have to think about what’s for dinner tonight! I always pack extra treats, like plenty of S’mores too, which makes it more fun along the road.

Overall, I want you to remember as you see your own families and friends cut out their leisure time and vacations because of the economy, be sure to remind them that there are other options besides staying in a hotel or condo for a week. Disney is not the only destination, either (although you can do that in an Airstream, too!). We have a whole United States to explore and meet new friends. Be sure to share your passion!

See you down the road…

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T09:24:00.000-06:00

I hope that you enjoy last January's picture of our backyard after a snowstorm on the heading. We don't have such a great opportunity to take a picture of both the Airstreams this year, as they are spending their winter in a separation. The 1963 is in the back yard, while the 1953 awaits next to the garage for a ~~possible~~ winter get-away with Dad & the kids! It's been in the minus temperatures over the New Year, so it's not looking good, although the 1953 is in the 100's when the furnace is turned on. (We usually have to just have it on pilot, or it turns into a little sweat lodge!)

I pray that God bless you in the New Year - 2010!

A new friend and her lemons!

2009-12-08T08:08:00.000-06:00

I recieved a wonderful gift in my email yesturday from Jenny at http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/! She sent me detailed directions and pictures of an Airstream ornament her family made one year! I will be attempting to get my dh to give a try at this sometime, so hopefully I can share.

In the meantime, as a special thank-you - I'd like to ask you all to check out her lemon giveaway here. Yes she is giving away a box of lemons fresh off her tree to you and someone you know today! If you are like me and stuck in the Midwest ~~or love fresh lemons~~ through the upcoming snowstorm - you have got to sign up for this piece of Sunshine in a box!! She even has wonderful Christmas music too!

A Rivetting Experience

2009-12-07T08:41:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful opportunity this last Friday to experience a different rivet than we usually do in our Airstream! We were able to participate as a family in the Young Eagles program and fly in a 1966 Cessna 172! This program is developed to give kids the adventure of flight by offering free flights to youth over the age of 7. We heard about the opportunity through our local homeschool group and jumped at the chance. We were even more excited that the entire family got an opportunity to go up in the plane for a half hour experience.

We flew over the Tomah area with the plane. The kids were to find Wal-mart and McDonalds. Our 5 year old was obsessed to find them, while I was just trying not to lose my cookies! The older kids got to take a round with the controls during the flight!

We really appreciated the year of this plane -1966 - as you can see here, the inside was all original, including the heat - which doesn't do much against the 15 degree elements outside. At least we were not in the wind (other than the plane taking the occasional bumpy ride through the wind!) I truly appreciated the rivets and design of the plane, as I do in our beloved Airstreams! We may have a new adventure, as the kids can take the classes to get their pilot's liscences through the airport! It would be a shame to not take this opportunity!

Even Christmas is about Airstreams

2009-12-02T09:27:00.000-06:00

We are not blessed to be in an area where we can continue to Airstream all winter, but do still make the most out of the frigid temperatures by bring some in. I thought I would share my Christmas tree, and of course...an Airstream!Sorry for the blurriness - I guess I could claim to do that purpose, but really, it's just out of my reach, so I had to use my longer lense, which doesn't like to do close-ups. Hope you enjoy anyway! A friend gave us this last year! I've never seen them in the stores, but I think she found it at Menards. I'm always on the look out, but never have found it!Of course, the one thing we seem to do in extreme, much like our Airstream is our house decorations. This has been a wonderful year for getting them up, because it's been in the 40's & 50's so much. I'm not complaining, just saying. If you click on the picture, you can see it better - I promise!

I am linking up to: 12 Weeks of Christmas - Red Writing

The Honey Do List

2009-11-17T23:08:00.001-06:00

Before all you men panic (or my dh for that matter!), our list to the right is just a honey do list of everything that we eventually need or want to get done for the 1963 Ambassador. I thought it would be nice to put up a list for all to see, and for us to remember. We thought we were really almost done on this one, but now with the list, it looks like we are nowhere near done! Some of the things are just our dreams, like making our bed bigger and a flat screen tv. Others are a little more urgent like the controller and the wiring.

About the fire - I guess that I never even put up on the blog that we had a fire this summer on our way to WBCCI, International Rally in Madison! We went to the Vintage Rally at Jefferson. We got both Airstreams set up and finally running. There was a problem with the electrical on the grounds. Slept our first night with not much ado. The next morning, we got up at 6am to get ready and in line for the Vintage Parade to Madison. I was in the bathroom dressing and getting ready, when my husband asked me what I was burning. I have no electrical appliances to get ready, so quickly turned off the bathroom fan and said I didn't smell anything.

Then I started to smell it! My husband started getting after me about burning something, and while we were arguing, our oldest son, "what about the battery?" Well that got my husband running! He opened the battery box (we now know why it is enclosed in a fiberglass compartment outside!) and found the battery on fire. We evacuated all the sleepy kids in their pjs and he ripped the burning battery out of the box! Fortunately, nothing else caught fire except a small section of the wiring.

As it turned out, my dh has forgotten to cap off a set of wires for the water pump on the front wall, and when he sat on the front goucho, it pinched the wire in between the goucho and the metal wall bracket, causing all the wire to burn up and started the battery on fire. He still doesn't know why the breaker never snapped, but I was thankful that no one was injured ~~except the small burn on my dh's hand~~ and that it wasn't my fault that it happened on our first big adventure out!

Needless to say, my dh has since fixed the wire, there are just no switches (to my knowlege) on that bare wire that caused the fire in the first place. I'm sure he'll let you know if I need to stand corrected on that (it's behind the curtains, so you don't see it.) Thought I'd share one of almost tragedies at International!

I'd love to hear any more ideas you might have for our honey do list - please just comment on this post.

Plumbing

2009-11-16T12:48:00.000-06:00

We used the Pex plumbing to run water to everything in the Ambassador. We didn't really take a long time to decide this for several reasons. The first was that the only copper tubing had cracks everywhere and was even not attached in places. Secondly, we both thought that the Pex looks better and cleaner. Also, because the Pex is flexible, we were able to put it everywhere, without making extra joints. We figured, the less joints, the less leaks we would have.

Initially, we fretted about the Pex tool that would cost $100 to clamp the Pex, but my husband found that one of his CV Boot Clamp Pliers worked for it. (This was a tool he had in his posession for working on cars, but one could be found for around $30.) We were very excited about this savings. Although my husband did think he'd get more use out of the Pex tool, it was nice to not have to spend as much on the tool as we would on the tubing. All tubing was purchased at Menards. If you watch sales, you can get some good deals.Here is another vew of the plumbing. This is in the closet. To the left is the toilet - if you see that tan line of fiberglass, that is the black water tank. It is enclosed in a step under the toilet and into the back sink cupboard. To the right, you can see the original water heater. It works and fires, but needs a replacement controller, but does work in the mean time. That's our next project at some point.

Just to give you a picture of what the plumbing from the kitchen sink looks like (and also under the tub & bathroom sink. We really didn't change anything as far as the original. Where the pipes were bad, or disconnected, we just bought the same to replace it. We tried to use as much of the old as possible, to save money and the environment! You can see that under the sink, the white is the new and the black and grey is the old. The only thing that we did change was the exhaust on the kitchen sink. Instead of running the entire pipe through two beds and out the roof in the original spot, we used an inwall cap to vent it inside. Because it is used for nothing other than the kitchen sink, there really is no smell and the hole that leaked buckets of water in the ceiling was able to be capped off permanantly. The cap is just on the inside bed in a corner. You can't find it unless you are looking. I hope this answers any questions that people had about how to do the plumbing. Please leave a comment if you have questions or comments.

We've Come a Long Way!

2009-11-10T07:41:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to show some of the pictures from our original adventure of getting our 1963 Ambassador out of the junkyard. To get the full story of how we got it here.

Here's what it looked like from the street. Those weeds you see are nettles!

More nettles and junk - some of those nettles were up to my shoulder!

How does one collect so much junk?

I held my breath while the junkyard owner backed out the Airstream with the bobcat. I wasn't sure that he was really going to be able to get it out without scratching it! He did fine, but I could barely breathe!

There is the empty whole from where our new adventure was born!

Hope you enjoyed my before pictures! Stay tuned for more soon!

Aluminum Counter Top Edging

2009-11-07T09:40:00.005-06:00

Since the Airstream is in ~~the back yard,~~ I mean winter home, I thought I'd get back into make regular posts about what we have done to get it back into shape and on the road. I had to take a detour for awhile, since it was Airstream season.

Here is a picture of what the countertops looked like without any trim. My dh did a wonderful job with doing the laminate on his own for his first try. It looks fabulous. We were both afraid of this daunting task, but once we tried, we are now pros at countertops - so watch out world, you just don't know what we'll do next!

Well, this is how they stayed for our few first trips, because we just didn't know how to finish out the edges without breaking the bank. Many suggested the traditional plastic T-channel edging, but I had a dream of something much better! I really love the look of the old fermica tables with the aluminum trim. Did you know they don't manufacture that anymore?

I know, you Airstreamers out there will say that Airstream puts it in the new rigs, but it's not as easy to get as you might think! I called Airstream, who referred me to Ewald's in Milwaukee - who really wasn't too excited about helping me get some trim! I don't remember how much it was going to cost (not cheap!) but I couldn't get anything more from Ewald's or the company than a catelog description - no pictures.

I then went into a massive internet search for what I was looking for (Vintage Trailer Supply - could you come up with this stuff to sell at a better price, please?), only to come up with only one place in West Virginia called Bars & Booths that makes vintage-like firmica copies. After a discussion with the very nice lady at the other end, the price we came up with was around $100 for 12 feet of it! I would have to buy two 12 foot sections though at $100 each minimum and then the shipping would cost $80 - gulp!!!

That was a very sad day for us, because we felt that we had gone to the ends of the earth to find this (and after a discussion with the lady, she said they had to have a manufacturer create a fabrication of this, so they own the mold and can't get it anywhere else!) and now there was no hope of getting this. If we had a spare $300 we have a lot more urgent things to fix - like a water pump and heater, that would be much more useful than decorations.

Have I told you about my dreaming before? (You might have noticed, if you've watched us pull this out of a junk yard!) I just don't give up very easily! I wanted this look and I was going to find a way to do it ~~cheap~~ inexpensively! So, I told my dh to take me to the hardware store down the street for one last ditch effort and I was going to find something. I walked up and down the aisles looking at everything to get an inspiration and wouldn't you know - I did. I had my dh buy me two 8 foot sections of flat aluminum stripping (I'm sure there's a name for it - but it's not in my head). It cost only $7 each and had no shipping! I could've walked if I wanted to not pay the gas!

Right away we came home and within 45 minutes I made my dh attach it for me! All I did was take those Scotch brand round sanding discs on a drill and buffed circles side-by-side down the strips. My husband cut them to fit, and used round headed nails down the middle to attach it!

I actually love the results better than my dream because we did this whole project for $14 ourselves!! In fact, I would consider hiring out to do the same for someone else - just ask! I hope that you can see the results - you can click on the pictures for a better view up close. Please let me know what you think!

I am linking in to: Met Monday - Between Naps on the Porch