Stuck Truck

It's been a very rainy winter and the ground is often saturated. We had to take the Airstream into town for the DMV to verify the V.I.N. and in the course of pulling out, my truck got stuck in the mud.

To The Rescue!

Bonnie and Jaime came over with there work truck they fondly call, the "Red Dragon" and helped pull us out with no trouble.

On the right, their faithful companion, "Chata" supervises from the cab.

New [Used] Hybrid and Our First Camping Trip with Casita!

Since we live so far out in the country, we figured the pick-up truck at 15 miles to the gallon was not going to cut it. So, Jennifer did a bunch of research on the best cars for gas mileage, one of which is the Toyota Prius. We found a used on in Santa Barbara which is very clean, one owner, minor body damage and best of all . . . upwards of 45 miles per gallon. It's a hybrid so sometimes when stopped the motor completely shuts off because it switches to battery mode. It's weird and has taken some getting used to - especially at busy intersections!

We also took Casita out for her first camping trip with us! Our friends Bonnie and Jaime [pictured] joined us and we had a blast! The weather was nice at Lake Santa Margarita and there weren't a lot of campers so it ended up being nice and peaceful. We brought our propane grill but also cooked over an open fire - cowboy style!

Right now as we are adding the skins inside, there are only two beds, so it made for nice, spacious accommodations. I'm wrapping up the wiring so will have new pix up soon to show more progress.

Settling Into A Simpler Life

As we begin to experience the retrograde that will enevitably happen with moving toward a simpler life, we are taking deep breaths, enjoying the fresh air and the quiet of rural surroundings. We are starting to get settled in and are returning to the work on Casita. We're putting the skins back in [the inner walls], and when finished, we will add texture and paint to the walls. Here are pix of our progress and me holding farm-fresh eggs from the ranch chickens.

Wool You Look At That!?

We were driving into town the other morning and saw a really beautiful sight . . . a hillside covered with sheep. It was one of those moments where we were so astounded that we stopped, turned around and went back to take some photos. This area is majestic and every day brings wonderful, new treasures. Yesterday while driving, we came upon a flock of wild turkeys crossing the road. We took some photos but the pix didn't turn out.

The central coast of California is still pretty young and mostly rural. It is so peaceful here and the pace is generally slowed by default.

"Green acres is the place for me . . . Farm livin' is the life for me . . . Land spreadin' out so far and wide . . . Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside"!

Even Cows Must ThinkThe Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side

We will celebrate our first week back on the central coast tomorrow and are slowly getting settled in to our new home. We are living at the Clifford Ranch with acres of beauty surrounding us. It's a peaceful sanctuary here and is more than we had hoped to find in our journey back to a simpler life. There are no traffic sounds here. Only birds chirping. The neighbors' cows occasionally get through the fence and come over to enjoy grazing in our front yard. The owners of the ranch [Jeff and Tamara Clifford], have an amazing raised garden along with fruit trees, berries, grapes and more. They also have two dogs and four chickens have recently joined us at the ranch and are producing an average of three eggs a day. Tam literally just brought us eggs while writing this! Yum! Thanks Tam! They are also thinking about getting several head of cattle soon so that will be fun. The photos show Casita parked next to the barn that has a garage in the bottom and living area upstairs, complete with bath and kitchen. The middle photo shows the view from our kitchen window. We are surrounded with beautiful, old oaks and rolling hills. The cows are right. The grass is greener here . . . No wonder California cows are happy!

The Good, The Bad and the Uh-Oh

The Good

We left Sunday and made it into California last night. The truck performed flawlessly and Casita came right along with no complaints. It was pretty danged cold most of the way which actually ended up being good for keeping the engine and transmission temps down. We saw a lot of beautiful sites and enjoyed our time together on the road. I'll post more pix later. We took highways 20, 10 then 8 across the El Cajon pass.

The Bad

We hit below freezing temps in west Tejas and was greeted with snow and ice. We hit a patch on a bridge and started sliding sideways a bit - producing a feeling I hope I never experience again. It was beautiful though as we drove along. The wind swept the snow across the highway like ocean currents. It was mesmerizing.

The Uh-Oh

We'd done some research about what final leg we'd take to get into southern California and based on information published by the Department of Transportation, we decided to take highway 8. This added a harrowing, nightmare-ish end to our long trip. The author had written that you would encounter mountains and if you were towing something, it wouldn't be too bad, just gear down and take it slow. WRONG! This ended up being one of the worst experiences either of us have ever encountered. Terrifying would be applicable here. We were met with mountain after mountain and just when we thought we'd reached the summit, somehow more mountains appeared in front of us. We couldn't go faster than 25 mph and I thought we'd surely drop the transmission. The truck laboured so hard and we just kept thinking good thoughts. The sun disappeared and it got dark quick as we continued to climb to what would ultimately be over 4,000 feet elevation, the wind began pushing against the Airstream so hard that I was worried we would surely be blown over the edge. I stopped ever so often to let the transmission cool - babying it along the way. Once we finally did reach the summit, then we had to deal with coming down the other side and risk burning through brakes or transmission while I tried to keep Casita from pushing us down the mountain. It ultimately stretched over 3 gut-wrenching hours. That wasn't the end. Once we got off the mountain we came into the city of El Cajon and the traffic was equally scary. By then, my eyes were burning and knuckles ached from holding the steering wheel so tight. We made it to the hotel, ordered a pizza and thanked our lucky stars to have gotten through that mess. It's a beautiful morning here today as I write and we're looking forward to the next few days of reuniting with beloved family and friends.

It was tough, but the trip was worth it. Glad to be back California!. We've missed you terribly.

The Golden's Are Heading To The Golden State!Casita's Maiden Voyage

It took two days to finalize packing the Airstream. Although we have sold most everything we own, there was still a lot to deal with in loading. Jennifer and I agree that we now have 1/5th of what we brought to Texas.We had initially packed most everything in Casita, then loaded tools in the truck. When we hitched the two together, the truck was sagging too much and since we were exhausted, we just decided to sleep in the Airstream that night [in our driveway] and start fresh in the morning.

We got up the next day, completely unloaded the truck and redistributed the weight in the trailer. SO MUCH WORK! We left yesterday [Sunday] and drove as far as Abilene and stayed the night. Airstream pulled along fine - although I wouldn't want to load one more pound in it. I think we've got it pretty maxed out so the truck is being put to test also. We are taking it slow at around 50 to 60 miles per hour - so it's gonna take a while. We are just so exited to finally be coming home.

Cali-fornie . . . here we come!

Takin' It To The Streets!

We did it! We took the Airstream out this afternoon and it passed it's first road test since being restored! We are so excited [and relieved].

The lights are all working great, the brakes are performing exactly like they should and it's just pulling behind the truck like a dream! We took it out around town for a bit, then stopped at Steak-N-Shake for dinner. Here's a shot of it in the parking lot. We are beat, but are tickled to have gotten to this point. More work on her tomorrow then packing and leaving for California Wednesday!!!

Wheels and Wiring and My Birthday!

Today is my 47th birthday and I'm at 30 and holding!
After two months of sitting on jack stands, the Airstream is once again resting on wheels! I also finished roughing in the wiring. We're so close to finishing this first phase and she's almost ready to roll. We're taking Casita out for a test run this afternoon. SO EXCITED!. Once in California, we'll begin phase two: the interior design.

Here are the wiring diagrams I drafted to aid in the installation and for future electrical troubleshooting. We plan on keeping the Airstream for many years to come but if we ever decide to sell it, these will be a nice addition to the service and owners manuals. Click on any of the images on the blog to view larger versions.

New Axles Are Finally Going In!!

These things are heavy! Almost 250 lbs. each so hard to handle. The are also weighted unevenly - wanting to lean forward, so I cut some lumber and used the floor jack to level them out and provide lift into the axle slots on the frame.

We took the old axles to a recycle center - so we were there when they weighed them. We also took the old electrical wiring we pulled out during the gutting phase and ended up getting $178 out of the deal. Coolness. Helped pay for new wiring which I'm hoping to have completely roughed in today. Freezing rain and temps in the mid-20's today so I'm forced to work inside Casita. It's warming up again tomorrow and Saturday - so I'll be able to finish the install on the second axle.

Jennifer Has Taken Up Stripping!

Well . . . not THAT kind of stripping. She started working on stripping old glue and paint on the interior aluminum skins [walls]. Ended up being a pretty gross mess - with the top layer bubbling from the stripping paste.

Insulation Completed And New Bumper Arrived!

The rear bumper arrived yesterday. It's just sitting on the frame rails in this photo - still need to bolt it on.

Jennifer and I both worked on installing the Prodex insulation and finally got it completed yesterday as well. The temps have been in the 20's and 30's so we were VERY motivated to get that completed. Running two electric heaters and now it's nice and toasty inside!

I've begun roughing in the wiring including electrical, coaxial, ethernet, speaker and fiber optic wiring. The fiber optic wiring is a really cool feature added in the 70's to the Airstreams that run from the tail lights up to two small lights toward the front on the street side. The two little lights shine into the driver's rear view mirror to let them know the rear lights are functioning. See the illustration below - taken from the service manual. A cool little 'modern' touch back in 1979. Kinda makes it like a big toy. Love it!

New Axles Arrived

David Bliss came back over on Wednesday and braved the sub 30 temps with me and welded the shock mounts from the old axles onto the new ones. Wrapping up insulation inside today and new rear bumper is on the FedEx truck to be delivered today. Woohoo! More pix coming . . . 

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Freezing rain and snow in Plano, Texas. Working inside Casita adding insulation. Wish it was already in! Burrrrr!

The axles are supposed to arrive today too. Bought a propane heater which will be welcome in this 20-something temp range!

Red Skies At Night

There isn't a lot of natural beauty here in Dallas - mostly concrete and man-made landscaping. But one thing we've really enjoyed has been the amazing and giant Texas skies [it's pretty flat here so all you see is sky!]. Jennifer and I went out for sushi the other night and for dessert, we enjoyed this fiery sunset on the drive home.

Good Help Is Hard To Find [Good Looking Help Is Always A Bonus!]

Working on the Airstream is hard work and there is a lot of it, but Jennifer and I have so much fun working together. She has such a cute and infectious smile!

We've been very fortunate to have had such amazing weather as it was freezing and we had 8 inches of snow here in Dallas this time last year. We've really been pushing these last few days with promise of freezing rain and possibility of snow this week. Weatherman kept his promise . . . it's raining today and in the 30's.

We've gotten all the subflooring in except for the panel that sits just above the wheels. Holding off on this one so I'll have easier access for installing the axles next week. The board and wheel wells are just sitting here for right now to cover the frame for walking.

I've installed foam board insulation in the frame cavities and we'll be putting Prodex insulation [a foil type radiant barrier product] on the walls today.

Finally! The Floor Is Going In!

This is a really special day! We're now starting the rebuilding phase - where we begin reassembling Casita. The new subflooring is going in and we are so excited! We are definitely seeing the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Sawyer has been helping too! We're having so much fun with this restoration. Although it has been tons of work, we know it will pay us back ten times over when we are enjoying fun times with friends and family while camping. Can't wait to get back to California where we belong. It has been very cold in the mornings lately. Here I am cutting the plywood for the rear end piece of subfloor and installing it later in the day. Jennifer sealed it with urethane on the main sheets, then painted POR-15 on the edges for extra water seal.

Happy New Year 2011!

Today marks a huge landmark for us on the Airstream restoration. We have FINALLY reached the end of the tear-out phase. Now we can begin re-building Casita! Yesterday, we finished painting the propane tank carrier as seen on the left in this photo and we now have a beautifully painted, newly reinforced frame on which to build. Our next step will be to install the flooring and belly pans.