New Lights

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

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

Thrifty Thursday - Tales from Bloggeritaville

Friday Fun Finds - KoJo Designs

Weekend Wrap-up - Tatertots and Jello

Met Monday - Between Naps on the Porch

Make It For Monday - Cottage Instincts

Just Something I Whipped Up - The Girl Creative

More Pre-Ownership Pictures

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

DIY Day - A Soft Place to Land

Trash to Treasure - Reinvented

Penny Pinching Party - The Thrifty Home

Transformation Thursday - The Shabby Chic Cottage

Thrifty Thursday - Tales from Bloggeritaville

Bench Progress

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:

DIY Day - A Soft Place to Land

Trash to Treasure - Reinvented

Penny Pinching Party - The Thrifty Home

Talented Tuesday - My Frugal Family

Transformation Thursday - The Shabby Chic Cottage

Thrifty Thursday - Tales from Bloggeritaville

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

Met Monday - Between Naps on the Porch

Make It 4 Monday - Cottage Instincts

Just Something I Whipped Up - The Girl Creative

Pre-Ownership

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

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

DIY Day - A Soft Place to Land

Trash to Treasure - Reinvented

Talented Tuesday - My Frugal Family

Penny Pinching Party - The Thrifty Home

Transformation Thursday - Shabby Chic Cottage

Thrifty Thursday - Tales from Bloggeritaville

Creative Cats - Poppies at Play

Frugal Friday - Extreme Personal Measures

Planning a Trip on the Cheap

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

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

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!

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!

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:

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

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

Streamin' on the Cheap

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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.