Books and trailers!

What a great pairing!

Okay - I know that's not a vintage trailer in the background.  But it's not a bad design for a Little Free Library.  I've been thinking it would be fun to have one at our house... perhaps modeled after our trailer?

Edit:  This morning I was able to find out more about the LFL in the photo above.

Jim and Karyl McClellan. Kannapolis, NC. people involved. Our T@B camper in the background is the inspiration for our LFL. We have books for children of all ages as well as novels and nonfiction. Most of the original books were books we had previously enjoyed while camping across the country. Our neighborhood has enjoyed the library and it is such fun to see people browsing the books! We are a small neighborhood but it seems to have brought us together a bit more.

Their library, and many others can be seen on the Little Free Libraries "Libraries of Distinction" Pinterest board.

That would work!

I've returned...

Shame on me for not posting here for nearly two months.  Tsk tsk.  Perhaps I can blame the lack of interesting trailer action this time of year.  It's dark, wet, cold, and generally not conducive to doing much besides hunkering down inside with a warm drink and a book.

We've got the trailer covered and secured for winter.  Good thing too, because it SNOWED!  First time in almost two years.  We've also had some very rainy days.  Michael has been doing work off and on inside the trailer, and turning a heater on in there every few days to keep things dry.  We've got all the cushions and curtains stored here in the house too.

I've spotted a lot of interesting looking trailers, but I'm usually unable to snap a photo.  Walking a large dog or driving don't generally lend themselves to lining up a good shot.  That said, I did see an interesting trailer when we had the dog out at the park yesterday (it's been a beautiful sunny weekend here).

It's a Siesta, year unknown.  It has that 70's or 80's look to it, however.  Things really went downhill after the 60's.  Not the most thrilling of styles...

I feel like I'm done hibernating.  It must be the move into 2014 - I'm ready to look ahead to a great year of vintage trailer fun!

Actual camping...

I decided to search out more photos of trailers actually being used for camping - not just pretty little show pieces.  While looking for "working" trailers, I came across this little gem, a 1964 Aloha, traveling along the California coast.

Here's a spot I think I'd really like to visit myself!  Westport-Union State Park in California.  But where exactly is it?

{researching}

Aha!  It's in Northern California, between Garberville and Fort Bragg, on Highway 1.  Sure is a beautiful campsite!

Before hitting the open coast our Aloha friend made a stop in the redwoods, spending a night at Humbolt Redwoods State Park.  It looks like such a cozy little trailer!  And another great campsite.  I'd like nothing more than to sit back and relax at either one of these sites and watch the world go by.

We've been talking about a trip down the coast to visit friends and family.  Now that we have our own trailer, there's no real excuse not to go!  We'll have to follow in the wheel ruts of this trailer and many others and plot a course for our travels.

2014?  Very likely.  Once I decide to do something, it tends to happen.

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!

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.

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.

A long day, a lovely night, then home...

One more night of our trip!  But first we had to travel the long slog down to HWY 2, through Leavenworth, and over Stevens Pass.  It was a beautiful drive, and at our first pit stop we were passed by three vintage trailers leaving the Winthrop rally - one of them an Aloha!

Our biggest concern was getting over the pass - I took it slow and steady, and only got honked at by a couple of jerks.  Sorry jackasses - nowhere to pull over, and I'm not about to blow up my engine so you can get home quicker!  We'll get a transmission cooler installed before next summer, and then we won't have the problem of worrying about the transmission.  We did have to stop just over the pass when the warning light went on, but only had to sit for a few minutes.  It was a lovely view!

Once we got over the pass it was smooth sailing.  We could have easily said "bag it" and headed straight home, but we had our last night paid for at Bay View State Park.  Not to mention, we just weren't ready to go home yet!

So close to home - back by the salt water, familiar smells and familiar plants.  Bay View State Park is quite nice - I can see us going there often for a quick getaway.  Just 25 miles (exactly!) from our doorstep, it's the perfect quiet spot for a relaxing weekend.

Aaaaaahhh.....

So beautiful!

We're discovering quickly that the parks all have very different characters.  This park had a lot of Canadians visiting, and they are friendly and outgoing.  The people next to us were playing the banjo and singing, and it was a very pleasant serenade through the evening.

I took a walk around the park without Syd - as one must do if one wants to take photos, and I found this tool sitting forlornly on a big log in an empty campsite.

I'm sure it will come in handy some day!

Finally we got packed up, and did our first proper sewage dump on the way out of the park.  Oh, the joys of having a toilet!

I'm really glad we have a proper toilet.

Barely an hour later we were home.  It's always good to get back after a few days away - and the first shower is the best few minutes under hot water that ever existed!  Haha.

We can't wait to take the trailer out again soon!

The best laid plans are flexible...

We woke to drenching rain that just wouldn't stop.  We all got soaked to the gills as we went about our business, getting ready to head to a new location (thank goodness).  Ironically, I actually took a shower and while it was great to get cleaned up, I might as well have just stood outside in the rain and shampooed my hair.

See the water running down the road?  Wet, wet, wet.  That Bronco wasn't looking like it would be much fun to ride in, either.  They cleared out as did many others.  I don't know if they had planned to stay longer, but I can't say I blamed the people that left.  It wasn't looking like the rain would stop any time soon.

Syd managed to keep himself entertained while we got ready to go.

The drive to Winthrop wasn't long, so we weren't in a big rush to get going (other than to get away from the rain).  We ate a nice breakfast, packed up, and headed north.  The drive was very pretty, but when we hit HWY 20 at Pateros we got a big shock -

HWY 20 CLOSED 15 MILES WEST OF WINTHROP

But, but... we were planning to go that way!  Surely it will be open!  It must!

Then reality struck and we decided that would probably not be the case.  It turns out there were several mudslides across the highway, and it would take days for it to reopen.  Here is just one of the slides that got in our way (photo courtesty WSDOT).

So that was freakout number one.  Another small freakout was yet to come, when we got to Winthrop.  We stopped for a quick pitstop at the grocery store before heading through town (we stop frequently).  As you can see, it was dry and the skies were dramatic.  Much better than rain!

We pulled out our directions to Pearrygin Lake State Park and headed into town.  It had been years since I'd been to the park, so my directionals were a bit rusty.  First instruction - "at the four way stop, go straight..."

When we got to the four way stop, we were faced with a blocked road and scads of vintage cars on the other side of the blockade!  FREAKOUT!  What to do?  Where do we go?  How do we get to the park?  I have to go!  People are waiting at the four way stop!  Think fast!  HELP!!!

We turned left, and just around the corner we were able to pull over across from the bike shop.  I ran over and got directions from the man working there - "go back to the stop sign, straight up the hill and take a right at the T."

Okay!  We can do that.  But when we started up the hill Michael (who was VERY stressed out at this point) directed me to turn left to meet back up with the road.  I was sure we needed to go to the end of the block and turn right, and to confuse things a couple of men walking by started pointing us up another street!  I told them we were trying to get to Pearrygin, and they said, "You should be going to the vintage trailer rally!"

Well hell's bells!  We had no idea that was going on, and weren't ready to attend any such thing, but it all began to make sense...

At last we made it to the park and got set up.

We're starting to get the hang of this now!

We had one last adventure ahead for the day.  Dinner with my dear friend Michelle, who lives just outside Winthrop.  It was wonderful to see her, and meet her fiancé Charlie.  It's been eight years since we saw each other!  Too long.  Dinner was very good, and Syd went for a swim!

Sort of.

Poor Syd!  He waited very patiently for rescue.  We had to pull him around to the steps so he could get out.  It was pretty damn funny!

Lake Chelan... I'm not really a fan

Time to move on from Yakima to Lake Chelan!

Oh, rain.

Lake Chelan State Park has a very different atmosphere than Yakima.  It's much more of a party park - big groups camping together.

When we arrived, we were a bit confused about our campsite at first and thought maybe there had been some mistake!

We were rebels and stayed on in this site anyhow - what were they going to do, kick us out?

No.  They weren't.

What they really meant is don't take your big trailer down that road!  Nowhere to turn around.  Lots of pretty tent sites, though.

The drive to Chelan wasn't the best, though we did take a route that was scenic and less mountainous than the usual route.  The worst thing that happened was when a guy passed us really fast, and one of those orange "men working" signs flew off the top of his truck.  Add to that a small car starting to pass us at the end of the passing zone (and not really in it at all) and we have STRESS!!!!  Fortunately nothing hit us, we didn't run anything over, and nobody had a head-on collision.

Fortunately, we made it in one piece.  It rained like mad when we were backing into our rebel site, but it cleared up quickly.  Just a short respite, as you shall see.  But while the sun was shining, here are a few of the things I saw...

Backing up too much of a hassle?  No problem, just push it!

Another vintage trailer!

One of two very noisy chipmunks residing nearby!

Transparent MATs!  Only $8.00.  And they're transparent!  See-through even!

Glamper - big earrings, flipflops, and a dress.

Not to be overlooked - it is very pretty here!

This park was okay, but I don't think it's very high on our "MUST GO BACK" list.  So it goes!

Yakima

HOT!  We are just not used to such heat.  Good thing we didn't have to spend much time in the car!

 We stayed put in Yakima all day and another night.  Our first night in the trailer was good - the bed is comfy and we slept well.  Other than it being so HOT!

Before heading over to Mom & Dad's house, I took Syd on a nice walk while Michael puttered around the trailer.  It was quite nice, but HOT!  There's a nice trail system around the park.  We walked on just a short little bit, but look forward to exploring more of the trails when we visit again in the future.

Did I mention it was HOT?  We headed over to the land of air conditioning for a while in the afternoon, it was quite a relief.  Dad showed off his mutant zucchinis for us.  He let one go on purpose, but the other went wild while they were on a cruise to Alaska.  Crazy!

That's a gardener's nightmare, that is.

Life in a state park is interesting.  People run sprinklers...

The camp host is ready for anything!  At least at this park... he was the only host that actually did anything.

And there was one REALLY unhappy camper...

Poor little thing!  We had a good time sitting around visiting with Mom & Dad.  But a sudden - and I do mean sudden - wind storm came in and we had to dash indoors.  It was quite exciting.  We were very happy for the trailer, vs. a tent.  Heh.

Syd had one last adventure - he was on his tether and went chasing after something in the dark - his collar broke and he was running free for a few minutes!  Fortunately he came back quickly, and didn't get sprayed by a skunk (which Michael had seen just a short time earlier).

Disaster averted.

First trip!

We did it!  We just completed our first trip with the trailer - 858 miles start to finish.  Are we MAD?  Apparently so.

But we survived.    We took everything slow and steady, and tried not to get too stressed out along the way - though there were moments!  The next few days I'll be posting about our trip, as I get my photos uploaded to Flickr and can appropriately document our experience.  I've managed the first day, so here we go...

We were headed to Yakima, so of course it was a bit of a long drive.  Over the mountains and through the woods, yadda yadda yadda.  Which meant stopping often of course.

We're so tiny!  I felt like I was towing a big hulk, and then we stopped at the rest area next to the big boys.  All right then.  A bit of perspective.

One thing we are lacking in our Durango is a transmission cooler.  It took a bit of learning, but now I know how to drive properly to handle the hills and not blow out the engine.  The first day was a bit touchy, however, and we sat a spell at the top of the pass to let things cool down.

Sure was pretty up there!

We cooled off and headed down the east side of the montains - and were really glad not to be heading west!  This horrible traffic backup lasted for MILES!  At least five, if not more...

Yucko.

We finally trundled into the Yakima Sportsmans State Park, in Yakima (of course).  I should mention that on the way in we saw an osprey carrying a fish, which was easily identifiable  by it's fins and tail as it dangled from the osprey's talons.

I managed to back the trailer into our site, and we were good to go for a while.  We had dinner with Mom & Dad - did I mention it was 94 degrees?!!  UGH.  I was sweating just sitting in one place.

The big excitement for the evening was when Syd went barking after some creature in the dark, and dragged our little footstool off to the far side of the campsite... and knocked over the coleman lantern - broken.

He looks so innocent, doesn't he?  Haha.