The Left List

This is our "left list"... this stuff is what's left on the list:

clean seams, polish, reseal seams

We need to find a threshold.  Also, rebuild and install the step.

This door needs some polish:

We're not quite sure what to do with the inside door handle.

but we need to either 1) strip it 2) paint it or 3) both

We need to finish removing the seal on the door within a door.

Then, install a new seal.

We still need to clean up our Birmingham scar.  I think we've been putting this one off because we're not quite sure how to deal with it.  Perhaps an Alabama shaped aluminum badge is in order?

Our belly needs a shave.  (A couple of other places too.)

This item is quite possibly the most embarrassing on our "to do" list.  A long time ago, in a land of good intentions, someone (Ok, two someones) used silicone to seal the seams above the windows.  Now, the silicone did keep the water out... but it sure left a nasty mess.  Dirt and polishing residue are only a few of the shady characters this silicone attracted. 

 We need to clean up this (our) terrible mess.

Propane.  We need to plumb for propane. 

When we get that done we'll have a few more things to do:

 install the stove

install the fridge

(If I had known how long I would be looking at the naked side of the pantry then I might have refinished the entire panel instead of just the part that will be exposed.)

install the heater and ducting

We have a few electrical things to clean up too. 

Our back vent needs a new seal.  

We also have a ceiling fan (from Captain Wilson's Overlander) to install.

We need a cover for this light.

We need to finish wiring in the monitor panel, the inverter too.

These hinges need work.  

The screws keep pulling out of cabinet.  It's a problem on the pantry door and also on the cabinet under the sink in the bathroom.

 Find the holy grail. 

I need an original knob for the pantry.  

(In the meantime, this dummy will have to do.)

We also need to install:
window levers
window screens
plumbing fixtures for tub
trim around the bathtub
make a shower curtain
sew a cover for the bunk mattress

... and those are only the the things I can think of.  I'm sure there are more.  The end is in sight (maybe not without binoculars) but it's in sight.

Two Recent-ish Adventures

I think I forgot to mention our whirlwind trip up Asheville, NC on the last weekend before Christmas.  We were hoping to take a four-day weekend but, alas, only 2 days were available, so we were determined to make the best of it.  After work on Friday, we were hitched and ready to go by 6:00pm.  We stopped for Chinese food a little way up the road.  A little farther up the road we found a place stop for the night.  We woke before it was light outside (admittedly, this is something we do rarely do at home) and headed down the road.

We arrived at the historic Grove Park Inn just in time for brunch.  We called ahead to make sure they had parking for us but the parking was still an adventure when we got there.  (I wish I had taken a picture.)  Brian did an amazing job backing the trailer up a steep hill and into the spot on the far right. The parking attendant said she had to get 4 tour buses in the other three spaces.  She managed to do it, too. 

The Grove Park Inn is home to the National Gingerbread Competition.  What a treat to stroll around the hotel and view the entries!

The gingerbread man may have been running as fast as he could, but he took a small break on the bench in the gift shop.  We snapped a picture really quick:

The Grove Park Inn has a charming car museum, too. There were three 50s cars.  I tried not do drool directly over them. (Didn't want to mess up the finish or anything.)

This Edsel, the car everyone loves to hate, is a 1959. 

After brunch we headed to the campground we had picked out ahead of our visit.  It was by the river and the prices were much better than the others in the area.  No one was in the office.  We called the posted number.  No one answered.  We drove in to see what sites might be available.  The road was rough.  Pot holes, mud, permanent residents... When we decided to turn around our tires began slipping in the mud on a hill. (Sliding toward the river!)  I remember thinking "What?!  This can't be happening!  Why do we always get more adventure than we bargain for?"  Anyway... whether the moment was really as perilous as it seemed (or not)... we were glad to get out of there.

Fortunately, I remembered passing a campground on the way in.  We dove up a twisty gravel road to a nice campground with a splendid view.

Before going to bed Brian made sure to unhook the water and sewer.

Our mountaintop campsite was chilly in the morning, below freezing.

This was only the second time we had stayed at a facility with sewer hookup at the campsite.  

In the morning, the cap for the sewer was frozen shut.  Whoops!  I guess we should have wiped it off before we closed it.  After a little rummaging in the trailer for a pipe wrench the cap was loosened and we could empty our trailer.  (Everyone travels with a pipe wrench, right?)

Our trailer empty, we headed down the mountain to the largest house in America, the Biltmore Estate.  We took the meandering 3 mile driveway to the parking lot.  Then, we took the shuttle to the house.

 As an adult, have you ever visited some place that you haven't been to since you were a kid?  When you got there did you find that everything seemed so much smaller than you remembered? I hadn't been to the Biltmore since I was 8 years old.  For me, the Biltmore is a definite exception to the "smaller than I remembered it" rule.  It's size is still overwhelming.  

There's an indoor pool, a bowling alley, a library with some fantastically fussy Victorian (but masculine) furniture, elevators, and a way-before-its-time intercom system.  Maybe the Biltmore just seems big to me as an adult because I couldn't stop thinking about the 43 bathrooms those poor maids had to clean.

House for 5 on the left.  House for 3 on the right.
(Come to think of it, the house doesn't look so big in this picture.)
I'll still take the one on the left, thanks!

-------------------on to the next adventure--------------

Brian had a week off in February.  We planned to work on the trailer for the week.  After a couple days of polishing we had a problem; our feet were itchy.  Again.  (Think we have itchy feet now?  What is it going to be like when we get this thing finished?)  So, on a random Tuesday afternoon in February, we packed up and headed out to Georgia's newest state Park, Chattahoochee Bend.

Wednesday morning we hiked the trail along the river.

We hiked 5 miles and found 6 geocaches.  Did I mention the park was brand-spankin' new?  The hiking trail meandered next to the river and crossed several little creeks along the way.  Many of the crossings still didn't have bridges yet.  We thought it was part of the charm.  

Can you spy the geocache in this picture?

Chattahoochee Bend was just the right amount of adventure. 

Well, all except for that time in the bathhouse when the lights-on-a-timer turned off.  The girls and I were soaped up in the shower.  I'm not sure if I'm ready to talk about that though.

Happy Birthday, Someday!

 

It's been two years since we brought home our trailer!

 

I made cupcakes.

Maybe next year I'll get to bake them in the trailer. 

 

We celebrated by spending our evening in the trailer:  dinner, cupcakes, & a movie.  We watched "That Thing You Do," one of my all-time favorites.  I hadn't seen it in years but thought it was the perfect period-movie for the occasion.  We were delighted to see an Airstream in the movie! I had never noticed it before.

Janurary 30, 2012

Happy Birthday, Someday!

Swampsgiving

I know Thanksgiving was a long time ago.  It seems like we've only been holding on for the roller coaster that is October, November, and December.  So, now that it's January, I have a little time to sit down and catch up on a few things.  Here's the story of our Thanksgiving adventure:

We've talked about visiting the Okefenokee swamp with our friends for years.  This summer, we chose a date to make our dream destination a reality.
(Something about the "swamp" being a "dream destination" doesn't sound right, does it? )

 

My sister joined us the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  We were ready for the 6 hour drive to our south Georgia destination.
An hour into the trip the "adventure" began.
 

In this picture, you'll notice that the trailer is not attached to the tow vehicle.  You'll also notice that the trailer is sitting in the parking lot of an empty shopping center.
Clearly, we are NOT on the road to the Okefenokee Swamp.

Here, you'll notice that the tow vehicle is on a tow truck.

Brian went with the truck to the repair shop.  The kids, my sister, and I made the best of it.  We pulled out our healthy stash of board games. We hunted a geocache on the other side of the parking lot.  We walked to the grocery store.
Six hours passed quickly.

At 3:30 it became clear that the part for our truck wasn't going to come in until the next business day.

Let me recap the situation:   

It's 3:30 on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  The kids, my sister, two twelve pound turkeys, and I are with the trailer in the parking lot of a vacant shopping center an hour from home.  Brian is with our (broken) truck at a repair shop 4 miles away.  Our friends are waiting for us in the Okefenokee swamp with all the sides for our Thanksgiving Day feast.

We were determined to make it to our "dream destination" for Thanksgiving.

 After making no less than 8-9 calls we finally found a rental car company that had one vehicle left: a full sized truck.  Lucky for us, it was the rental place that will come pick you up.
Brian begged a ride back to the trailer from one of the mechanics. 

We locked up the trailer, explained our situation to the shopping center security guard, and headed for the swamp in our (hitchless) rental truck.
 Leaving the trailer at a shopping center was only slightly less gut-wrenching than the last time.

For our first night in the swamp my sister slept with our kids in our 4-man (Hawaii) tent.  I'm so glad we had it along with us.  Brian and I slept in the truck bed, in a screen tent. 

Nothing says adventure like sleeping in a truck bed in the swamp!

From the time we made our reservations in the summer up until the week of Thanksgiving there were no boat tours in the swamp originating from Georgia's Stephen C. Foster State Park.  The narrow canal connecting the park with the swamp was impassable due to drought and fires.  The week of Thanksgiving it rained just enough for us to get in a tour on Thanksgiving Day.  We survived the tour, corny jokes and all.

Annabelle almost lost a finger to this vicious creature that joined us on the boat.

Who says you can have a fabulous Thanksgiving spread in the swamp?

Our regular group expanded to 26 for "Swampsgiving" and even included a set of grandparents all the way from Nebraska!

After a great day of over-eating and swamp-touring Brian drove back to the trailer to spend the night.  

(My sis, kids, and I squeezed into the 4-man tent.)

 

 By Friday evening Brian was back in the swamp with our trailer and our (supposedly repaired) truck.  We got everything, including that Christmas tree, set up just long enough to take a picture.

 

We had a great time hiking and geocaching around the swamp.  We looked for 'gaters after dark.  We laid in the middle of the road to look at the stars.  We even got to see a black bear two days in a row.

Yes, that's a coonskin hat!

On Saturday, we drove 17 miles  into "town" to do a little geocaching and to look around at the visitor's center. About halfway on the trek back to the state park our truck started acting up again.

Afraid of having to pay for a tow out of the swamp, Brian left us with our friends and headed toward town.  He made it to the Toyota dealership in Valdosta, a little over an hour away.

Yes, there are two coonskin hats!

Our camping buddies were packed up and ready to head home on Sunday.  The kids and I were prepared to spend some time at the swamp in our trailer, with lots of Thanksgiving leftovers, until our truck was repaired and Brian could come rescue us. 

We have some really great friends!  I think they were afraid the racoons would eat us if they left us in the swamp alone.  One of my friends graciously offered to tow us to Valdosta.

(Then sheepishly asked if I would drive.)  

My sister was glad to be able to hitch a ride home with my friends, too.

Our caravan out of the swamp.  

Our trailer hitched to our dear friend's truck.

The Toyota Dealership in Valdosta is conveniently located within walking distance of an RV park and a shopping (s)mall.  We spent Sunday exploring Valdosta by foot. 

Monday morning the Toyota dealership repaired our truck.  We were on the road before lunch!

I think we're going to have to visit our "dream destination" again sometime.  

Poor Brian spent most of his Thanksgiving vacation on the road. 

It's always an adventure.

Enjoying our Trailer

You're not going to believe all of the work we've done. 

Drum roll please.... 

Installed the "Astradome" skylight

(It's a good thing we paid for expedited shipping over a year ago.)  

Other than that, we've mostly been using our trailer.

We spent one night at home after our exciting night in Birmingham; We left early the next morning for a three day weekend with some friends at a Georgia's James H. (Sloppy) Floyd State Park. 

 The weather was perfect for hiking and geocaching.

A couple of weeks later we headed up to Fort Mountain State Park. 

The leaves were nothing less than amazing!

 

 It rained all day on Friday. The weekend was chilly  but there was still plenty of celebrating; there were costumes, pumpkin carving, and lots of Halloween decorations.

 

Here's a picture of the hitch we installed just before we traveled to Texas; an Equalizer e2.

It saved our *ahem* shiny hiny in Birmingham.

 

In October, we spent 15 days in the trailer.  Hooray! 

The first weekend in November we camped with some Shasta people and their adorable trailers.

It's a good thing there isn't room for 5 in one of these; 

otherwise, we might have caught some kind of "Shasta Bug."

The Shasta folks made us feel right at home.  

Not too much fuss.  Just lots of fun.

We weren't the only "SOB" at the Shasta gathering. 
(SOB= Some Other Brand)

Two other Airstreams and the Vintage Awning Lady's Avion came too.

 

Guy and Sharon brought their 1956 Airstream; completely original. 

It was just beautiful!

We can finally say we've been in an Airstream older than ours!