Del Prado Vintage Trailer Mini Rally

The Pink Pearl and some of her crew

Wow, It's hard to believe it's been a couple of months since I last caught you up on the Pink Pearl and her adventures.  

In June we attended our first Vintage Trailer Rally at Del Prado regional park.  It was really great to meet the faces behind the names I have seen online for months.

A gorgeous owl that landed in a tree near us

I neglected to mention the wildlife we have seen on our adventures.  One of the perks of getting out into nature.  This is the second owl we've had fly over us and land in a tree.  It's really an amazing thing to experience.  Their noiseless flight catching you off guard as they swoop down and land beautifully.

eek a skunk (many many skunks)

I realize this photo looks like nothing, but the shining dots were eyes.

As all the skunks came out after dark it was interesting making our way around the campground.  They were everywhere!  Especially between us and the facilities.

We gladly learned so much from our fellow Vintage Trailer owners.  We were able to get many of our pressing questions answered, and some advice.  It was really a joy meeting fellow likeminded travelers.

 And the touring begins.
On Saturday we walked around visiting each others trailers and getting a tour.  It's amazing to see what others have done with theirs.  And how nice they are when fixed up.  Some are restored flawlessly to original condition.  Each has a personality of its own.  And a name to go with it.

Sadly I did not photograph every trailer that was present.  Including the beauty owned by a lovely young girl and her dogs who were next to us.  But here are a few shots of the lovely trailers I did manage to remember to photograph.  I also at this point cannot remember the years or makes of them which is a bummer, it's really cool to know the age of these beauties!

 

The interior of this one was gorgeous.  Redone by the lovely Gretchen
whom I enjoyed meeting immensely!

And her gnome who lights up at night. 

 

they just kept coming in

 

 

 

 

The lovely Chris and Cheryl Baas' Westerner
They organized this whole thing.  

One of the few I took an interior shot of.  The westerner.

The crew at the grub gathering

We ate with all the other Vintage Trailerites

 Saturday evening we joined the others for a delicious and varied potluck.  Everything was wonderful and the  company was great.  It was a good time to chat and get to know some of the others.

Larry even showed from cannedhamtrailers.com.  It was fun getting to check out his camping trailer. 

the now famous Larry's trailer
check him out at cannedhamtrailers.com

Here's one of his Youtubes on restoring a Vintage Trailer
He has an amazing and very informative website with many videos on how to restore these babies step by step.  

Later that evening one of the Canned ham dads hosted a movie projected on the side of his trailer for all the kids.  They really were a fun, and welcoming bunch!

and the sweet little toad I caught outside of the ladies room

Just another example of the beauty in nature that it's easy to forget is there.  Right at our fingertips.  

Hope you enjoyed this photo memoir of The Pearls first (Mini) Rally.  We can't wait to take in more in the future!

Every Day is Like Christmas!

One of the best things about getting one's own Vintage Trailer is that everyday is like Christmas!

There's nothing like the feeling of coming home to little packages at your door which have carried vintage treasures from around the country.   Packages like this one:

Let's open it up, shall we?

 I am so excited for this to arrive.  Ideally I would love for The Pearl to be filled with vintage treasures.  I am adding things slowly though, looking for the perfect items that are functional, not too weighty, and most importantly can withstand being handled repeatedly by a family of eight and possibly flying through the air should something drop or come open in travel.

oooooh the anticipation!!

 And here they are!  The beautiful vintage salt and pepper shakers I ordered in one online community or another.  I absolutely love them!  Especially since we had a tragic mishap before our last trip and lost a  glass pepper shaker that belonged to my Gramsy.  It was part of a set.   Thankfully it was my own fault.

Here's a closer look!

What is it my sister always reminds me?   "See the glass as already broken...."   well not these babies.  These look like they're built to last forever.  That's one of my favorite thing about vintage treasures.  Planned obsolescence was only it's infancy and manufacturers still cared about the products they made.





And then there was this one:

They look so unassuming, don't they?

 But to me it really is like Christmas morning.

 so the kids and I tore open the wrapping....

And another treasure is ours to use while out camping.

All these things bring back such fond memories.  Memories of Gramsy's kitchen.  Each meal lovingly cooked to perfection.  A simpler time.  Good memories.  Before pollution and the hole in the ozone.   Before the technological revolution that saps all our free time and energy.  Before it became 'unsafe' to play in our own front yards.   Ahhh yes,  those times....  

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!