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.

This is it!

Tomorrow we set off on our first adventure with the trailer.  We had originally planned to go to Yellowstone to pick up my son after his summer of working there, but plans changed and we have a shorter trip planned.  Probably a good thing.

We are hitched up and ready to roll.

Just a few things to pack into the truck in the morning and off we go!  Our first day is the longest drive, but then we get to stay in that spot for two nights while we visit with my parents.  My dad is the fount of knowledge as far as trailers go, so it will be good to pick his brain.  For instance, Michael knows how to put everything IN, but how does it come out?!!!  He'd never even heard the term "gray water" before!

Syd caught on to the different level of activity today, and he got really excited when we were hitching the trailer up.  He was ready to leave right then.

He was none too pleased we headed back into the house!  Poor lad.

I've got a brand new 8 GB memory card in my camera, and will report back when we return.  Signing off for a few days!

ALOHA!

Counting down...

Not long before our first trip with the trailer!  We're getting very excited about it, and working on getting everything ready.

Syd is also looking forward to the trip.  He enjoys spending time in the trailer.  Today I was sitting at the table for a bit and he just had to sit right next to me.  It was a bit cozy, but I did manage to catch a good picture of him.

He's still a bit nervous in the trailer, but getting used to it.  We want him to think of it as his second home!  I'm sure once he gets fed in the trailer, and sees us eating there it will fully hit home.

Home is where the kibbles are.

Now that we've been bitten with the vintage trailer bug (what does that bug look like, anyhow?), I've become hypersensitive to trailers of all sorts.  I was waiting at a stop light today and saw this bugger drive by ~

Don't be fooled like I almost was.  At first I thought maybe it was a "newer" vintage trailer (!) but no - it's probably not more than a couple of years old.  It looks a bit better than most of the modern trailers, but DON'T BE FOOLED!  It's no canned ham.  It's a Starcraft AR-ONE.

Then there's things like this little modern teardrop trailer.  Cute, but did they have to put the ubiquitous swish design on it?  I have more to say about trailer design, but I'll save that for another day.

Built after 1975?  Pish posh, I'll have none of you.

Oh dear, I'm already a vintage trailer snob.  HA!

More and more we realize how lucky we were with our find - all original, and in such good shape!

Decompression...

Today I was exhausted.  It's been a bit of a whirlwind, these last three weeks.  From the moment we (I) decided we should get a trailer, to the moment we pulled into home last night was a very quick, intense, STRESSFUL crazy time.

Would I change it in any way?  No.  Well - I'd skip that whole U-Haul debacle.  But it's done and I survived my encounter with a parallel dimension.

The important thing is the trailer is home.  We can deal with any little things now without having to run around too much.  I'm just glad this trailer wasn't too far away!  We can now decompress, and learn all the little nooks and crannies and idiosyncrasies of the trailer before we take it out.

Not to mention, our dog Syd needs to get comfortable in the trailer!

He's not quite sure what to make of it, but was happy enough to hang out with us this evening while we were out there poking around.  He'll have an opportunity to spend a lot of time in the trailer while we're out there, so by the time we actually go somewhere he'll associate it as an offshoot of home.  We can tether him to the trailer hitch.  That will be a good thing.

 He tried to claim a bed, but no.  That one's taken Syd!

Don't worry Syd!  It will seem like home in no time!

The big hitch switch

Which hitch?  This hitch switched out without a glitch.

This hitch didn't fit the fitting on our Durango, and we wanted to upgrade to modern towing technology, so away it went!  We upgraded to this lovely hitch kit.

And we'll be able to tow anything we can possibly dream of!  Not to mention, should somebody rear-end me I'll be in great shape.  They won't!

We had the trailer towing electrical rewired today too - that should take care of everything!  Turns out there was an issue in "THE MODULE."  It has been fixed now.  Our plan is to pick the trailer up on Wednesday and bring it home.

Syd is wondering what the big deal is.

He has yet to learn how this adventure will improve his life.