Turkey and canned ham

Ah, the long Thanksgiving weekend. A time for family and friends ... or for those of us with the trailer "bug", 4 days off to work on that canned ham! And thats just what I did. I've been gathering information on painting techniques and am realizing my first major mistake - removing all the windows before stripping the old paint. No problem - I'll just sand the old oxidized paint off. Such a bonus for me to get to breathe in all that paint dust. And they warn us about chemical strippers?! Guess a painter's mask might help for next time. After spending over an hour removing the roof vent cover (seems a previous owner decided to fix some leaks by applying copious amounts of what looks like roofer's tar to the screw heads) I lightly sanded the entire roof area. I was amazed at how beautiful the aluminum was under the old paint. Maybe I should just polish the RR to look like a chrome toaster!

The rear skin of the RR was somehow a tad bit short and I believe thats why the dry rot was so bad along the bottom edge. I purchased a piece of flashing, cut it to length and secured it under the skin and over the wood framing. Now I can add "sheet metal worker" to my resume. I also had the pleasure of rebuilding the entry threshold. I do enjoy the carpentry tasks - but I'm kinda over the dry rot thing. It really might have been easier to just write the check and buy one already restored. But then what would I do with all my free time?

Debbie came over on Sunday and we managed to clean all the windows. We staked out the sunny corner of the driveway and scrubbed and polished until our fingers were arthritic. We must have pulled 20 pounds of that darn butyl tape off the frames. Some of the aluminum is so pitted that I will have to hit it with the Dremel to clean it up. My beloved dog Oso supervised and provided much need comic relief from time to time.

I celebrated "Cyber Monday" by dropping a couple hundred dollars on one of my new favorite web sites - Vintage Trailer Supply. I ordered everything on my wish list - a new propane regulator, 4 leveling jacks, an emergency brake breakaway switch, and 1,740" of brand new butyl putty tape! It will be my gift to the next owner 40 years from now!!!