Progress is progress and missing my baby!

Progress is slow, but it's progress.  Times like this a phrase from my Gramsy runs through my head.  "little by little my girl, little by little".  

Had to get rid of the rust on the hitch

Photo from Vintage
Trailer Supply

We spent as much time as we could on Saturday prepping a couple of things for paint, and replacing the butyl tape beneath the drip edge on one side.  The package from Vintage Trailer Supply came just in time.  This all sounds so straightforward, I know  but....

We repainted the oven hood

The prepping and painting was.  But the drip edge--  a lot more work than we expected. 

He ended up spending all day on that ladder
scraping away

 On the restoring Vintage trailer forums you read about this insidious black goo that is a pain to get off.  Yeah, now we know what they are talking about.  

 I'm going to ask Erik to elaborate on these next pics. 

Hi.  Erik here.  Usually I'm just a male model/laborer around here, but today I get the "privilege" of writing a bit.  I knew there was a bunch of black and white goo along the curbside edge, but had no idea why.  Once we got all the J rail and awning rail pulled off and I started scraping the reason for the "repairs" became evident.  

Slowly I started seeing the pattern.  Some previous owner had put screws or nails directly into the top of the roof, right along the edge.  There was a hole about every 6-10 inches.  Ugh.

In this shot you can see one of the screws still in place.  It was totally covered over with black goo and caulk.  Thankfully the caulk (in this location) wasn't silicone, so I could get a lot of it scraped off.

Here's a good shot of one the holes and the layers of junk up there.  I finally got everything scraped as good as I was going to.  I then drilled out the holes slightly to remove the last of the junk built up in them.  I ended up filling the holes with JB Water Weld, which I think should give me a pretty good seal.  I'll sand it when we get ready for paint.  I spent a fair amount of time trying to get the smashed bits of edging repaired before putting on the new butyl tape and screwing the edging back in place.  I used all new stainless steel screws for a long life.  This Saturday we tackle the other side.  It has no goo or caulk and isn't damaged at all.  I'm hoping for an easier day.

Finally at the end of the day here is the replaced and re-taped drip edge.  Looking all nice and clean.  We had hoped to get a couple of the windows done as well, however this took a lot more time than we expected.  

a view from the front 

Here you can see she still has the hideous painted window on the front.  That's next up on our list.   I can hear her sigh in relief, and thankfulness.  

 That reminds me.  Our 'baby' has been missing from our lives for a little over a week now.  It's amazing how such a thing can make a difference, but driving my daily rounds is torturous again.  I feel so average Joe (no offense to any Joe's out there).  She is in the shop with a friend of ours getting a complete engine rebuild.  Soon she'll be good as new.  I can't wait to drive her again.  My scarf and sunglasses are all ready!
Then this will be us again...

stay tuned for my next post, adventures of an ADD crafter....

An addition to (the wheeled) family

We have very exciting news!  I don't want to spoil it until I can take pictures though, so you'll have to hang in there.

We have been sort of stalled out on Pearl restoration waiting for this big news.  And it's big!

I guess we are 'purists' when it comes to many things.  I would say we are with The Pearl; and now with Baby I think we'll end up going that way as well.  As much as I love shiny and new, I don't need everything in my life to be that way.  I appreciate age, wisdom, charm.

I noticed a commonality with Vintage Trailer pictures I am drawn to.  They are just about always white.  That is to say that the interior is painted white, or redone in a light color.  Something about the light, the bright, the airy feel it gives things. Not to mention one could replace things, and have them  be new in this sort of restoration.  In a perfect world I could have it all.  But The Pearl's interior is Birch and in our opinion not damaged enough to completely re-do, or even paint.  I just can't imagine covering up all her original beauty.



The same with Baby.  Today while out and about we came across an old Corvair in the parking lot of Trader Joes.  My daughter and I stopped to admire her.  She was beautiful, shiny, new interior, completely re-done, if not restored.  Wouldn't that be wonderful?  I thought.  But the more I think about it I think maybe not.  I don't know, I mean, things age, people age, and I don't believe they become less beautiful.  I would never submit myself to such modern day tortures as face lifts, tummy tucks, or even botox.  It just goes against everything I am.

 I feel the same way about Baby and The Pink Pearl.  Sure they show their age, but what's wrong with that?  It's a messed up society I live in, where everyone attempts to stall out appearance wise at 30.  It reminds me of a movie I saw last year-  In Time.  I thought it was an interesting, very thought provoking movie about a society where everyone stops aging at 25 and are engineered to only live one more year....  unless they can buy more time.  Of course this mean life ends for the masses, who work all they can to buy more time, while the wealthy basically have immortality.  Everyone is young, everyone is beautiful.  I do recommend it if you have the time.

The truth is that where I live it does matter, to a lot of people.  It's all about facade.  Beautiful and youthful on the outside, but the insides, who knows?  I guess I prefer honesty to appearances.   I find the saying 'with age comes wisdom' to be absolutely true.  I can't imagine wanting to trade that for youth, or the appearance of youth.  So it goes with Baby and The Pearl.  I can't help but think of Susie...  remember her??

Baby

Irises are my favorite flowers.  They're just so beautiful in their own way.  Here are a couple of pics of my Irises which are blooming at the moment in the front yard.

'If you had come to visit me today you would have seen these beauties from the street, and from the porch and I would have made sure you noticed them.  I love flowers.

Then  you would have come inside, and invariably would have asked me about life and all things in it currently.  Which would have led us to 'Baby' short for 'Baby Jane' a dear aunt of mine who shares my affection for inanimate objects and always names her cars, always has.









Baby Jane is a 1965 Dodge Dart
    Like a drive back in time...

Here she is waiting to take us wherever we'd like to go

As you attempted to open the door to step in you would have found it locked.  Everything is manual in this car, so I would have to reach over and unlock it for you.  Then upon opening the door a very loud metal creeeeeaaak   

would catch you off guard.  It makes me smile.  Then you would find that the door has to be slammed shut pretty hard.  She and her kind were made like tanks.

It's funny to watch people, especially young people get into Baby for the first time.  What is THAT?  They ask....   The door handle, or the manual window handle, or the ashtray.  They are embedded in the back doors and one in the dash.

The dashtray

Here's Baby's Model number on the glove box

And if you opened up the glove box you'd find the original service record.  Dating back to 1965.  

And no, there is no middle belt

You'd wonder about the seatbelts then, especially the under 30 crowd.  When we first looked at Baby and took her for a test drive I had the pleasure of riding in the back seat.  It reminded me of being a child in the back seat of 'The Batmobile'.  Our grandparents big black Chevy Impala (I believe) much like this one.                                 

But I digress....  Every Friday our Gramsy who did not drive, and only worked a half day at our Aunts house watching all of us would pile us all in the backseat and Grandpa or our Uncle would drive us to Gramsys house.  There'd be at least five of us crammed in there, smashing each other as we rounded every curve.  Good times...                                        

Ok, now we're ready to roll.                                 Don't worry she's not driving.  

 You might wonder about the window operation then.  No AC, remember.  So we'd roll down the front windows and open the little triangle ones at the front.  And that is the only side mirror.  They used to only come with one, remember?











Depending on your personality, you may or may not get a kick out of watching me start the car.  The steering wheel is so large, it reminds me of driving a boat.  Baby needs a lot of juice and sweet talk before she'll start.  And she can be very loud.  Then she's gotta warm up.  So don't think you can just hop in and go like with these modern cars.  She needs a little gentle coaxing.  But treat her like a lady, and she'll treat you right...

 At this point you would undoubtedly be checking out this sweet dash...  And maybe you'd like to hear some tunes...




Old school heat and fan controls, and the original AM radio.  Which still works.






















Remember the old push button AM radios?  Oh and it's mono baby!

This is it.  The only speaker.

Oh and that is a steel dash.  No airbags.  So don't crash.

I'd check my mirror for oncoming traffic.  Yeah, it's the original too.




As I let the brake off and give her some gas we'd move forward and you'd notice

 The speedometer needle bouncing up and down and all around.  Again, these things make me smile.  Hopefully it wouldn't make you too nervous.  She also 'dances'.  Her timing is off so she idles real heavy and is pretty loud.

Never a dull moment when  you're with Baby.

 Driving down the street I feel like I've gone back in time.  My girls and I think we need to get driving hats and scarves to go with our large sunglasses so we'll look the part.  I never thought my daily chauffering rounds could be so much fun.  Listening to a crackly AM radio, laughing as everyone passes me in their modern day hurry.  Not me...  I am thoroughly enjoying the little things.  And loving it!

She drives at a steady pace, unless going uphill.   And I'm just relaxing, taking my time.

Original wipers, remember when they only had one speed?

Her trunk

 It's a large 'two body' trunk.   Unless you are my kids.  I think we could fit most of them in there.

 So here she is.  Those who have ridden in her literally squeal with delight! I think it's a treat.

Enjoy the little things my friends.  Enjoy the little things!

Back in port we be!

our  campsite garden

The maiden voyage redo went so well we're booking another trip next month.  The Pink Pearl was a joy, a hit with other campers, and a pleasure to sleep in.

We did learn that overly shy people would not do well to camp in one of these.  We had our first visitor upon arrival, as we were setting everything up.  A nice man who was curious about our cute trailer.  He came right up and asked us about it, we gave him a tour, and he chatted with the hubby about her.

Of course we drew some attention.  People seem drawn to something.  A bygone era perhaps.  Possibly fond memories.   As if my crew doesn't attract enough attention normally, the Pearl draws people in.

Sobe had a great time, but definitely proved she is a
suburban doggie

I sat and stared at this interesting grouping
of trees forever

The kids immediately wanted to go on an explore

We played games

cooked various things over an open fire

had a little musical entertainment

The next morning:

We had one just like this when I
was a kid...

 We enjoyed watching a woodpecker do his thing on
this tree

the bitties were fascinated by how fast these
spun

Guess what she's doing???    (uh huh, you
guessed it!)

They enjoyed many treats, including Pixie Sticks
which we decided The Pink Pearl should never be without

This squirrel was nearby taunting Sobe

We even received the hippie stamp of approval!  A lovely hippie couple complete with hand painted vw bus like this one

Photo credit:  Marshall Astor from San Pedro, United States 

were overheard remarking "now there's a family you know is down to earth!  Keepin it real you know?!"

Photo from VooDoo Donuts online
merch catalog

 Love it!  They even came by to talk to us as we were packing up.


  Then came the "all you need is a '57 Chevy to pull her and it'll be perfect".  The hippie guy and my hubby then talked classic cars and they noticed his Voodoo Donuts shirt and we scored even more points!

By Mike McCune
[CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]
via Wikimedia Commons

So the trip was definitely a success, and very much fun!  We have decided to attempt to take a trip every month.

Then we returned home.....  



As we entered the house I went to open all the windows and curtains as I do, and as I opened the back sliding glass door I was greeted by this....

Twinkie taking a dust bath

 Twinkie is the only one I eventually got a picture of.  All of the chickens and ducks were out making a snack of my planter beds.  So the first thing I did was round them up, get them back into their enclosure, then grabbed my camera...

 When I left all 4 of my planter boxes were completely covered with sprouting things.  All manner of things... it looked like a carpet of green.  It seemed most of our seeds had sprouted.

guess the mint was last on their list
(they have mint in their area so
this was nosurprise)

they even destroyed some of the
marigolds.

They did however leave the freshly planted African Daisies and Lavender alone.  But bit all the blooms off my columbine

                 which looked like this                                                      

  when I planted it.

So, there was much sadness.....    But then........




We did it!  We went and purchased this

Our 'new' 65 Dodge Dart

The Dart.  She still needs a name.  Havn't given it much thought yet.  She is SO much fun to drive!  And has all this charm, like manual windows and she idles pretty funky right now (the timing is off).  But this post is getting quite long, so more on her later.

                               ......  and we all lived happily ever after

                                                                      The End