Airstream Camping

We took a camping trip to visit our friends in Waupaca area and thought we would share a picture with you. It was a fabulous site and had a pond right out the rear of the Airstream! We were really wishing for one of those rear bedrooms just to look out the back window at the gorgeous view! The resort we stayed at was called the Blue Top Resort in Fremont, WI. The kids could go fishing right in the pond or in the lake or inlet on the other side of the Airstream. We were on a little island right on the the water! We had a wonderful time!

Reflections from a First-timer

I wanted to share with you my article that I wrote for the Wisconsin Bulletin which detailed our thoughts and feelings about attending our first International WBCCI Rally:

As we finally were able to load up our 1963 Ambassador, instead of fixing it, we could feel the excitement building for our very first International Rally. This would be my first time towing the Ambassador anywhere, and I was nervous and excited. The kids could hardly control themselves as they got all their things together. Every time I turned around the two year old was in her swimsuit ready to go to the Dells (A trip for the youth that did not occur until Friday, July 3rd!) My husband was worried about what may go wrong with all of the vehicles in our 11-day adventure. Even the dog tried to load up in the truck a day early!

As we rolled out in our mini caravan, we had high hopes for this rally. Our excitement got even higher as we pulled in to the Jefferson Fairgrounds with the 60 or so other vintage Airstreams. Even a fire in our 12 Volt wiring at 6:20 the next morning would not detain us from joining in on the Vintage Parade into the 2009 WBCCI International Rally.

We had done our research for this rally, but nothing could really prepare us for what International was all about. I had even saved up my tears for the dreaded parking police screaming when I couldn't get the ball to line up on the painted dot! My dear husband did save us both the embarrassment, by taking over when he saw that I may have to back in to our spot (if you went to the Fort McCoy rally, you would know that my husband's attempt to teach me backing up didn’t turn out so well). He jumped in my vehicle to park it then ran back to park his own.

Once we got settled, registered and signed up for almost every contest and show we could possibly do, we decided to just hang out in the Vintage area. This actually was the best thing that we could have done the entire week. We came to International with high expectations of programs, shows, entertainment, youth programming, the works and discovered what the true meaning of the WBCCI is: Wally’s Dream of bringing people together and building relationships!

The best thing at International had to be meeting people from all walks of life. We met so many of the people that you usually just read their articles in the Blue Beret, or hear on the Vintage Airstream Podcast. Best of all, had to be the opportunity to hear “Pee Wee” (Dale) Schwamborn speak about his adventures on the African caravan and his mother, Helen’s part in the early years of WBCCI during the Vintage Happy Hour. To top the evening off, the vintage area was treated to a “drive-in” movie of the African Caravan followed by more comments from Pee Wee! If you don’t already have the wandering bug, take a look at what our founders have done in the past, with much less technology!

We began to develop (or should I say enhance) our need to be adventurous and see our United States, every corner of it. Of course, we would love to see the world, but for now, we will pick the adventures that are do-able. It’s not just about the travel though, it is about joining together with people you may not ever have met to see where the road may take us together.

One of the many guests that we had in from the public stated it well, “I have never met a bunch of people who are more willing to open the doors of their campers to share. In my whole life, I have never met a Winnebago owner that would let me just see the inside of their trailer!” That’s us! We all open up not only our trailers to show people the inside, but we share with them the passion that we have to see the world and build relationships with others. We carry on Wally’s Dream!

What have you done to further Wally Byam’s dream lately? Have you gone on an adventure? (I’m not talking about the local KOA with all the amenities either!) Have you caravanned with others to a new place, even just one other trailer? Have you invited your friends to a rally? Have you shared the awesomeness of owning an Airstream with another? I’m sure most of you have. You can’t help but to have the stars in your eyes when you talk about Wally’s dream!

Although our first experience at International was not without it’s challenges. We experienced a fire, two floods, and near winter-like weather on this adventure, but we gained so much more in friendships. The people we have met will be friends we look forward to meeting down the road again someday, and will definitely stay in touch with for years to come! I will close with a quote from Pee Wee, “Keep the road straight, the sky clear, the glass full, good friends, and the laughter loud!”

Return from WBBCI International Rally

What a line-up! All the vintage trailers in the Vintage Airstream Club met in Jefferson to parade into the Alliant Center together. Just a view from the rear view mirror makes you get tears, don't you think?

We have finally returned from the WBCCI International Rally in Madison. I thought I would share some of my favorite photos before I get back to all the renovations that we have been doing on our '63 Airstream. Above you can see us all lined up for the vintage parade into the grounds after caravanning in from Jefferson. It was quite exciting to be in the line-up.

There's Grandpa's Airstream all ready to go. Although we weren't the shiniest, we were most proud of it going in! We hope that both Grandpa and Uncle Bill were proud! We spent about 15 hours two weeks before doing another buffing. It's not completely buffed, but we wanted it to look nice! I didn't take any pictures of the '63, as I was driving it! I had no problem driving it out of the driveway for the very first time and over to Jefferson. Makes you feel like there really is Girl Power!

Here is a picture of some of the trailers lined up for the week in the Vintage section. Unfortunately, the Vintage trailers got separated and some of the trailers had to go on the black top. I think that if there were some better planning at the onset, they would not have let some of the non-vintage campers park on the grass, and put them on the blacktop.

Here is the Vintage parking in the grass. The 1963 made it on the grass, but the 1953 was on the blacktop. We were able to use the awning only on the grass because the posts need to be put in the ground. We thought we would be in for a scorcher, but ended up being really cold all week. Of course, it is now hot again, just in time to go back to work.

Just a note, I had a request for more details on the plumbing. I will be putting more details about all of the trailer updates that we did in the few weeks before leaving for International. I was just unable to keep up with all the updates and the work that we were frantically doing. Almost everything is complete on the inside to our liking at this point. We do have some tweaking to do before another long trip! Stay tuned for more updates soon!

Finishing Touches

Just to show you some of the finishing up of things. We had to paint the light fixtures because they had some rusting on them. We decided to go with a metallic spray paint that looks real close to aluminum.
The couch is installed, although three of the drawers need to be re-veneered. We were both able to sleep in it, but found it to be really tight, as we are used to having a king size bed at home. It seems like we may be able to add another 6 inches onto the couch and still have it work, so we need to try to figure out how to make the mattress bigger without spending a fortune!

The Maiden Voyage!!

We did it! We got the 1963 out for a camping trip in less than a year! Here we are all hitched up and ready to go! It's hard to believe that we were able to get it back out on the road again in such a short time, especially with my husband being laid up for 6 months of that!

Doesn't it look great out in the woods? We went with two of our friends and their families for the weekend of camping. Not everything is complete, but at this point, we do have more than what we ever had in the 1953 as far as amenities!
Some of the things we need to complete yet before being finished are:

• Counter top trim
• Grey water tank (not made yet)
• Plumbing to the Grey water tank
• Shower curtain
• Door curtains
• Loops on one of the Venetian Blinds
• Veneer fronts of several drawers and cupboards
• Remake medicine cabinet
• Remake spice cabinet
• Remake magazine rack
• Redo table & chairs
• Clean and buff the outer shell
• Upholster the back of beds
• Build bunk beds (has anyone ever done hammocks in an Airstream?)
• Hooks & Fixtures here & there!
• Repaint steps, hitch and back bumper
• Install TV???
• I'm sure there are many more I'm not thinking of!

I know it seems like a long list, but overall, I don't think most of the things are huge jobs, so it seems like we are getting closer.

Curtains

Not to be outdone, I have been spending much time making and thinking up curtains for the camper. I have my hesitations about putting slide apart curtains on all the windows, because the curved walls make the curtains hang away from the wall. I decided to make just regular slide apart curtains on the windows by the beds and then put a Venetian blind on the the double stacked windows in the living room area. I'm not sure what I'll do in the kitchen or the bathroom yet. Pictured above is the pleated curtains I made for the window above the goucho.

Here are the side bed windows opened and closed. I am hand sewing rings for the Venetian blinds right now onto the curtain for the driver's side living room double window. I am praying that it works when I'm done, because I don't think that I can handle making it one more time! I used thermal lining for the backs of all the curtains. I am debating which material to use for the bathroom, but I know I need to make up my mind soon - like this week, so we can be in privacy in the bathroom!

Snapshot of Progress

I apologize for not getting this up sooner, but I had a week layover in which I was searching for my missing SD card! I took it out of the camera with the intention of uploading the pictures onto the blog, and lost it in between! It has totally disappeared and I can't seem to find it! Never mind that I had a 2 & 4 year old asking a million questions on my trip and had to get some dishes into the dishwasher, and any other number of things I did on my 100 foot trip from the camera to the computer! So, it may be official, I have not only lost my SD card, but I have lost my mind with it! (Oh, yeah, and then there is the suspicion, that the 2 year old followed behind me, and has a great knack for 5 finger discounts in an instant, never to be found again! When you ask her if she has it, she always says "yes!", but is never able to speak English and tell us where!) So onto just a Snapshot of our recent progress!
As you can guess, my husband has gotten the plumbing run in the kitchen sink. Doesn't it look beautiful? It was previously held together with duck tape and rags, so I think he's getting pretty good at this! We can't actually test out weather it works or not, because our grey water tank is not finished yet! What we thought was a great spot (just down the road from us!) to get fiberglass work done, has turned into a big waiting game!! I guess the proof will be in the pudding, so to speak when we see the finished product!

The cabinetry has been all installed, and my husband has figured out how to do laminate counter tops. It looks wonderful. The edge is not yet finished, we need to pick that up - he says, I need to pick it out for him! Shopping! This cabinet is the one by the door on the curb with the refrigerator under it.

Which leads me to the refrigerator - which is in and working! My husband is doing finishing touches on a cupboard door below the frig to make up the difference in the original design. Obviously, the refrigerator is not original, but we are pleased to have one that works, we don't have to buy and it happens to match the new flooring. That really was a mistake, because we just fell in love with the flooring and never thought about the impact on the the appliances already in place!

On, to the other side of the kitchen, as you can see, the beautiful counter tops and an installed sink to go with the plumbing. (I feel like a TV announcer now!) The "brand new" stove is in. My husband is working on getting the gas lines run today! He is very upset about all the holes he is having to cut into the new flooring for all the plumbing and gas lines, not to mention screw holes to attach the cabinets! I say the new stove, because when we originally offered the past owner $700 for the camper, he said, "For what? The Stove - it's new!" So we have kidded about our "new stove" since we got it! We did bring him down from his $5000 original price and he included the stove, by the way.

To add to the stove story, the stove actually is new in the sense that it had all the original plastic wrap on it and the burners were wrapped in a newspaper from the 1980's. We think that someone must have purchased a new stove for it, but never got it installed or working. We realized half, way home from the junkyard, that we were lucky it didn't fall out a window, because it was in place but attached in no way!

Stay tuned for more updates soon! We actually think we will take it out Memorial Day weekend! We figure if we can at least get the gas in, we will have just as many amenities as the 1953 has and more room! My husband will never let me hook up the water on the 1953 because it is too much work to empty out the bucket underneath (I know, we never got a blue boy, but it doesn't even heat the water!) We'll keep you posted!

Warm Weather Prevails!!

We waited all winter for the warm weather so we could work on the camper, and then when we finally got the warm weather, we had to halt work for the black water tank to get finished by the fiberglass company. Unfortunately, he had a very important order for the Military that took priority over our poop tank! I guess we can't blame, him but what was really a couple of weeks seemed to be years! So Ta! Da! The black water tank is finished!!

Now that the black water tank is finished, my husband made a new floor over the tank to set the toilet on. He then tiled that and put the rest of the bathroom cabinets in. He even put a seal around the tub, cut the dreaded hole in the new floor for all the drains and everything.

The fiberglass company is working on the grey water tank now. We are praying that he can get that done quickly, as we want to try everything out for a trial run for Memorial Day weekend! I know, we have lofty hopes, but it seems to be going together fast.
Now everything has started to get fastened down and finished. On Saturday and Sunday, I spent the days stripping the last of the furniture that hadn't been done and then staining it all, while my husband started to get everything screwed in and in place. Above you can see that he screwed the bed into the wall after sealing all the seams on the floor with silicone.

Over the weekend and on Monday, we were able to get the following attached and in place:

• Beds
• Bathroom Closets
• Electrical Box
• Tub
• Tub wall
• Vanity
• Overhead mirror
• Built, stained and installed a new kitchen wall between bedroom and kitchen sink.
• Kitchen pantry
• Goucho
• Shelf behind goucho
• Door-in-a-door clasps put back together
• Upper Kitchen cabinet installed

We are really booking along right now, and will get up pictures as soon as we have time to breathe! My biggest fear was that we would go really fast on getting everything together, and I will be in a crunch to get the curtains made. My fears may be realized at this pace!

More Weekend Work!

I got more furniture stripped today. It was beautiful outside, but very windy! By evening it was actually getting chilly. Here are two of the closets, some doors and the curtain rod for the doors in the hallways.

After a visit and warning from our local police department this morning, my husband decided that it was time to make the trailer look like it is drivable, at least from the outside. We got egged with quite a few others in the neighborhood, so the policeman let us know that our van was egged. And while he was here, he let us know that we weren't following the vehicle ordinances in town because it's not drivable, so if it wasn't movable in the next couple of weeks, he'd come back to give us a warning and we'd have a week to move it!

Well, that got my husband working on putting the tires back on, but he found that the rims aren't going to work. The tires are on for now, so we don't get into anymore trouble, but we'll have to get different rims, because they don't fit. My husband got all new lights put on the outside and the lisence plate holder on so they can't claim that it is a junk vehicle anymore. We'll see how that goes over... we may have to move it back to the back yard!

My husband actually used a buffer. He got two of the lights on before I realized that he wasn't cleaning underneath it first! Well, he was busted, so then he buffed off all the rust lines under the fixtures around the outside. Once he got going on the rust, he had to get them all. I just had to document it to the world that he does buff once in a while! (For those of you that didn't know, he doesn't have enough patience to get it done nicely, so I did the 1953. I'm not really liking the looks of this one!)

Super Saturday - Part 2

As promised, here are the rest of the pictures of what we did on Saturday when the weather was beautiful. I got all this furniture stained. We had gotten it stripped last fall. It was truly a family project. All the kids and my husband worked on the stripping one day. My husband did not care for that job, so it was decided that I would finish up that project in the future. Between coats of paint on the tub, I got the furniture stained. My husband replaced some of the pieces of the furniture that had been water damaged and couldn't be saved.

Replacing parts of the furniture, now that is another issue that we have been going around and around on! It seems that most of the wood is a thin plywood with Oak Veneer. Unfortunately, we have so many things that need replacing, the Oak Veneer ends up being a huge cost to us, so we started to discuss other options. For now, we are using floor under-layment, which as similar wood grain in it that the oak veneer has and is the same thickness as the wood that was there. We decided that we would stain it and see how it works for this year, and if we are not happy with it, we will replace it in the future.

While I was in the painting mood, I spray painted the light fixtures with Metallic spray paint, which in my opinion emulates shiny aluminum. Anything shiny that looks like aluminum is almost as good in my opinion! My husband thought that the martians had landed, because we had some flying saucers in our front yard!

Super Saturday - Part 1

We finally had enough time on one day with both of us home to work together at getting a bunch of things done. We had beautiful weather too, so that was quite a blessing!

As you can see above, we took the tub to DWO Enterprises to get the bottom patched with Fiberglass. We picked that up yesterday, so when the weather was so nice today, we jumped at the chance to get the tub and sink painted. Here are the before pictures!

The first coat of the Rust-o-leum Tub Restorer was awful to figure out. It has a different texture than paint, so it was difficult to tell how thick to put it on and how much to put on. Added to the curves of the tub, it wasn't the easiest thing in the world. I am the painter in the family, so this job was all mine! Of course, the reason I am the painter is because I like perfection, so I found this job to be difficult. Overall, though, the sink and tub look awesome compared to what the originally looked like! The part I didn't care for was that it dries sort of lumpy instead of smooth. For the most part, it looks really good.

Here is a picture of them both on the cabinet and floor after we got those stained today! We think they look great! Can't wait to get the plumbing to work now!

I will post another post to show you some of the other things that we did today. It's getting more exciting now!

Tiling is finished!

Well, my husband's biggest worry on the camper is done! He has worried from day one on the installation of the floor tile, but did find that it wasn't all that bad. In fact, once the first few tiles were in, the rest was pretty smooth sailing. We put in an Armstrong linoleum tile that calls for a glue.

The color is Candy Apple Green, which we had to special order from Home Depot. We decided to go with Home Depot only because they didn't charge extra to have a special order. Unfortunately, we had a bad experience there, yet again with employees in the process of picking it up. It took 45 minutes for the Customer Service to get one of the guys to bring it to the front for me, and then he took off right away without helping me load it in my car. I didn't have the time to wait for the guy that was called to the parking lot to help me, so I loaded the heavy boxes myself! Then, to my dismay, I found that two boxes had been thrown around and cracked the flooring, so after another 30 minute wait for help at the Customer Service, I got it at a reduced price. This experience seems to be the norm, as I have this difficulty every time that I go to Home Depot for something. I highly recommend Menard's! They have the flooring, but charge a delivery fee on it. We have gotten the rest of the materials at Menard's.

My husband followed up with two coats of sealant that also adds a shine to it. The tiles look absolutely fabulous! I can't wait to see how it all looks with the cupboards and furniture in place too!

Spring Fever without Spring!

Well, we are having a case of spring fever, although there doesn't seem to be spring in sight! We can't wait to get on the road with our new Airstream, although when that will be is up for grabs! On Monday, I painted a final coat of paint on the entire inside - English Oak is the color! It is two shades lighter than the Chocolate brown in the couch. It seems dark in theory, but in reality, it looks light in the camper.

We got started on laying the flooring, an Armstrong tile in Candy Apple Green. We got a little section of the front laid. We didn't realize that it would take 45 minutes or more for the glue to set up before we could actually lay it down. My husband also learned that you cut all the pieces before laying the glue (I tried to tell him, but he was so excited, he went ahead with the glue.)

Unbelievably, my husband was going to sit and watch the glue dry while I painted. I finally convinced him to go ahead and start getting the electrical installed while he waited. This he did listen to me about and got some of that finished! We then ran out of time and had to run the kids to activities!

Other items that have been getting done:

• My husband is chasing leaks down with a new sealant - Alcoa Gutter Seal from www.vintagetrailersupply.com. Close to getting them all.
• Cleaned up the door-in-a-door to shine on the inside!
• Black water tank is at the Fiber Glass shop getting the fittings put in and fixed - thank God because I think it stinks everything up, while my husband thinks the poop is too old to smell. (I think he's too old smell it! =})
• More parts are on order from www.vintagetrailersupply.com including more of that sealant, lights, the never ending need for rivets and a lighted licence plate holder.
• Tires are off and new bearings put in. (more on that later, as I have no clue what anything is in the mechanical department.) It's sitting up on blocks right now in the driveway.
• Cabinets are getting pieced back together and finished stripped.

On to the rest of the floor, finishing cabinets and getting it back together. It's hard to believe that I was just complaining about it never going back together! Stay tuned for much more work soon and pictures to prove it!

Lots of progress.

The last few days have been very busy around here. Thursday I moved the to camper to the driveway before the thaw. Saturday the trailer got more insulation, wiring, more bolts in the floor, then inside skin panels started going on by Sunday night all the panels but one were on.
First coat of paint is on.

Before the camper is painted.

Painted backend.

Painted front.

Fabrics are purchased and started

Here is the before picture of the Goucho which is under the front window. There is another cushion that is used to make it a double bed when it lays down.

We made a trip to Rochester, MN to the Mill End Textiles. I could have done a lot more damage than I did, but was able to find this fabric for decorating the inside of the Airstream.

The white fabric is thermal lining that was on sale for $2.49/yd! The next one down is a chocolate brown with green and orange ovals on it for the goucho. The light green is 10 yards for the curtains and then the orange (with a slight, zebra stripe in it) is 4 yards for the backing behind the twin beds in the middle. We also were able to get padding for behind the beds, zippers by the yard for the gaucho, and the zipper ends, all for $130! Most of their fabrics were $4.99 a yard. They even carried a bunch of camper fabrics, but found they weren't funky enough for our tastes.

After working on the goucho for two days, I got it done! There were two 72 inch zippers in the back. The front of the goucho is one piece of material, with only 7 pieces altogether to make the goucho, you can imagine my struggles! Another point of interest, the back has a board in it to attach brackets to attach the goucho in a sitting position to the camper.

I took the old pieces apart and used them for patterns, but several times, could not figure out how to get them together again! Oh well, in the end, they fit perfectly!! Yeah! I just have to cover the other cushion with this material and two arm rests and the gaucho will be complete!

The Floor is In!

It's in! The floor is finally in! My husband is still chasing down some of those leaks, but they all seem to be coming from the windows. If anyone has any idea of how to get those stopped, we would love to hear about it. I think the windows should be taken out and resealed and then put back in, but my husband thinks that he should be able to seal them without. He has put the rubberized coating around all the frames.

Next, the side walls, electrical and insulation will be put back in! Then the flooring!

A Good Days Work

We got the lower wiring into the inside along with the lower section of insulation as you can see in the photo above. Elevator bolts were put into the body of the Airstream today also. I'll write another sentence here, because my husband thinks it should look like he did more than two sentences worth today! I'm just such a great writer, I can sum it all up quickly. Stay tuned for more next week.

Six Feet Left To Go!

Ice Storms will not stop us from progress on our fleet! OK, so we get a little more creative with how long we stay in the Airstreams. Just a little taste of what our back yard looks like! Brr! The back end of the floor is finished. We just have one last section of floor, about 6 feet long to finish putting in. As my husband has been taking up the old floor, he has used a wire brush on the frame, primed, and then paint the frame. After painting, he used the construction adhesive and finally the elevator bolts to attach the floor.

My oldest son figured out that the leak in the back was coming from where the lights are, so now they know what to do to fix it. That may wait for a warmer day, as it was 12 degrees out today! With the windshield, it was below zero!

Welding the Frame & On to the floor!

First, we wanted to show you how well that back dent came out looking. It will show up when we start to buff, but it looks a lot better than when we got the Airstream.

Thanks to our friend Don, that loaned us the welder! You can see it pictured here. We had a few places that the frame had rusted and seemed weak, and then a few places where we added extra framing to make it stronger for the grey and black water tanks that we are adding.

You can see here what the frame looks like after it has been put back together and reinforced. This is the back, my husband also got the back piece of plywood down using the truck floor self-sinking screws along with construction glue to adhere the plywood. Only a few more sections and we will be onto bigger and better things, like getting the last of the sidewalls back in and then painting!

Unfortunately, we still have some leaks around the back window and in a few places. I have to say "I told you so" to my husband, because I didn't think that he should close up the seams until he had found the leaks and fix them around the windows. But he insisted that they would be fine. Well, marital bliss continues as well as chasing down leaks!

Work on the Frame

My husband said he would be mad if I put up this picture, but I couldn't resist, so enjoy it while it lasts! This is what he looked like after he came in from a couple of hours of wire brushing the frame of all the rust and old paint.

Here is the frame he was working on. There are a couple of spots that have rusted through, so my husband will be welding in some extra support to make sure it is sturdy for another 50 years! He then coated the entire frame after it was brushed down!

My husband made a trip to Fastenal to pick up truck bolts to sink into the floor for as soon as the flooring starts to go back in. He also plans to add some extra support into places that he will be adding in grey and black water tanks so they can support the weight.

The Instamatic Refrigerator Works!

Our biggest fear was that the refrigerator would not work at all. We have some good news! It works. The refrigerator cooled to 26 degrees today! We've heard so many bad things about RV refrigerators, that we just were not look forward to spending over $1000 for one and then have it need to be replaced in a few years. My husband brought the refrigerator into the house (set it up on my kitchen table) and cleaned everything, took it all apart and put it together and voila! it works! Now, we hope to get at least a few years' use out of it before having that expense!

If anyone knows what to do about the racks inside the frig, please leave us a comment here. The coating on all the racks are peeling off just touching it. We are finding many places that are rusted. It would be nice to figure out a replacement or a re-coating if anyone has any ideas.

Now the Floor

Now that the ceiling is back in and the leaks have stopped it's onto the floor. Because the old flooring was so bad it came out easy only a few select cut with the circuilar saw and out it came. Our four year old helped clean out all the junk from the years and now it is time to wire brush and sand the frame before painting.