Twins!

After quite a bit of searching of the interwebs, Michael and I had pretty much decided there were no other trailers just like ours.  Every other Aloha we came across was different - the door in a different place, no bunk hump - just different.  Our somewhat joking theory was that the workers at the Aloha factory came to work every day and said, "where should we put the door today?!"

It was 1967, after all.

The summer of love and all that went with it.

Sex, drugs, and random trailer design, baby!

If you're a trailer geek, you may know that it's difficult for vintage trailer owners to stay away from Craigslist.

"Let's just see what's out there..."

"We have our trailer, but let's take a look at what other [fill in the blank trailer make] are for sale now..."

"Wow, I'm so glad we found our trailer!  We got a great deal!"

"OUR TRAILER IS THE BEST TRAILER EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD!"

You know how it goes.

You don't?

I suppose I'll take the hits for you, spend the time trolling Craigslist.  But if you've got something other than an Aloha, well - tough luck.  You'll have to do your own trolling.

Tonight started out like any other night.  It had been a while since I checked the listings, and I ventured a little further afield than usual.  I started poking around on the Portland Craigslist site, saw a few Aloha trailers, and then BAM!

What's this then?  A 1967 Aloha that has the same shape as ours!  Okay, that's nice - but where is the door?

Now we're talking.

Why on earth did somebody paint over that fiberglass panel in the front?  You can see the paint wearing off in that picture above.  Nobody painted OUR TRAILER.  We have a front window cover too.

How about the inside - let's make a comparison of that.

Not quite the same angle, but check this out...

Trust me, it's exactly the same.  Though we have the original stove, and I'm pretty sure that aqua beast is new.  Or powder coated.  But the metal back splash and effort to block bacon grease is identical.

So yeah.  It's essentially the same trailer, though we do seem to have more vents than the one that is for sale.

That means WE HAVE THE BEST TRAILER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD!

EVER!

Art!

Our dear friend Christine did  a great rendition of our trailer today!  She also did a couple of others - and will be happy to do a custom job or YOUR trailer if you want!

Or a tiki.  Or a Sasquatch.  Or kitchen towels and potholders.  Shameless promotion?  Of course.  She's an artist that deserves support.

That's a nice one!

So is that!

Check out more of her art HERE!

Enjoy...

I suppose you're wondering what's become of our trailer, now that the dark season is settling in on us.  You do?  Great - because I'm going to tell you!

You probably know that the trailer we bought doesn't actually need a lot of work.  We just weren't ready to take on something like this, for instance.

A bit drafty.

And I'm afraid the local contingent of transients might decide to take up residence, since there's no good way to lock that sucker up.  Sad, but that is becoming a real concern around here these days.  Lots of homeless people moving into the area, and they will be looking for shelter.

Instead, we bought something that doesn't need much work.  It has a few small flaws - chipped paint here and there, slight water damage in a couple of spots.  But overall road ready and in pretty darn good shape considering its age.

Michael has started staining and varnishing the wood inside the trailer.  This will be the biggest job that needs to be done.

Amazingly, the wood surfaces in the trailer have never been touched.  So far the work Michael has done looks great!  It's going to really warm up the interior.  We're planning to remove the white vinyl cover on the ceiling to free up more of the wood surface.

One odd thing that had to go was a plastic track for a curtain to block the back sleeping area.  It was in two segments, and whoever attached it to the ceiling got a bit carried away.

Oh crap!  We're screwed!

What the hell?  Who needs to put in that many screws to hold up a flimsy plastic bit?  Weird.  Anyhow, it's gone now - and that's the white ceiling cover that will be heading out as well.

Buh-bye!

It's going to be a long few weeks of toxic fumes.  But the trailer is going to be beautiful when we're finished!  The next step will be new cushion covers and curtains.  And then we'll be pretty much done!  Not just road worthy, but attractive to boot.  Once we get the wood finished, we'll be able to install our tiki guys!  A trailer-warming gift from our friend Christine.  I'll report back with a picture of the art installed once we finish.

There's actually a lot going on around here, besides the trailer.  Nolan briefly made an appearance before heading back to Bellingham for school.  He spent the summer in Yellowstone and I just happen to have his photos on my computer.  I'll post some of them soon.  Anyhow, we're always happy to have him around, even if it's just for a photo-op with the dog.

Work is super busy right now, and will continue to be busy through the end of the year.  I start to cycle out of a couple of committees then, and that will help the load a bit.

I'm ready for a vacation again.

Trailer, trailer... it's all the same!

I've noticed that in my search for vintage trailer information, I often stumble upon movie trailers.  Darn you homonyms!

Tonight I did a search for 1967 vintage trailer advertisements.  Just like that - no quote marks.

Oh my.   This turns out to have nothing to do with travel trailers (or trailer parks).

Indeed, it appears to be a very strong moral lesson aimed particularly at young ladies of a certain age.  Watch the amusing and somewhat disturbing movie TRAILER...

AND LET THAT BE A LESSON TO YOU!

I was really looking for something more along these lines... honest!

Honest.

Oyster Run, not so fun...

Well, it wasn't ALL bad.  Despite the rather crappy weather we still managed to enjoy ourselves, eat a good lunch, and do a bit of people watching.

In case you don't know, the Oyster Run is the largest motorcycle run held in the Pacific Northwest, and it's always held the 4th Sunday of September in Anacortes, Washington.  Usually the weather is great, and they get well over 30,000 bikers in town!  Such a spectacle.  Unfortunately this year a big weather front moved through - high winds and plenty of rain on the motorcycle parade.  By the time we got there, the rain was falling full bore and lots of the bikers were heading out.  Can't say that I blame them!

We saw all kinds of fun things, and do not fear - before the day was over we spotted an old trailer or two, on our way home.

We kicked off our fun at the Brown Lantern, with a drink and a bit of biker watching.  This fellow posed when he saw I was taking a photo, and then proceeded to show us that he had not broken his leg, but had lost two toes in a motorcycle accident.  Look closely!

Ouch!

These two were out advertising a nearby bar.  They might look silly, but at least they had something to keep their heads dry!

A typical dog altercation at a public event - leave them at home, people!  We never bring Syd out to something like this.  It just seems like it would be torture for most dogs.  Too much going on, food everywhere, and other dogs to drive them nuts!  Not to mention I'd like to enjoy the event, not spend the time dog wrangling!

Down on his knees to pray?  No - just down on his knees in a puddle.  Bummer.

Normally I take a lot of close up shots like this one, but there just weren't that many bikes to look at this year!  And they were all wet.

Did I mention the bikes were lacking in numbers this year?  Badly?  Looks like a ghost town down there!

That's really kind of sad.  A lot of bikers probably stayed home to watch football instead.

We saw this great kitty on our way back to the car.  I'm sure it was happy there were less noisy bikes this year.

But where are the trailers?  Where are the trailers you ask!  Never fear, I'm getting to that - we didn't see them until we were on the way home.  If you take one of the lesser traveled roads, you pass a little trailer park that in all honesty is a bit depressing.  It looks like people are living there permanently, and the condition of everything really isn't very good.  There's quite a variety of trailer types, sizes, and shapes.

That appears to be a Kit Companion, year unknown (1960's?) in the lower photo.  Close to the lakefront, and conveniently located next to the dumpster and porta-loo!

You can see the rest of my photos from the day here:  Oyster Run, not so fun...

If you are so compelled.  Cheers!

Eye candy

Today was a big day - I hosted an author brunch event for teen summer reading winners, and in the afternoon we had a panel even open to the public.  It all went really well, but last night I slept poorly - waking often and having strange dreams.  Needless to say I'm a bit on the tired side tonight.  And my feet hurt!

I've decided to post a bit of eye candy tonight.  As you might guess, the logical step beyond a vintage trailer is to of course add a vintage towing vehicle!  Or vice versa, if you're somebody who started with the cars.  It's going to be a good long while before we can add a car, but it's fun to look!

Why not start with this lovely procession of cars and trailers passing by?  They could almost pass for a picture from the past, if it weren't for those two modern lurkers in the rear!

Ooooh, look at this pair!  A 1956 Chevy and a Serro Scotty trailer.

Here's a cute little trailer and a nice truck!

And our last photo for the evening - a Studebaker pickup and a 1961 Winnebago trailer.  The best thing about this photo?  They're CAMPING.  In a campground!

Oh.  Now that I look at the other pictures along with it, it's still a trailer rally of some sort.  But they're CAMPING!

Enjoy the sights... see you soon!

Batten down the hatches!

Summer is over, and autumn is arriving with a big WHOOSH!  At least, that's what the weather people are telling us.

Rain and wind on the horizon for us (a little bit of rain has already made landfall).  After the rain of a few days ago, we decided we'd better get the trailer ready for the impending weather.

The water tends to pool up around that taller vent thing, and we don't want it sitting on the roof for any length of time.  The trailer shows signs of minor water leakage from the past, but fortunately previous owners didn't let it get out of hand and made efforts to STOP the leakage.  That said, Michael and our friend Glenn got the cover pulled over the trailer yesterday, and Michael finished tying it down today.  The fellow we bought the trailer from was kind enough to give us the cover tarp as part of the deal - YAY!  I'm just glad it isn't a blue tarp...

While exploring what came with the trailer, we discovered an awning that was actually in really good condition - probably because nobody ever used it!  From what I can tell it doesn't fit into the awning rail, and well - it looks tacky.  Not exactly vintage looking!

Oh well.  We'll get something eventually.  No rush for an awning, now that summer is over.

Winding down...

The seasons are changing and we're starting to bundle up our trailer for winter.  Another big rain storm is headed our way, so we got the trailer covered - the trailer doesn't leak now, but it definitely has a water catchment spot we don't want to turn into a leak!

We thought we might take it out again, but it's not looking like we will now.  Michael has started the stain and varnish project (which means lots of fumes that need to air out), and the weather is taking a turn.  It could still happen, but my work schedule needs to hit a weekend of nice weather... yeah, right.

It's going to be a long winter of not doing much with our trailer.  I'll have to work hard to find interesting things to post about!

Tonight I somehow got on the track of looking up Slab City in California - it looks fascinating, yet horrible.  At least they have a library!  I like the landscaping.

I'm not so sure I want to go there.  I thought I did, but...

I think maybe not.  [I watched a short documentary about Slab City that deteriorated into a guy going out to find some meth.  Not terribly appealing, despite the interesting things to see down there.]

So many sights!  So may weirdos!  Not so high on my list, after all.


G'night!

Who knew?

You may or may not know that I'm a Librarian - and now that I've stated it you can't not know.  Unless you're late to the blog and never see this post.  No doubt I'll mention it again for the latecomers.

ANYHOW... working in a public library can be something of a trip at times.  And I'm not talking camping trip!  We get all sorts coming through our doors - all ages, and many variations of mental stability.  Some are easier to deal with than others, and there's one patron in particular who I really like but who has some severe mental issues that really seem to have taken a turn for the worse lately.  Full on paranoid schizophrenia.

This has to do with trailers, I swear it!

This afternoon she called while I was on the desk, and she had a question about the cover of a book she had checked out earlier.  The bar code we put on the book covered some words, and she wanted to know what they said.  I looked it up online and

OH MY GOD LOOK AT THOSE TRAILERS!!!!

The patron was particularly interested in what it said there at the top and exactly which words were capitalized.

Patron:  "and are the W's in Willy Wonka both capitalized?"

Me:  "yes, both W's are capitalized, the "m" in meets is not, but the "T" and "M" in The Matrix -

OH MY GOD LOOK AT THOSE TRAILERS!!!!

They do bear a suspicious resemblance to this...

Sort of.

I've been meaning to read that book.  It's just moved a few more notches up towards the top of my stack.  I want to find out what's up with those trailers on the cover.

Camping memories...

Well hello there!  I can't say that I'm much less tired than last night, but I do have a bit more vim and vigor so I think I can manage something better than a smoking monkey.  Though I have to say, he's pretty darn cool - other than his hair.  His hair is disturbing.  But we shall move on now.

Camping has been a big part of my life ever since I was a child.  When I was quite young my parents bought an Apache tent trailer, much like this one ~

Looks sort of like a funky moth, doesn't it?  I like it.  Circa 1969.  I have vague memories of trying to get to sleep, and my parents having to leave a lantern on in the trailer because I was afraid of the dark.  I was one of THOSE kids, unable to fall asleep unless there was some light source.

LEAVE THE HALL LIGHT ON!

I am happy to report that phase in life is long gone.  I prefer the dark now.

Anyhow, we had many happy family trips with our little Apache, and eventually moved up to a larger Jayco tent trailer, complete with kitchen.  That rig lasted until both my brother and I had left the house, and my parents bought a 5th wheel - which they lived in for about three years!

But where did we go, what did we do all those years with our little tent trailers?  We had a few long trips, to Chicago and California.  But for many years we did a yearly trek to Eastern Washington, and camped with several other families.  Most years we went to Pearrygin Lake, but we also hit Potholes and Sun Lakes.  I think it was at Potholes where I walked barefoot on hot asphalt just after we arrived and burned my feet to the point of blistering!  Great excuse not to water ski.  Heh.

I have a few scanned photos from those trips.  Good times.

Teenagers camping, what to do, what to do...?

Pearrygin Lake, 1982!

Intrepid hikers on Freezeout Ridge.

In which we meet the mountain guru!

Yes, that's a moss beard.  This has got to be one of my all time favorite memories and photos.  He went ahead of us, and we came up the trail to this sight.

We slept outside on lawn chairs... and got yelled at for being too loud too late at night.  The duck ladies were around back then, too!

It's fun to think back on these trips we took every summer.  It's no wonder Pearrygin Lake was my favorite spot on our recent trip!  So many good memories from camping there.  Good friends, good people, good times.

Puff puff...

In lieu of some long missive about vintage trailers, I give you smoking monkey.

He's both disturbing and interesting.  Ponder on him a while while I sleep!  I'm too tired to write anything tonight...  too tired.  I need a vacation to recover from vacation!

Oh well.

Actual camping...

Not long ago, on the Facebook site for vintage trailers, somebody posted a picture of their trailer out on some adventure.  The first comment posted was something to the effect, "It's so cool you actually take your trailer out and use it!"

WHAT?

Isn't that what they're for?  I realize some people treat them as little doll house toys to be fixed up and fixated upon, and that's their choice.  But these old trailers weren't always little showpieces, and probably have all sorts of stories to tell of their adventures in the past.  I dredged up a few photos of trailers in action...

1973

1950's or 60's

1967

Trailers are for camping!  We can't wait to use ours again.  It's in the throes of staining and varnishing inside though... it will be a while before we can breathe properly inside it.

Summer is over, anyhow...