Okay, got the bug again... darn ralley!

So, I made the mistake of looking inside a bunch of really great trailers at the Mt.Baker ralley... that 16' Airstream really got me thinking "why can't I have a bathroom in mine?" So I got started moving some stuff around...

Originally the Dinette was in the rear,under the bunk... bad design. Nobody over 5 feet tall could get in and out of the dinnette seats without taking a deep breath and ducking, bending, and manuvering... so it didn't get used as much as I hoped it would. So I pulled out the bunk (for now)and I swapped it.

Dinette went up front, and the Couch went to the rear... for now.

Okay here's where it sits today. I might add, it's built better now than before. At least up front. (sorry about the cell phone pics, too lazy to take out the camera.)





okay, now the rest of the project...

So the reason I removed the bunk. 1" thick plywood was WAY to heavy... could never load enough stuff in the front to counter balance when I had to fill my water tank. Plus the weight was up high... made it tipsy too...

next up in the next few months as I find the time...

1. remove the rear couch (for the time being)
2. Build a wall off the rear of the Kitchenette to make an enclosed 27"x43" bathroom.
3. Build a 22"x17"x36" dresser set that will get against the rear wall below the window facing forward. (beside the new wall for the bathroom)
4. Remove the closet and re-install a new Couch platform along the wall where the current closet is.
5. Reinstall a lighter, smaller bunk platform between the new wall and the existing mounts. Instead of 1" solid plywood to the tune of 83"x42", it will be hollow built from 1x2" and luan 1/4" plywood about 55"x34". (Should save about 100 pounds or more)I will also make doors on the front for easier access to the storage when not used as a bunk.
6. Build a new cabinet over the new side mount couch between the door and the new smaller bunk about 47"x13"x16". This wil house teh Microwave and stereo flush mounted, and have two smaller storage areas too.
7. re-paint interior. (new wood and scratches)

So this now gives me a private bathroom for the porta-potty... but I can take it a step further... I can install a black (and grey while I'm at it) and a flushing toilet.

If I am really tempted to go further... I can install a full shower there too. Might as well, I want to install a better 12v water pump and water heater anyways.

Still deciding on what way to go for the storage tanks... find some used, have a couple built... or build my own with 6" PVC pipes under the trailer. Heck, I can even build a new fresh water storage while I'm at it. We'll see what the coming months bring... what I know is, I have to figure out something to do with the existing fresh water tank (it's in the new bathroom) and move the battery out to the tounge, or at least somewhere else than where it is.

Stay Tuned!

Mt Baker Ralley Photos

Sorry, I've been a bit busy in my life so I'm slacking on my posts... so here we go.

Ralley was sweet. We got off to a hard start with Rob's Commander breaking down right before we met to leave from Bellevue. Poor Rob, just dropped a ton of cash to get everything fixed so this wouldn't happen, and the day he finally gets to drive it... caput.

Good thing it was only 4:30, and my dad made me fix cars with him over and over and over again... we were able to get parts and get it changed out in front of an office building... not the greatest, but better than blocking traffic where he first broke down! (sorry, no pics of that, I was greasy).

But we got to the ralley at 11:30 or so and set up camp as quietly as possible next to the water tower (only available water and power hookups we could see at night). Saturday was great! Here is some pics!



Mt.Baker


Absolutely Georgeous!

(inside)


Rob being Rob


16ft Airstream, fantastic!


(inside)




'Inspiration' (Rob told me to take notice right when this was taken... I did... see the next post)






'50 Burb color matched set, this picture does it NO justice!


Shasta/Chevy Combo was terrific!

Pano of the "early birds"


Spotless Chevy


Sandy and Jerry's '71 Airstream Overlander (99.9% original) :)


This Newel was fantastic as well. Very similar floorplan to my Dad's RV.


This Mercury was from Maple Valley... lived in the same town for 5 years and never saw it :(... until now! :)


A bit blurry, sorry... forgot to turn the VR off...




There were a large handful of Boler/Scamp/Trilliums there


The COMMANDER!!!


This was cool, longer version of mine (and a Shasta)


Very nicely done Aloha!






I may have to steal this idea for my celing...











This was towing

this


a couple other cool Class-A motorhomes


There were plenty of teardrops too.


Look, IKEA makes trailers too! :P


This was so shiny it threw off my camera sensor.


Okay, I'll let this speak for itself...


Heading home (Parting ways in Bellevue)

Is it a "Green" Trailer?

sooo... the one they sent me is a 700/1800 watt inverter instead of the 700/1400 watt, nice bonus.

So... maybe you will find this funny, who knows... but my trailer is almost 100% self supporting now. Let me explain...

So I have the 12v battery, that is powering a 300W inverter. That inverter is powering a battery charger... that charger is keeping the battery topped off all the time (auto trickle when it needs to). The 700w inverter is running everything else, and I mean everything... I had the fridge, all 3 120v lights, the stereo and the microwave running at the same time... charger keeps charging, inverters keep doing their jobs, round and round we go... I could dry camp for a weekend I'm sure with never needing to fire up the generator. I'm almost wanting to NOT plug in this weekend at the ralley to test my therory... hmmmm I'll let you know how it goes... the inverters and the charger are kinda noisy... not nearly as bad as a Generator, but the fans are kind of loud... wonder how they will do with the heater.

Not going to find out this weekend, but we'll see soon enough. I'm off tomorrow after work to the Mt Baker Ralley!!

Back from our 3rd trip (as a family)

We had a great time this past weekend joining my family up to the lighthouse RV Park. Mixed emotions about the campsite... I think it was a great site overall, but I didn't realize the % of campers to permanant residents was so low. I think of the whole "park" we were at, there was only about 8 sites that were used for the weekend as campers, the rest of the 100 or so sites were semi-perm seasonal folks, or full timers. We really got a taste of the culture, but I felt kinda weird "playing" trailerites for the weekend when the people right on either side of us were "home". I think I prefer State Parks to "RV parks" when it comes to that regard, but how about the fun parts of the trip instead!

Stopped off at a rest stop on the way, perfect time for a couple of pics, right?




Got to the site a bit later than we hoped, then switched sites so this is all we had time to set up.


Morning came and I was up to take some more pics, a few of the fellow "campers"




My parent's Rig, 38 feet of modern goodness!


A few vintage neighbors






What we did for our afternoons, when there was wind!




The kids had a blast playing in the water and throwing rocks






Taught my wife how to sail






I would have to be the first (and only) one to push the limits a bit too far... at least I was by myself, right?






The Fam at sunset






Can't argue with that!




and the money shots...




Thanks for reading along again... stay tuned for more "improvements" soon!