Talk About Time Warps!

They say that email is killing the postal service. Well, I believe that Facebook is killing the blogs! Its much easier to post a few quick lines to FB than to sit down for an hour & write in my blog. But a rainy Sunday has me thinking it's long overdue ... about 25 months to be exact!

In these past 2 years, so much has happened. On a personal note, my dog Nani passed away. It was difficult to lose both of my dogs within 18 months. All my life, I have wished for a dog that could go everywhere with me - camping, hiking, working, hanging out. A constant companion. Well, that wish came true. June 22, 2010, I adopted Snickers from my local humane society. He is the most amazing dog I've ever had. I could write the entire blog just about him, but this is supposed to be about my trailers. Oh well : )

I'll start with my adventures in the RR. I have had so many wonderful camp trips that I can't list them all (or remember them all!). I have done my annual trip to Fallen Leaf Lake, several rallies each year, some excellent local camping & 2 more trips into Oregon. My final road trip took me up near Portland - almost 600 miles one way. My daughter is doing her graduate studies at Portland State. A good excuse for me to explore new areas & visit her at the same time.

So I said "final trip". Yes, I sold the RR 4 months ago. As I was finishing work on the Chiclet, I knew the RR would need to go to a new home. And thanks to Facebook, I connected with a wonderful couple who drove 7 hours to pick it up. Best part - they will be joining me for my Fallen Leaf campout in June, so I'll get to see it again : )

While restoring the RR, I worked on it every spare minute. If the weather was good, I was outside ripping out dry rot or prepping for paint. Rain days had me polishing trim pieces on my kitchen table. I was on a mission with a deadline. It had to be done for the Pismo Rally. And 2 months after that rally, I bought the Chiclet!

The Chiclet was a much bigger project than the RR. I was in no hurry & wanted to enjoy the process a bit more than just rush thru it. And when I adopted Snickers, he was just 4 months old. For 6 months, I did nothing but train my new pup - best investment I've ever made. So I worked on my little trailer every now & then. Slowly but surely, it got done. Fully insulated, all new electrical wiring, new plumbing for the sink, rebuilt door, interior light fixtures won on eBay & installed, refinished all the birch wood interior, polished all the hardware & window pieces, new counter & table tops, new flooring & 2 new sheets of aluminum skin on the lower rear side. During that time, I had also decided on my color scheme. My friends Paul & Caroline that sold me both of my trailers have the most beautiful Shasta. They painted it a soft yellow & off-white. So I decided to copy them. My buddy Rick the mechanic was happy to do the painting for me. I decided it was worth the money to have a nice automotive paint job instead of using rattle cans again! A bit pricey - $1,600. - but worth it.

I know I'm leaving out so many of the details of the restoration, but this is the best I can offer up at this point. The coolest part about my work on the Chiclet - I made mistakes, I learned a bunch of new things & my skills are improving.

A few weeks ago, I took the Chiclet on a maiden voyage. There are a few bugs to work out - had a slow leak in one tire (a bad valve stem), my corner jacks were too talk to fit underneath the trailer & I need to reorganize my storage spaces. This trailer is 3' shorter than the RR & is lacking the huge overhead bunk / storage cabinet. But overall, it is very sweet little camper & I love it!

I have the coming year already booked full of camping trips. The best part of restoring old trailers is taking them out & using them. As much as I love a good project, I love camping even more : )