AguaDream

shelter has caved in twice, 50 mph gusts, 3 inches of rain since yesterday. They say that we will see the sun on Sunday...and then next week looks good. Gonna try to get some polishing done on the rails, and maybe a little framing. Gotta wait for it to be dry to do much else. sigh.

Dang. Had to stop midway through tarping up today. Bent over and strained my back. Hoping everything doesn't blow away tonight. High wind watch through mid day tomorrow--very unusual for this area. Anchored shelter to fence and house with eye bolts. Was going to secure the tarp better under too....and then I tweaked my back! So no stretching for me today :(

Aguadream what kind of name is that? Well here goes for the explanation. My son and I are both whitewater kayakers. Ben taking on one of the bigger rapids on the South Fork American at age 10 Mom (me) on the South Fork I've been involved in river conservation and advocating for clean water in one way or another for the past 30 yrs. Ben and me on one of his first river trips approx age 5 on educational trip down the Mokelume River Our plan is to repaint this trailer somewhere in the aqua/blue/green range. And the interior decor curtains, quilt, seat covers etc... same. The color scheme for Aguadream We'll be pursuing a dream I've had for some time this summer-- to take the summer off and tour the west with my 13yr old. He'll be participating in the kayak junior olympics, and we'll also explore rivers in Colorado, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Wyoming. So traveling in our newly renovated Shasta trailer will be an Aguadream. Ben in a junior ol...

Got a bunch of framing done today. The first dry day since Saturday. Using the Kreg pocket screw jig which makes everything feel really nice and solid. Coming up Wheel well framing (using a solid piece) both sides Curve framing floor and subfloor in the back. Reinforce all visible joints Reframe front After framing....replace old wiring with romex. Adding one outlet. then......... I added a gadget to the blog showing how to use the jig, on the side bar

Well, finally have removed the skin from all four sides. The bad news is I will have to replace the floor and subfloor in back, and install new skin on the front and the back. The original owner did a "fix" at one point that included replacing the drip rail with flashing and eliminating the overlap on the edges. Enter WATER! The good news is that none of the windows lead and the rest of the trailer under seems to be in pretty good shape. Still it's a major rebuild at least for me. I scored a 3 speed with reverse Fantastic Fan for half the retail price. First part of reconstructing was putting in new oak (with aluminum to further reinforce) framing in the ceiling to make it VERY solid, and then installing the fan. Plenty of butyl tape, vulkem, and pocket screws. A big confidence builder that I can do this. Also scribed curved portions of the corners for the back and front frame. And then it started raining....and it still is.

AquaDreamToDolist

So it begins. Ever since spending summers with my grandparents on their airstream travels in the Northwest, I always figured that at certain age I too would leave tenting behind (at least most of the time) and hit the road. The certain age arrived, and I began my search for a vintage canned ham (airstreams are too pricey for my budget) and not long after picked up this 1956 Shasta, which I thought was not in need of much except upgrades. Well I found out as many a vintage trailer fanatic has that most of these gals have a bit of rot and mine maybe has a bit more than a bit. Here I will chronicle my hopefully short but perhaps intense rehab. Our goal is to be roadworthy and camping by April 11. What she looked like when I found the damage. And now that I've dug into the restoration