Easter Weekend...The Photos!

The easy-up worked great, but the door rubs it. (We need a taller easy-up I guess.)

 The cute one grinning is Mig.

Double rainbow...before the BIG storm hit. Oy!

Max and Clara....not sure about this camping thing yet.

CJ says "go ahead...I'll take care of the house for ya". Never trust a talking cat!

The Inaugaral Trip...

Well, we did it! We spent Easter weekend in an rugged campground, during a heavy rainstorm no less, and she did just great. No leaks, no creaks and no issues. The only thing we have not tried to use is the onboard water. The tank was flushed and filled 4x but Scott sees bubbles in the water when he drains it and we can't figure out why. As grey water it would have been okay but we had access to the campground outhouse, so rather than worry we just opted to flush it a 5x and see if that does the trick. But not today...

The kitchen performed very well, as did the futon and table/bed. Mig was afraid to sleep in the 6ft high bunk. Clara and Max alternated between the two lower beds, which kept us tossing and turning all night. That's one thing we'll have to work on.

Note to trailer owners: The gold stripe on one side has been repainted, as you'll see in the photos, but the 'ALJO' vinyl lettering is not on there yet. I'm still sourcing that one!

---San

Easter Weekend...first time out! FX FX

We've decided to take the trailer, yet to be named, out to an improved campground this weekend. It's close-by and has water. We won't be using the on board water tanks because there is no time to figure them out then flush them. Tonight, I expect Scott will test the propane lines and check the electrical system. We have doubts about the 12v battery currently installed...gotta find a cheap generator at some point.

Mig (our son) and I covered the nasty futon today and he stretched out on it. He's about 5'5" now and it's the perfect size for him...but it's our bed, not his, and Scott's a full foot taller. Our beds are made (literally) and we have 2 boxes of Rice-a-Roni loaded into the kitchen cabinets, as well as Emeril's Cajon Blast meat marinade. What else could we possibly need? LOL   (...Making a list!)

Accessing Photos On This Blog...

Click on the 'posts and photos' tab to see the oldest/latest!

Welcome to our blog....

If I sent you an invitation to this blog it's because we hope you'll eventually get to share in our fun. This old trailer is unique. It's the only one of it's kind that we've located. It's in restorable condition...and we could actually afford it, which makes it REALLY unique! :)

You can click 'follow' and watch the restoration as it progresses. Who knows...maybe you'll wind up wanting one of your own! 

Cleaning for the First Time....

If you think that this is a daunting proposition realize that the entire trailer is only 17.5 feet long. Ignore the fact that the front bunk is five feet off the interior floor and shaped like a coffin. It won't bother you, I promise!

At our house; Bleach and Murphy's Oil Soap are the chemicals of choice. Both were perfect for this task. We had a bottle of something labeled 'Advanage" (sic) that is an environmentally responsible cleaner. It kicks butt on dirt like we found in here, but it does not disinfect. I used the Advanage to remove all traces of grime and then followed it with a spray bottle, 30% bleach/70% water. I sprayed it on every single hard surface in trailer, including drawers, the ceiling and even the window screens. For the wood surfaces, my mom delivered an aerosol Pledge type oil spray. Still haven't applied it, because we needed the bleach to dry first.

There were dark water damaged areas below the bunk windows. I know now that they were most likely a form of mold in the plywood veneer. The spray bleach solution completely killed it. It's been over a week since I did this and the stain is not returning (yes, I plan to repeat the spraying in a month or two).

The old cotton curtains had some life in them yet but their brown color was a faded pink in some areas. I used RIT liquid dye and all but one panel came back beautiful.

The soft bench cushions are going to be steam-cleaned this week...to sanitize them...and then I'm DONE with the initial cleaning.

The gaucho/futon cover is making me sneeze...

This is the only thing in our trailer that we can't delay in redoing or replacing. I've opted to cover it, for now, with a plastic zipped mattress cover from Wal-Mart. Total cost: $10. A more permanent solution will be to get a futon pad and use that in it's place.

The current 'pad' is one piece that has been sewn (quilted) segmented; first in half and then one half is segmented into 2 square sections that can fold up to make a firm low couch back. The bottom half, unhinged construction, is designed to serve as a couch seat. The pad pulls flat to make a firm full-sized mattress, probably 8" thick. It's stuffed with cotton batting and is covered with a woven poly/satin type fabic. In true "I Love Lucy" style, it's lightly tufted with small buttons that are set a few inches apart. You can see it on the blog photos!

It took me a while to agree with my husband that we really want/need a futon mattress in it's place. I see his reasoning now. The futon mattress is not a step down; what came with the trailer in 1961 predates the more modern option and is no longer used for good cause. I don't know how we'd ever replace the materials (being near the old batting gave us both an asthma attack, simultaneously no less) or how we could even afford the cost of recreating it. If you find one of those kid's foam chairs, the kind that unroll to make a chaise lounge for the t.v. room, then you've essentially got what we have now. In all honesty, that might be another option...if I can find one in 'love seat' size.

For the time being, I'm treating the old one like a haz-mat situation. It's being contained in the (zip-loc-freezer-bag inspired) plastic zippered mattress cover, which will be covered with fitted bed-sheets or a zipped fabric duvet (depending on what I find) and then THAT will be covered with sleeping bags. I hate this thing....can  you tell?!?

In our camper, this will always be left in the 'bed' position. One last note: The extended bed is supported by square 1" dowels that have been cut to the right length and installed horizontally, to create a ledge. (The futon base is hinged plywood.) The two supports, one on each side, are the only support for the front half of the convertible/gaucho couch. For one person this is probably sufficient...we are are not small and have two german shepherds. I plan to find something that can be employed as a removable support for the center. Whatever we use will have to be wide enough, vertically, not to put a puncture mark through either the floor or the underside of the couch. A wood cube might be just what we need....