Thursday, April 9, 2009

It all started when I purchased the 1964 GT

So, life has been very very interesting and I tend to think that all of my previous actions have led me to where I am right now. For example, it is because my father is friends with Mr. Langford that I have an airstream, because Mr. Langford has a 70's Safari and I fell in love with the idea of caravaning. Anyway, you get the point.....so it is very interesting to think about how every decision we make now, will lead us to our next situation or thouht process or lifestyle or relationship or hobby.......Mainly, I have been so unbalanced lately with work being so slow, and so many things up in the air, and mainly not being able to control everything.......my life has been pretty interesting. Atleast it has in my head...But what I am getting at is that I am thinking about taking a major step away from Atlanta, and to go and travel in the Airstream for 3 to 4 months and do nothing but support Rosemary and her business and kiteboard and play harmonica. So I am thinking about how if we plan ahead and allow ourselves to dream a little more and possibly accept it that YES we can make our dreams come true, then we would be alot more happier. I am so tired of the self imposed limitations we have come to think of as normal and the truth. So, alot of deep thoughts and plans are being put out into this world, I am looking forward to seeing what we are rewarded with. There are so many opportunities out there, we must make ourselves aware of them as they present themselves. I am seeing more and more each day how I could chane the path of my life soon, just by taking a new step in a little bit of a different direction. I think it all started with the purchase of the 1964 GT.....Wouldn't you know.

So there are alot of wonderful things that are taking place in my life and I cannot wait to see where it takes me from here. We found a new place to stay. I am looking forward to exploring other camp grounds.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Florida Blackwater




So, it is kind of weird to not have the Airstream in the driveway. I am doing things to my house that I have nelected for years, simple things, like anchoring the drip lines to the side of the house from my HVAC in the attic. They had been dangling along the back side of the house for the past 2 years. My yard has never looked this good. I started to organize the basement, really organize. Purging is a good thing. I seem to be doing it every season, so 4 times a year. I am getting to a point where all that I want to own or hold onto, can be packed and stored in one basement room. So.........the Airstream project, makes ordinary things seem easier. If you can restore an airstream, shell-off floor replacement, custom cabinets, full re-wire, new everything...then you can basically do anything. And you can't disagree unless you have done it yourself.

So I am sitting here in Atlanta, Rosemary is in the panhandle, and supposedly, the business is picking up in the henna tattoo world. Spring Break is happening and things are picking up. This past week has been interesting since the river that we parked on went over the banks and came within 4 feet of the trailer. The store flooded and the beer was stored in the 5th wheel monster apartment next door to us. I figured if they were storing the beer in the trailer next to us, then we would be safe. But I still kind of got nervous since I was in Atlanta and Rosemary was in the trailer 6 hours away. It being our 1st trip and all.....So life is good at our spot. I am hesitant to mention the name of the place, atleast until we leave. It is not the type of place I would want to ever go back to unless I bean to drink alot of beer and began to love motorcycles and southern rock and roll, every day. It reminds me of a song by JJ Grey and Mofro "Black water" and "DirtFloorCracker" or any of their music live, rowdy and swampy.....I guess.

So, I am going to retreive the trailer this weekend and move it to another park that will cost us only $325 per month. Free Wifi, laundry, near beach (10 minutes), etc. We are going to check it out for when Rose goes back t work for the whole Summer. I am thinking about checking out Providence Canyon also. I have heard some good things about the sandy bottom and its feeling when you are barefoot. Here are pics of the river rising etc.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Trip 1

So I arrived and the first thing I saw was beer girls dancing on top of the picnic tables wearing these panties that said "Beer Girl" on their ass. There was about 500 motorcyclist, lots of leather, and 200 motorcycles, a redneck rock n roll band, beer smell, and it was Sunday. These were the first things I saw at the place that we would be calling home for the next few weeks. So.....if you are a biker, you should check this place out. It was definitely not like what I suspect an Airstream rally is like. I definitely stuck out like a sore thumb, even though I am somewhat young and hip if you want to say. I am simply not a biker and never have been the biker type, BUT I can hang and get along with just about anyone. So, this was the first stop I made as I got off of the highway and ready to park the trailer. I am not sure what they thought of me....So we parked our new house and began to set her up for the first time. It was special having our first meal together. I failed to previously mention that I built a table that folds down against the wall. It turned out really well. So we had dinner and a movie the first night in the Airstream together, Rosemary and I. Other first experiences were of course the first hot shower and the first bathroom usage, etc......Needless to say, we are absolutely loving this lifestyle and are embracing it fully. I do not have pictures yet, but will. I kind of dropped the ball over the past month or so with posting in detail, but if anyone has questions, feel free to contact me.

The final touches






The finishing touches were tough. The counter-top, the fridge flu, the plumbing drain lines....I ended up getting all of this done 2 days before I was to get on the road. I had a time limit as to when the trailer had to be done. In order to reduce stress, I had a "must have" list and a "want" list. So the fridge flu, plumbing, and hot water heater were all a must have. They were completed with some customization. The appliances all worked as they were supposed to. I have a 3 way fridge (gas, 12 volt, and 110), electric ignition 6 gallon water heater, 21 inch stove with piezo (whatever that is?), surface mount puck lights all on one switch with dimmer. The mattresses on the gauchos are futon matresses we got off craigs list, they turned out to be perfect. We actually ended up cutting one of them open in order to cut it to fit in the front area. The fridge flu was not long enough to fit under the cabinet top, so I had to customize an aluminum extension with trempro sealing it. I also used aluminum around the top of the tube (where it meets the wall). I do not have picturs of it all, but it really did not get done until we were parked and actually in the camp ground. Here are some of the pictures of it as I pulled away from my house headed to florida. I will post the final repair pics once I have some.

2nd trip to Ohio






So I had to make another trip back to Ohio to finish the doors of the cabinets and the gauchos. What a task this proved to be. We spent 4 full days (12 hours/day) working on these doors and gauchos. Nothing was easy abut this part of the job. Building the doors from scratch, routing the paneling and spraying the laquer on them, waiting for them to dry, etc….what a job this turned out to be. We ended up making the face frame for the cabinet above the front gaucho to look like one panel all the way across. It turned out well. After all was said and done, the front and side gaucho was installed and almost all doors were completed. It turns out that the 3 doors above the sice gaucho, top cabinets were too small. So we made that mistake and they turned out to be nice cubbies for the time being.

Ctnd.