Chairs - Redux

Our nice new blue plastic Adirondack chairs have now given way to the chairs we wanted originally. We were fortunate to sell some of our model home furniture recently (yay, Craigslist!) and thus had some wherewithal to indulge in the nice Ikea chairs we wanted.  They fit perfectly, and swivel around also. 

We can turn and look out the front window - here at the empty space where our good friends J&C&HG used to store their motor coach before they returned to full-timing.  Or, we can face each other for a meal or a mean game of cribbage.

I know, I know.  We are camping and eggshell might not seem the most practical color, but they are leather and should clean nicely.  We also took the nylon button feet off and will cut a non-skid rug pad to put underneath so they don't slide.  Add a shock cord while traveling so they don't swing around, and we are in chair heaven!  P.S.  Rosa approves.

Adventure Travel - Dust Storm

This blog has so far mostly been about renovation - or retro-vation as we call it. Thus, it has mostly discussed construction and products, which is interesting to us, but we never forget the purpose behind all this and our ultimate goal: TRAVEL.  We are mostly stuck right now for a variety of factors, but we did have a little adventure travel recently.

On a trip (without the Airstream) on Interstate 10 near Casa Grande, AZ, we ran into one of the infamous dust storms there.  The desert develops a hard surface over time, so only disturbed soil generates dust.  In that area, there is a lot of farming (Pima cotton comes from Pima County and Pinal County), and some construction.  Thus, if the wind is strong, there are terrible dust storms, some of which occasionally result in massive pile-ups and shocking death tolls.  No one seems to know what to do about it, including the AZ Dept. of Transportation.  The only advice I've heard is get off the road - like onto the desert - and turn your lights off so no one follows you. 

The problem is, you really have no time to react.  It was that windy kind of day.  The radio had alerts not to use leaf blowers and for people with allergies and respiratory illnesses to stay inside.  We could see lots of dust devils and a brownish haze.  Then, as we were driving south, a dust cloud rolled over us, instantly reducing visibility so we could not see the truck right in front of us.  It was only for 3 seconds or so, but it was amazing to suddenly be so blind.  Luckily, it was that brief and from then on it was fine, and the beautiful Arizona sunshine returned.

Nifty Table

Max made this nifty table for the Airstream.  It has an Ikea tray on top, and the post is the same pedestal table leg from Camping World that we used for the stove.  Since the screws have to come through the top, we used acorn nuts for a decorative and smoother look. And, best yet, the top comes right off and the post comes right out of the base.

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Tow Vehicles - Part 2

Having decided to replace our F250, we - that is, Max - started to look around for a suitable replacement.  There were 3 changes we wanted:  1) better gas mileage, 2) a gas engine, and 3) a blue truck.  There was one change we didn't want: less towing capacity.  We found 2 local vehicles to fit these criteria:  a Toyota Tundra with a double cab that would tow 11,000 GVWR, and a Ford F150 XLT Short Bed Crew Cab with Eco-Boost that would also tow 11,000 GVWR.  (BTW, both are made in the US, a bonus!)  We chose the Ford, mostly because Max was confident in their engines and because they would take the F250 on a trade-in. 

And here it is.  The color is actually darker than it appears here - a Navy Blue.  The coolest thing is the Eco-Boost.  Here is how Ford explains it:

EcoBoost® Engine

Ford engineers drew from their extensive experience using direct injection technology and turbocharging in diesel engine development and created the innovative EcoBoost® engine option that's unsurpassed in combined power, efficiency and capability. Direct injection produces a cooler, denser charge that generates more power per every drop of fuel, while the two small air-to-air intercooled turbochargers spool up much more quickly than a single large turbo. What you experience is instantaneous low-end torque responsiveness with virtually no turbo lag. EcoBoost generates 90 percent of its amazing 420 lb.-ft. of torque from 1,700 to 5,000 rpm. And can it tow? F-150 with EcoBoost has best-in-class maximum towing capability at 11,300 lbs.

The power is instantaneous and incredible - just like a sports car.  That's a huge safety factor and fun to boot! 

It also has the Tow Package and built-in Trailer Brake Controls and Electronic Locking Rear Differential and a Tailgate Step.  The digital control panel gives a constant read-out of average mpg plus "miles until empty".  And, the mirrors even when not extended (which they do) give the best rear view of any truck we've had.

So, all in all, we are delighted with the new F150, and hope to use it for many years and many aluminum adventures!

Tow Vehicles - Part 1

Of course with all the attention on the trailer you're pulling, we don't always focus on the tow vehicle.  But they can make your life either a breeze or, if they are malfunctioning, a misery.  We have had 3 different tow vehicles, all Ford trucks. The Airstream 25' Safari is about 6300 GVWR dry weight and 7000 loaded.  Many tow rigs are right on this cusp -- pretty adequate most of the time, but when you get to those long slogs uphill, they are not happy, which means the owners are sweating it too.  That was certainly the case with our first 2 F150s.
We live in Arizona which, although not directly in the Rocky Mountains, has a lot of topography - the hilly kind that is! Just drive through the Salt River Canyon.  It's about 5,000 feet of upward climbing, then an abrupt 5,000 foot descent, then a steep 6,000 feet of up again to reach Showlow and Pinetop.  It's absolutely gorgeous, but your truck is probably not enjoying the view!

Thus, in 2006 we traded the last F-150 for an F-250 diesel turbo with 11,000 GVWR.  It was one of those loss leader types of advertisements to get you to the dealer, and then you are supposed to find something else you wanted.  But we knew what we wanted - a great price on an F-250 and, arriving first thing the morning of the sale, we got it.  Wow!  It was a wonderful truck.  You didn't even know the trailer was behind it.  And, it was a Lariat, with leather seats, etc. etc. etc.!

But, all good things come to an end.  First the truck had a little adventure.  It was stolen from a Lowe's parking lot.  The thieves, a couple young guys, were caught the same afternoon for speeding, and took off through the desert with a Santa Cruz County Deputy Sheriff right behind.  When they came to a gate, they abandoned the truck, unfortunately leaving it in neutral.  It rolled backward into the Deputy Sheriff's "unit", as she called it.  She soon had them under arrest, and wasn't too pleased about the damage to her vehicle.  Although our truck was returned and did not suffer any major damage, it had some cosmetic scratches (cactus?) and the back bumper was bent.  The thieves are out on probation, and they are supposed to each pay us $50 per month for the damage.  We have received one $50 payment in 6 months. 

We did get a bonus, though.  There were 36 Wendy's hamburgers stuffed in bags (human smuggling?) and a sheet of drywall in the bed (to hide bales of marijuana?).  But, best of all, nothing else in the truck was touched, even some credit cards tucked into the door pocket.  It was a lesson in not living out of your vehicle.

The real negative, however, was that the truck got about 11 mpg while towing, and diesel fuel is about 70 cents more per gallon than gas where we live.  That adds up really fast.  Since the truck is 6 years old, we decided it was time to trade, and that is why I am speaking of this truck is the past tense.  As of today, it is history - a fond memory.

Fabric

I've been sewing since I was a child, so I LOVE fabric.  I have met many women with this ailment, and there is no cure.  "She who dies with the most fabric wins!" 

The dinette cushions were looking a little worn - again the front part of them was pale blue!  Looking for replacement fabric, I checked out my favorite stores, but nothing had that right Retro-vation look.  So, I chanced going online, and found this beauty: 
You always risk the unexpected when you order online, but this turned out to be a nice heavy weight upholstery fabric which I hope will hold up for several years. 

Re-using zippers and cushions, the final result looks like the photo below. The wrinkles are in the original cushions, and give it a little
give without stretching the fabric.  I know it is wild and crazy and not for everyone - just for us wild and crazy types.

Of course we didn't stop there with fabric.  We needed new curtains.  I tried to be a little more subdued with these.  For the "great room", I choose this pretty blue pattern (below).  I bought the tool to put the snaps on so they would be firmly anchored.   And we re-installed the existing sliding rails - both top and bottom - but only ran them over the actual windows (no coffin curtains!).

The store where I purchased this fabric did not have enough for the bedroom curtains also, so it was back to the Internet.  This fabric is slightly heavier that I would have liked, but it is quite visually stunning.

The curtains have Roman Shade type folds instead of the pleats that were in the original curtains.  That means they can fold back into a smaller space.  Instead of the Velcro on the inside fold of the middle edges, they just overlap in the middle. 

A matching duvet cover completes the bedroom fabrics.

The final fabric was for the chairs. The couch was gone, the leather chairs were in our living room, and we coveted some Ikea chairs but they weren't in the budget. So, we settled for plastic Adirondack chairs from Lowes with new cushions.  They have a couple advantages.  Unexpectedly, they are lower than the old chairs, so there is more headroom.  Also, they weigh nothing, and thus any movement during travel won’t cause problems.  And, finally, we can easily take them outside – once we figure out the best way to get them through the door.  This is an interesting fabric from a local store, and is quite soft and comfy! 

A Project

When we tore apart the inside of the Airstream, Max decided it was time to consolidate all the miscellaneous electric stuff that used to be behind the couch. Sorry, I really don't know what it is or what it is called, but here is a photo all consolidated.

As proud as I am of his electrician skills and as fascinating as all these wires are, I decided a cover would be a good thing.  We debated - as we always do - various options.  (A digression.  Our first house - about 150 years old - was a handyman's special.  While we were "debating" whether to remove a small porch on the front of the house, the nice old man across the street came over and we apologized for "debating" in front of him.  He told us, "Anything worth doing is worth arguing about."  We've had many occasions since to follow his sage advice.) 

But, we had a piece of luan already painted blue - the one that broke if you have read earlier posts - so we economically used that.  It needed to have good ventilation, because that grey box has a fan on top.  Thus, the cover had to be open on the top and bottom, and some vent holes in the front seemed a good idea.
I found a pattern for an Art Nouveau Rose online, altered it, and managed to cut it out with a utility knife. For the sides, we needed the shape of the walls. After a few stabs at it, I found the best way was to take a piece of cardboard and cut and test and cut and test.  Because of the curve of the wall, the cover is about 1/2 inch wider on the top than the bottom.

It is all glued together with Liquid Nails, then strengthened with some side pieces. The final touch was decorative screening and aluminum edging. Again, we debated how to fasten it, but when we added the dog leash holder, inspiration struck. We found the same system at Lowe's, and added these little receptacles (right). 
  
To cover the wires on the bottom, a piece of the sticky vinyl wall base made for a neater look: 

And, Tada!  Here is the final cover.

Whimsy

The really fun part of renovation is when you get to the whimsical stage. That's the stage beyond just indulging your own tastes. We loved this object as a hook by the door for - of course - the dog leash.

Vinyl Wall Base

In our work on the Airstream, we first applied the wall board, then ran the laminate floor up to it.  That, however, leaves an uneven gap of up to 3/8" inch (unless you are really, really good at cutting!). In a home, this is remedied by baseboard. In the curvy Airstream, baseboard would be impossible.  Even if the board were flexible, it would have to flex both around the curve and, because the walls slant back slightly, up and down also.  We tried a very thin piece of a concave molding about 1/2 inch deep and 1/2 inch high, but because it was concave it wouldn't stay flat on the floor while it bent. 

Our solution:  A 4" high vinyl wall base - in Almond.  Even with its flexibility - a beautiful thing - we had to cut to account for the curves.  (If you cut a 4" high piece of paper to lay flat against the wall touching the floor, it would form a big arc.)  Thus, it took 3 pieces to make the corner.  The stuff cuts wondefully.  I started using a utility knife, but then happened to use scissors to make a rough cut, and ditched the utility knife. This is the result:

Like everything else, there is a knack to applying it that you master about the time you put the last piece on.  It is self-stick with a very aggressive glue - once it's on, it is on.  I learned to slide back the paper a little bit on one end, stick it where I wanted, then slip the paper back bit by bit and stick it.  When finished, we got some almond caulking and now it looks like the right hand photo above. (For all you sticklers out there, I did go back and caulk the tiny spot at the bottom!)  Here is the finished look - very clean and simple. 

 

Retro-vation - Blue

Husbands are not accountable, in my experience.  Max took off all the window frames during the demolition phase.  They hung around garage for a while, getting in the way until we found a handy hook to hang them on. By chance, they were apparently near a can of Wildflower Blue spray paint.  Next thing you know, the elves (or maybe Max) had spray painted them all blue. It was a shock, but not the first I'd ever had in a renovation project, and the color is absolutely perfect.  (Thank goodness the elves didn't go with the Nutmeg Brown paint or the purple or the stove black!)  Next time I went into the garage, there was the range hood painted in blue also.  As usual, this was presented to me after the fact.  "Doesn't that look great?"  "Yes, dear."

   Fortunately, I like blue.  So much so that when Max decided to reverse the refrigerator door (the open side is the bed side - for midnight snacking I guess), we removed the panels and painted the reverse side with the same Wildflower Blue, so we could have a matching fridge.  BTW, don't bother to take yours apart - the door doesn't reverse.

The final touch was a blue Bali blind for the kitchen window.  Curtains get splashed from the sink, so we wanted something washable.  Although people don't like the gap because of the wall curve, we ordered it a little wide (about an inch extra on either side) and ordered the bottom fasteners so it is pinned to the wall.  Since the curtain/blind/shade issue is so thorny to so many Airstreamers, I will update on whether this works or not.  They are not inexpensive - this tiny one was about $75 - but they certainly have the Wow Factor with the color.

Retro-vation - The Wood Stove

We have a new heat source.  Max, being a big fan of boats, knew they made wood stoves for boats.  So he did a little web searching and discovered this nifty little wood stove for the Airstream.  It's a Newport by Dickinson Marine, and it will burn wood, charcoal or pellets.  It's 14 inches high, by 7.75 inches wide by 9 inches deep.  Max cleverly mounted it on a table pedestal leg from Camping World.  The legs come in different lengths, so you can choose whatever you want.  The only downside is that it calls for a permanent 3 inch fresh air intake - the same size as the vent pipe.  But since we are basically burning twigs, for our purposes we can crack open a window when we use it. 

You can see in the photo below that the spot we chose was right next to the smoke detector.  We didn't think that would work out too well, so we will have to remount the smoke detector in a different spot.

I cringe at making any holes in the Airstream, but Max is braver than I, so here is the Smoke Stack on top.  Looks pretty sporty, doesn't it?

A Little History

In late 2000, we made a deal for the purchase of a brand new 25 ft. Airstream Safari at a great price if we would pick it up in Kansas City before the end of February 2001.  We were living in Vermont at the time, so after attending a meeting in upstate New York, we hightailed it across the states of New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri and arrived with no time to spare.  The people at the dealership told us our sales person had not come into work in days (I still wonder what the story was), but there in the shop was our beautiful shiny Airstream - our Silver Twinkie. 

After the tour (I was desperately hoping that Max, at least, was listening, because I certainly couldn't), we bravely took off through rain and sleet on Interstate 70.  Max's beaming grin, however, quickly turned to puzzlement.  We had seen the photos of Wally Byam (Airstream's founding father) towing an Airstream with a bicycle.  Ours was pulling like a brick.  We pulled into a truck stop - that was a fun novelty - and discovered, verified by a phone call, that the dealer (who shall remain nameless) had forgotten to check the tire pressure.  The Airstream had been sitting on his lot for who knows how long!  But soon we were on our way, smiling foolishly again.  When we stopped at a rest area mid-afternoon and took a quick nap in our new bed, we were completely sold.

Through the years, we have traveled to many wonderful places and taken many cross country trips with the Airstream.  We have enjoyed Kentucky, Missouri, Minnesota, Wyoming, Colorado and, the place we eventually settled, Tucson.  Here we are the first summer in Hershey, PA, a memorable trip with our youngest son, then about 15.  (I'm not sure it is a fond memory for him - cozying up with Mom and Dad in 100 square feet of living space.)

We spent our 25th wedding anniversary in the Twinkie at the Grand Canyon, and our next anniversary at the North Rim.  We have enjoyed several trips to Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco) in Mexico where the RV park is right on the ocean's edge.  When the weather gets hot in Tucson and we can get away, we escape to the mountains.  Here we are in San Bernadino National Forest in California:






But, our Airstream is definitely a multi-purpose vehicle and has more uses than aluminum adventure.  We lived in it while building our first home in Tucson, and after we sold a later home in 2010 along with most of our furniture, we lived in it full time for a year (with the help of a storage shed).  Here is our patio and art studio in Western Way RV Park - a fun crowd!

But, there have been other uses also.  When Max became an auctioneer (a lifelong dream - and he has a great chant!), we used it as a base for a large equipment auction he held in Vermont.

And we used it as a sales office at Starr Ridge in Tucson before the model homes were open:

And in 2010, we stayed overnight in it to shorten our commute (and lessen the time we were imposing on friends) while engaged in a renovation project in an industrial park in Vermont.

It is truly a wonderful, versatile, cozy home.  When we purchased it, my sister asked me how many hotel nights we could pay for with that amount of money.  Obviously, it is so much more to us than an anonymous room, but I know that we long ago passed the point where we are receiving a huge return on our investment - both in delight and lucre.

It will be a vehicle for adventure for many years to come.  And the next adventure is - The Retro-vation.

Retro-vation - Floor

Although we had replaced the powder blue carpet with Pergo, when it came time for Retro-vation, we again replaced the flooring.  This time we used Armstrong laminate flooring left over from our last house project.  We thought 4 boxes (18.82sf/box) would do it, but ran a box short, only to discover that Armstrong had discontinued it in the 6 months since we first ordered it for our house.  Thanks to an incredibly persistent and wonderful Lowes’ employee (Melissa – you know who you are!), we scrounged up another couple boxes – one for the Airstream and one as a spare for our home.  I have higher hopes for the durability of this flooring.  It seems a little harder finish and has a groove so the edges shouldn’t be as susceptible to moisture.  The color is lighter, and seems to brighten things up.  (What is that pole thing on the left?  Stay tuned.)

The one mistake we made was to decide to run it all the way to the bathroom door, taking out the vinyl(?) tiles that were in front of the bathroom sink.  Big mistake.  Those tiles are attached to the plywood underneath with some glue that does not let go.  The tiles split in nasty splinter-y layers, the plywood underneath came up in chunks, and every little ¼” piece didn’t want to budge, making the whole removal of about 3 square feet take hours.  Just a nightmare all around.   When we finally finished getting it up, we had to use floor leveler to fill the gouges so we had a decent surface to the put the laminate on (it floats on a thin layer of foam underlayment).  It looks good, though, and means we didn’t have to have lay down a threshold until the shower/toilet door.

Retro-vation - The Walls

So, given that the walls were aluminum, but full of unsightly holes and overlaps with sharp edges and covered with a yucky residue, what were we going to do?  That was the BIG QUESTION which occupied many sleepless nights.  We looked at vinyl at the fabric store – could we spray adhesive it on?  Could we buy sheet aluminum?  (The craftier Airstream renovators seemed to do that.)  What about that fake tin ceiling stuff?  How would that look?  Maybe we could strip and sand the walls and paint them?  What about buying a real wood veneer?  (Found a great website selling it.)  Everything had negatives.  The vinyl would show all the bumps, aluminum is expensive and any mistake would cause catastrophic remorse, sanding didn’t seems like a great idea, the curves would distort the patterns in the fake tin ceiling stuff, and real wood veneer would be sure to crack at the slightest pressure on an uneven surface.  What to do, what to do?  (You think like this in the middle of the night – when most major decisions are made.)

The answer for us was luan, a wonderful  product introduced to me by Max’s Dad – another Max.  I’d used it before to mouseproof cottage cabinets, so it was always a big hit with me.  It’s actually a laminated wood that is thinner and smoother than plywood.  (Sometimes it is spelled lauan.)  It’s about 1/8 inch thick, so bends fairly easily – a big issue with the curvy Airstream.  And, it can be easily painted.  I am a huge fan of high gloss oil based paint  which would give it a smooth, hard, washable surface.  (I know I’m supposed to love latex, but I just can’t.  It’s always so gloppy and the gloss is so dull.) 

We decided a two-tone look – upper pale green (it looks yellow in the photo, but it is really a nice soft green) and lower pale blue (shades of the powder blue carpeting!).  Knowing that we could not fashion pieces from measurements because of the curves, we made templates using craft paper and freezer paper, putting seams at places that seemed reasonable.  They did have significant arcs where the corner curves are.  Then we placed the templates on sheets of luan – really cheap stuff – (and a shout-out to the nice gentleman in the parking lot at Lowes who helped me load a couple sheets into my Ford Escape which wasn’t really large enough for them!) and cut them out with a Skil Saw.  The system I finally used was to prime them before cutting them, then cut them and then paint them (2 coats) with a good sanding between each coats.  There is still a grain visible, but overall it is a great look.  Here is photo showing the middle of the project. 

You can see the pieces of luan cut out and ready to install.  We found that it was a 2 person job to bend the luan.  The one on the left of the picture cracked when Max tried to put it in place.  We tried to strengthen the cracked place by gluing a piece behind it, but then it just cracked along the edge of the support.  So, we had to do a whole new one.  We had to push them in just a little, brace them (a paint bucket works well), then leave them overnight, then a little more, etc., until finally we were able to push them into the curve and secure them with screws. 

After we got the luan in place, (and it does snug behind the cabinets nicely), we used aluminum threshold from Lowes for a divider trim.  Max attached it with tech screws - it already is pre-drilled.  It cuts easily with a hacksaw for the curves where it meets the window trim.

 This is the "master bedroom" portion of the Airstream, showing the walls of the storage area under the bed still aluminum. (I later painted the floor white!)





And to the right is the "great room" section of the Airstream.


The "interior" walls, were painted in place.  Behind the dinette we removed the old fabric (the U-shaped trim piece can be pulled off with gentle persuasion - it just has tiny nails in the bottom of the U holding it in place) and where there was vinyl we sanded it and painted over it (discovered it was better to skip the primer on this).  Thus, see the bathroom sink area below.