Time Flying by

Wow, I can't believe how much time has passed since the last time I posted.  Been busy I suppose. 

The Hubs loved his Christmas present, although it was not in the state of repair I had wanted to give it to him in.  It helps that he is like me, he sees potential.  Right away he even started listing off the same ideas that I had when I first saw it. 

Unfotunately, we haven't been able to make those ideas a reality yet since we've made some life changing decisions.  We are packing up, packing up, packing up, and moving across the country!  Decided to use a freight system to get our belongings there.  Which means, that we are taking our first road trip with the camper! 

We are currently getting the necessities such as new tires, new coupler, new jack stand ready and plan on having the paneling and bed reinstalled by the time we leave, We've decided to use an extra full size mattress set we had in one of the guest rooms for the camper and we'll just use throw pillows when we have the need for a couch or lounge.  But when the family goes camping no one spends much time in their campers so I doubt we'll need it very much.  The wonderful news for our little camper is that the city we are moving to has a camper graveyard and my brother in law was able to replace a lot in his camper for only a few hundred dollars.  Very excited about this development. 

I'm so excited about the road trip itself that I have already started routing out the road trip we'll be along i-40w mostly so if anyone knows any interesting things along the way post them in the comment section below.  We drove it once before but it was a drive straight through alternate shifts driving only stop to pee kind of trip :0

The itch I can't scratch

I'm itchin' to get in that trailer and get some work done.  It's been 2 weeks since we did anything and this weekend I have to get the house ready to host Thanksgiving dinner.  Grrr Arrrgh!

We did find out from the horrible weather that there are not huge leaks

I'm not going to say there's NO leaks yet, we'll find that out when we pull the paneling out and confirm at that time...

 But in the meantime I'm just waitin for next weekend.  :|  

Rain, Rain, Rain

"I feel it's gonna rain like this for days
So let it rain down and wash everything away
I hope that tomorrow the sun will shine
With every tomorrow comes another life"
Rain Lyrics, Creed

Well I didn't work on the trailer this past weekend. Haven't been able to get it leveled yet and I can just see it flipping over off the concrete pad we have it on into the ditch if we get too into our work, lol. That's one ride I don't want to take. I am excited about this nasty drizzly yucky rain today though! This is going to give us the chance to check for leaks! We shall see what we're dealing with now!

I feel like I'm on Press Your Luck!



"WATERTIGHT! NO LEAKS! WATERTIGHT! NO LEAKS! NO LEAKS!"

I will have more updates after the weekend, stay tuned!

Ready, Set, DEMO!

"Each of us is carving a stone, erecting a column, or cutting a piece of stained glass in the construction of something much bigger than ourselves." ~ Adrianne Clarkson

I didn't cut stone, erect columns, or cut any stained glass (although now I have an interesting idea...) this past weekend, but I did begin ripping apart a travel trailer, which is a step in beginning to build something larger than myself.

It seems that reviving this old travel trailer will bring to life several awesome things. Of course #1 being the hubs and myself will be able to take off on the weekends. But in addition to that, we can roadtrip to Albuquerque to visit family, we can have extended camping opportunities with our family here in Kentucky. And once there are little ones running around we are going to be able to create awesome summer camping memories. Of course, we'll upgrade by the time there's little ones, but this trailer is laying the foundation for all of that.



They're going to go tear up my trailer


This is the first shot of the tow vehicle with the trailer. I'm going to trim the trailer out in the same red as the Durango. That job will fall to the hands of the ever talented Murph.

I'm thinking of painting a scape of the Sandia Mountains on the Rock Guard. Hubs would appreciate that.

Some before shots of the uniquely redesigned interior
This is known as the cave

l

Quite an... interesting... cabinet layout, not to mention the exposed electrical box



I like the kitchen, of course I want to paint the cabinets, because... yuck! But the lines and router design on the doors are cool and I have an idea to make them look "60's fabuhlus!"

See what I think about the cave and cabinet layout...

I'm currently unsure if that Bathroom vanity cabinet is staying or not... I'm leaning toward no, and doing some custom built-in shelving/drawers with the fridge, but we'll see.

We only worked on it for a few hours. And I've decided in the case I ever need a hurricane or bulldozer proof building that looks won't necesarily matter, I'm totally looking up the previous owner. When two of us are going full force with sledge hammers and can't get the thing out... That's some quality craftsmanship there. Like I said though, as long as it doens't matter what it looks like...

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And so it begins...

I have that "Gilbert" gene.  In my case it's not only the "Gilbert" gene, it's also the "Midkiff" gene.  That one gene, the one that can't leave well enough alone.  The one that definately can't leave subpar alone.  I, like both of my parents, like just about everyone in both families, have this thing about doing it MYSELF.  I don't know where this could stem from, other than both families started from humble beginnings.  So maybe it's just the way of life that has been passed on for generations.  However this happened, I have received a double whammy of the do-it-yourselfer/fixer-upper/backyard warrior mentality.  It has not brought me much trouble yet, but definately has the potential to create a catastophy.

Case in Point(#1):  1964 Driftwood Travel Trailer... Craigslist $400

I do commend the sellers photography ability.  These pictures perfectly eliminate any areas that may reflect the true state of the repairs needed.  By no means is it too far gone.  But lets just say it's definately not trip ready.  And I must note, the seller was honest about everything from the first contact, the selection of photographs make me chuckle a little bit though.

I'm going to gut this thing.  Well, I'm hoping that once I get the paneling and floor out from around the cabinetry, dinette, and rear bed that we'll have no water damage in those areas and I can leave them intact.  But I have a feeling they're coming out. 

Did I mention I would *like* to have the floor and walls back in by December when I unveil this thing to my hubby.  Oh, yeah, hmmm... Did I also forget to mention this is his Christmas present? 

"I'm the very best wife that anyone could have, I'm the very best wife that anyone could have, I'm the very best wife that anyone could have." Thanks Zack Galifianakis for that most awesome one line song that is constantly stuck in my head.

Thanks for choosing to join me through this journey.  Follow me for weekly updates on progress and experiences!