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.

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.

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.

The last month

OK, I know I have not written since the burning of the old cabinetry. It seems like so lon ao that the framing of the cabinets went in. Since then we have completed the project, just in time for it to be thrown into the deep end so to say. But before I start writing about our excursion to the pan handle of florida, let me catch everyone up.

So after the framing of the cabinets were put in, I installed the electrical panel, installed the stove, refrigerator, hockey puck 12 volt halogen lights on a dimmer, 50 amp service so as to power all of the poles on my breaker panel, all plumbing installed, water lines, bathroom and kitchen sinks, counter-tops, fridge flu, side and front gauchos, front cabinet facing, insulated the floors with closed-cell spray foam insulation, gas lines, belly pan, wired the brakes, welded stairs and leveling jacks in place.

Here is where I left off.

I ended up arriving back home in Atlanta with the basic frame of the cabinets completed.
I spent the following weekend running the gas lines, then insulating the floors with closed-cell spray foam insulation, and then the following week completing the belly pan. What a job that was!!! It took me 4 days to complete the belly pan with .032 mill finish aluminum. I ended up just shoving aluminum between the exterior skins and the u channels. Of course, there was a lot of Trempro 635 involved. After this was completed, a buddy of mine came over and welded the leveling jacks and stairs to the trailer. The stairs were easy, but the leveling jacks required a bit more energy or thoughtfulness. I wanted them easily accessible for lowering, so we put them on both sides of the black/grey water tank wit a plate and some triangle supports as can be seen here. The front jacks were welded directly to some 3 by 3 steel turbing which was then welded to an outrigger and then a angle iron to te side of the tubing in order to provide some support against the floor. The real scare came when my buddy yelled for me to get the fire extinguisher. Some of the foam caught fire between the floors and bely pan. The inside of the trailer was full of yellow smoke. With a full extinguisher and water available to put out the fire, we got things under control.

Installing the appliances was actually easier than expected. All of them worked as they should, which is the way it should be, but you never know what kind of errors could have been made. So the fridge is a 3 way fridge (110,12v,gas) and works great. I ended up running a separate 110 ciircuit for the fridge. The stove serves as a 3 burner stove, toaster oven, etc and was really easy to hook up. The vent fan was only a challenge when I had to customize the vent piece fits around the hole in the side of the trailer. The hot water heater was all hooked up and all that was needed was to hook the blue, brown and red wires to the switch that was provided. I did, and it actually worked just as it should have. So, the appliances were actually one of the easier items to deal with on this trailer.

The sink was also installed the fit around the wall of the tube. I did not have the original pieces, so I improvised in order to keep the proress. It works just fine being supported by some wood. The toilet was really easy to install.

Burn Baby Burn

Well......Once we finished cleanign the shop up, we decided to go ahead and do what I ahve been wanting to do, and we burned the old cabinets. I am not going to o into details, you can see what happened, it was oh so nice.

Back Cabinet finished

So we spent the day finishing the install of the back cabinets complete with shelving and even a back panel hiding the wiring. We made a cut-out for the electrical panel to be in the divider between the way back cabinet and the 1 foot long hallway linen closet. You will see the hole. All in all, I am pleased more than I could have ever imagined. We get more and more done each day and I did not expect to get this far in 5 days. We still have 1 week to complete the doors as well as other items.

Tomorrow we plan on finishing the street side upper cabinet and the front cabinet. I am oing to put a coat of laquer on both cabinets to seal them and finish the 2 other coats and sanding when I get back home to Atlanta. Lots to do in order to get her ready to roll for Spring break....

Here is where we ended today, with the end caps adn dividers cut for the cabinet being made tomorrow.

This past week

This past week has been a long week. One week ago I was prepping the interior for painting. Now I am in Ohio and have built cabinets for the kitchen and back streetside. This has kind of been a roller coaster ride to be honest. I have put alot of pressure on myself to finish this in time for April usage. Not only is every portion of the project different and challenging, the curves make everything more difficult. I keep telling myself that it is OK, that if it were easy, then everyone would be doing it, we would see these tings restored and all over the place. So, it all makes sense to me after I say this to myself.....It takes alot to do what I have done and I am having fun kowing that. So, tht is all I wanted to say. It has been a tough week or so....Even though this trip was labeled a vacation, it has been far from a vacation. I am really hoping to get to the finish line with this trailer so that I can take a vacation. I am really going to need it.

ALSO, I sometimes wonder who is actually reading this. Don't you wonder who is listening out there in the world all around us. I would like to one day, be able to meet some others who are likeminded and of similar nature as myself. That would be cool.

These pictures are some fun pictures including two of my lovely ladies, Rosemary and Atheena.

Streetside begining cabinets

Snow and Cabinets

OK, so today we really made some headway. We installed the kitchen cabinets, except for the blocks attaching it to the wall. We designed the street-side cabinets. This project is definitely a much larger project than I anticipated and I am really amazed at how much we have accomplished in 4 days, especially with this not being the only reason I am here in Ohio.

I woke today with it snowing. So in the past 3 days I have seen everything from sun to rain to snow. Here are some pictures of the majority of the kitchen cabinets installed as well as thing such as what I saw when I awoke and how our day just ended.

My fall

Cabinets in the beining