The Beginning of the Front

After spending all that time and energy getting the back half of the trailer looking good, I decided it was time to do something about the front. The back half still needs lots of stuff to be finished, but it's mainly detail work, trim, and some veneering that Frank's Trailer Works will be handling. However, the back looks good enough that that front now looks worse than horrible. Last night, after the rain storms blew through and brought the temperature down from about 90 to a more survivable 78, I decided to get to work.Originally, my plan was to get rid of the goucho and build a dinette. After spending a weekend camping with it, we have decided that we are going to stay with the goucho. We'll be eating outside, and the goucho is actually in really good shape. In fact, most of the front end is in really good shape.

I was expecting to see floor rot in the front end corners like I've seen in so many other trailers. I also have a very rusted cross piece on the frame right underneath the front window which led me to believe I would find "issues" up here. This was a pleasant surprise.
Walter of Wabash. Cool.

This picture is being included to increase my degree of Airstream Into-It-Ness. I didn't want anyone to think I just sent my trailer away to Colin's to get this stuff done. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Look at those beautiful old tiles. I would love to have seen this trailer back when it was new. To have seen it before it was filthy, and the Zolatone had been painted over with white latex, and the floor covered with carpet. I wish Airstream would make a model like this new today. Simple, no frills, utilitarian, function ahead of form. I would buy one in a heartbeat. My trailer will be better than new in every way when I'm finished, and built to my tastes with the wood, fabrics, and flooring that we choose. I still think it would be awesome if Airstream offered a "camper" you could buy off the showroom floor rather than rolling luxury apartments.

Bakers Acres of Chenango Family Camping get Together

This past weekend my family and I took a break from working on the trailer and hauled it 8 miles over the hills to my good buddy Rob Baker's place. We just got our awning last week, so Laurie cleaned out the trailer, we loaded up our camping gear and went camping. No propane, no 12V, no refridgeration, no running water (but we did have a toilet), and we went boondocking in our aluminum tent. Pictured above are the trailers of my friends Steve, Frank, and Rob, with mine in the foreground.
Laurie had a wonderful time. It was our first rally, but we felt as though we were members of a family, the Airstream family. Laurie is hooked on Airstreaming. That's good, since I'm eyeing the purchase of a water heater, fresh water tank, lots of plumbing bits and pieces, paint, upholstery, and lot$ of other things for our silver palace.
Me and my buddy Frank. I met Frank through our mutual friend Rob about a year and a half ago. Seems like I've known him my entire life. Some people you just click with. Thanks for everything Frank
Here she is, awning deployed and set up to camp. Water was supplied by 5 gallon jerry cans, lighting was via kerosene lanterns and candles, and coolers kept our perishables cold. We may have been lacking a few amenities, but I can tell you we were not lacking in the fun.
Go to a rally. I highly recommend going to a WDCU rally if you can. This was our first, and I am so sorry I have missed out on so much from years past (like the rally I heard about at Camp Hatteras where one member was pelted by a number of bras when he made a comment about women's liberation). Thank you Rob and Zoe for this event. My trailer is about to undergo further surgery which will render it immobile for a while, so our next rally may not be until the Bakers Acres event next year. The thought of camping next to my friends on the field will keep me motivated, I am sure.

john kwasnik

It's been a while since my last post, and even longer since my last post that had anything to do with my Airstream renovation. I had taken pictures of my wardrobes, vanity, and couter top all "dry fitted". For the past month I have been working on getting everything riveted and screwed into it's final position.

Daryl at Pharsalia Metal Fabricating contructed this wonderful black tank out of stainless steel. It was not cheap, but my original tank had deteriorated beyond the point of repair. I could have had a tank made of plastic or tried to find an original fiberglass tank in better shape than my own, but this tank will outlast our grandchildren and I'll never have to worry about it falling apart.

Ahh, boxes of stuff. New toilet from PPL, valves and flanges from PPL and various Ebay sellers.
The toilet looks good to me, and even better to my family. I still have to plumb my trailer, but it's usable if you have a bucket of water to flush with! It'll be a shame to hide that beautiful black tank with the cover that I have to build, but then again some things should be hidden from view, no matter how nice they are. I'm happy with the toilet. The bowl is china, and it has a vintage look that goes with the trailer. The seat and cover are a cheap flimsy plastic, but I'll have my eyes open for a suitable replacement.
The back half of the trailer is coming together quite nicely. The front half of the trailer, however, is a different story. I'll be ready for the rally at Rob Baker's farm the 2nd weekend in August, though. I hope to have an awning by then, and I have to make a place for my wife, our daughter, and me to sleep. The 3 boys will be outside in a tent for now. Hopefully there will be indoor berths for all 6 of us in time for CBR 2010.

Lovelution

Lovelution. My spell check program is telling me that I have mis-spelled a word. Evidently my spell-check program has not been married very long. Lovelution is what happens when a man and a woman have been in love for a long time. In the case of my wife and I, close to 20 years. We began dating in 1993, we married in 1995, and we’re still together today. Living in a nice house that seems to get smaller all the time, due mostly to the fact that we’re proud parents of 4 beautiful kids who are in the middle of growing up fast.

This very small synopsis of the life and the love that my wife and I share is woefully incomplete. To say that we have been in love all that time, while correct, does not tell the entire story. It does not tell of the richness that a love attains over time. It does not tell of the deep knowing of your partner. It does not tell of all of the ups and downs that serve to strengthen the fibers that make up the tapestry of our love.

I have been extremely lucky to find a woman like my wife, Laurie. A good, Christian woman, devoted to family, smart, funny, and extremely attractive. Loving this woman is easy, and I count myself extremely lucky because I know that I am often difficult to love. I spend too much time at work, pay too much attention to hobbies, let my temper get the best of me at times. Through it all, Laurie is there for me. Tenderly bringing me back to the center of my life. Encouraging me to express myself, challenging me to be a better person.

Perhaps the most comforting thing about our love is knowing that it is something that I can always count on. God knows that life is completely unpredictable, but the love that my wife gives me is constant. I live my life fully aware of that fact that The Lord has blessed me through my wife.

I love you Laurie. I can’t wait to get this trailer done so we can hit the road together and explore. Side by side, hand in hand, heart in heart. Thank you for being you.

I was lucky to get some time away from work yesterday. We were closed on Monday, and that usually means that our next day that we are open is a zoo. I went in to work, hung our for a while, and once I saw that everything was under control I headed over to my storage building to get out my vanity and bed frames. I was driving my old Land Rover, and I wish I had taken pictures of it all loaded up with Airstream furniture. The vanity fit in the back as though it had been designed to fit. The bed frames went on the roof rack and I lashed them down. It was nasty getting them up there. If you go back in this blog you will see that the curb side bed had the mother of all mouse nests between the sleeping platform and the top of the drawers. I cleaned it out before I took everything apart, but never really cleaned it good. Well, in order to get the beds on the roof rack, I had to turn them upside down and hold them up over my head. This, of course, made every loose bit of mouse nest and mouse turd that was left over cascade down upon me. It was really nasty, let me tell you. Anyway, I got the bed frames in the garage, waiting for me to look them over and decide if I'm going to tackle rebuilding them, or if I'll do the easy (smart) thing and send them down to Frank in Baltimore. Take a look at what all of his work looks like dry fitted and I think you'll understand why I'd like to have more of this quality work done for my trailer.

I was asked to take a better picture of what my cork floor looks like. It is strips of cork running lenthwise in the trailer. It was a very nice texture; not too rough, but with lots of grain that you can feel underneath your feet. It is finished to give it a nice matte finish, and should hide dirt very well and be easy to clean.

Progress.

Updates have been few and far between lately on this blog, and if you have been waiting to see what's new with my trailer, I apologise. Work has been progressing, however. Most of it has been done without me personally touching a tool, though. Last update I showed my new paint job done by Don Stanton, and Frank Yensen of Frank's Trailer Works has been doing some amazing woodworking for me. Let me take a minute to talk about Frank's Trailer Works. Frank Yensen holds a Master Degree in Fine Arts, and is a true old world craftsman in absolutely everything he does. I met Frank through our mutual friend Rob Baker, and my life has been blessed because of it. Frank is one of the most genuine people you could ever hope to meet. If you ask him a question, he will give you his opinion and will not care if it is not what you want to hear. This is something I appreciate immensly, especially when it comes to doing business with someone. There were times in the planning of my cabinets and flooring when I had made up my mind about what species of wood I wanted, or the shade of paint I wanted to use on the walls. For the most part, frank thought my ideas were good ones, but on a few occasions he let me know that my choices just would not work. He was gentlmanly about it, and did not make me feel like an idiot about it, but he was certain to make sure I knew his opinion of my choices. Being that I am a pharmacist, not an artist, I always deferred to his opinion. Without exception I am glad I followed his advise. It is a wonderful feeling to work with someone as technically capable at the physical aspects of building, and all the more when that person has an eye for beauty and asthetics. I am very happy to have Frank's Trailer Works working with me on the rebuild of my Airstream, and the pictures speak for themselves.

After getting the floor prepped, I started placed the tub and black tank and then started clicking the flooring together.

Then I tried to get the wardrobes through the bulkhead in the galley. No go. These trailers were built from the back forward, and when I took the old wardrobes out they were in pieces. Out came the screwdrivers and off came the wall next to the sink. Looks nice and roomy.

Wardrobes placed where they will sit. I will have flooring underneath the entire wardrobe. When Frank built these, he asked me the the thickness of the flooring planks I would be using, and then he shortened them by that amount. 11mm in this case. They fit perfectly.

Below shows the beautiful wood we used, and the contrast between the cherry wood and cork floor. I absolutely love it!