Our Maiden Voyage...Take Two!

We finally were able to use our Trailer, on Friday August 2 we packed up the trailer and hit the road. We were headed to Ranger Lakes in State Forest State Park, outside of Walden CO, 140 miles away!

The few high mountain passes were no problem this time. 

Had to stop for a rest stop, it proved to be a pretty back drop!

Ranger says so far a much better trip!

This was taken on the back side of Cameron Pass(elev 10,276)

We made it! Our little trailer was a little out of place with all the new plastic sheds on wheels. Oh well let the fun begin!

Our view

Fields of wild flowers

Being that it's a state park, and they have strict leash laws we had to hike to find some water, where we could let Ranger be free.

I guess I should have brought another chair! What was I thinking!

Too much fun for some puppies to handle!

Our Maiden Voyage

So on Friday June 21st we set out for our first camping trip with the "new" Shasta trailer. We were packed, and excited,we even washed our car(something we usually didn't do). We had planned to camp at Steamboat Lake State Park, it's roughly 200 miles and 4 hours from our house.  At 10:00am we set out, planning to go up I-70 westbound to Silverthrone, head north on US 9 and then head west on US 40 over Rabbit Ears pass into Steamboat Springs.

This picture was taken at 10:05am 6/21/13, notice the excitement on our yellow Lab, Ranger's face

A special note for anybody who has never driven on I-70 west of Denver, it has multiple high Mountain passes over 8000 feet and even a few over 11,000.  We were just 30 minutes from our house and going up over Genesse the first of 4 passes we would have to navigate, towards the summit it seemed like we were loosing power, about a mile later I noticed a knocking noise. I pulled off at the first exit I could which was is a mountain town called Evergreen, I pulled up to the first traffic light so I could turn into a Parking lot, the motor idled down to about 200 rpm's and the oil light came on, I quickly threw it into neutral and gave it some gas to prevent it from stalling. When I got it parked at in the Home Depot parking lot, I shut it off and pulled the dipstick, it had plenty of oil and it was bright and clear. So I made the executive decision to turn around and go home.  I started the motor up, pulled up to the four way stop sign to make a left to get back out on the interstate, by this time the Pathfinder had absolutely no power, I aborted my plan and headed straight instead of turning to the parking lot of a Wal-Mart Parking lot, shut it off and called Roadside Assistance. I had to have two tow-trucks come, a flatbed for the Pathfinder and a regular pick-up for the Shasta. 

Two and half hours after we left we were back home, stressed and frustrated but safe and alive(not the Pathfinder). The motor either spun a bearing or broke a rod, and it was done. We didn't want to spend another $5k on a used motor, especially since I had just spent $3k on the timing chain, tensioners, guides, sprockets and water pump, 3 months ago. So the Pathfinder got listed on Craigslist and sold, we acquired a 2008 Chevy Silverado 1500.

We are actively planning our next trip, hopefully we actually get to use the camper this time!

aaaannnndddd DONE!

OK not 100% done but 99.5% done, so I am calling it finished! I still have some small things like drawer catches and buy a battery and charger, but over all it's DONE! I am just going to shut up now and let the pictures speak for themselves!

It's been a long road these last 15 1/2 months but we are very happy with the end result!

A ray of sunshine!

Started painting the trailer this weekend, I knew I wouldn't have enough paint but I started it anyways. We are using a color called Colonial Cream, it's a factory 1957 Chevy Color. I painted the "Z" stripe on and once I get more paint I will use tape to make it the correct 2" size.

The other big news is I am calling the interior DONE! I still have to put on a few cabinet catches but other than that it is complete. My favorite seamstress got the last 3 cushions made this weekend.

Gaucho Couch/Bed

...and folded down!

Cushy Cushions!

We are in the final push, and the finish line is with in sight.  We started making the cushions, we started by using 5" thick foam that is a 1.8lb density and a medium firmness.(Thank you Verlo Mattress of Longmont CO)

We then wrap each piece of foam in a 1/2" of Dacron batting on each side and covered the whole cushion in light weight Typar fabric.(not shown)

My Favorite Seamstress(my wife Jessica) has been sewing the covers, we found a heavy twill upholstery fabric that is reminiscent of a 50's era couch. Jessica made all the piping from black vinyl, and each cushion has a full length zipper across the back. 

The Fabric is grey enough to blend with the floor and counter top, it has brown and tan highlights that blend with the shellac'd Birch, and of course the black piping ties the curtains and pillows together.

Rocking the Rock Guard!

Built the rock guard this weekend, when we bought the trailer every single pane of glass in the front window was either chipped or broken. This also provides a rain shield so you can keep the front windows open when it rains, Sun shade that helps the curtains and cushions from fading. 

It didn't turn out to bad considering I had never actually seen one in real life.

Yee-Haw Progress!

Well a lot has been happening, and the trailer has made some leaps and bounds toward the finish line!!

First off, it now has heat, provided by a Wave 3 Catalytic Heater.

I settled on a 800 watt Cobra modified Sine Wave Inverter, It comes with 2x usb ports to charge phones and 2x 110 plugs to charge laptops and run small appliances.

We had a mini sweat shop in our dining room, my wife and mother-in-law sewed all day to make the Curtains, Tie-Backs, Pillows and the Heater Cover!

We found some Bark-cloth with a 50's western pattern on it, the bummer was it is discontinued,  we bought all we could find and by the end of the project we were counting threads! The fabric is the same pattern but two different colors, black for the curtains and buttercup for tie-backs, pillows, and heater cover.  You can't really see them but the tie-back's even have a pearl snap to hold them in place.

Doors are a bore!

 This past week was Door week, I had to build all the cabinet doors, drawer faces, and screen door. I started out with the screen door. I built it out of Solid birch. 

I used a Festool Domino Joiner to make the frame. 

Cross braces,

Door rails,

These are the dominos that reinforce the joints,

The frame all glued and clamped together, 

Here it is all shellac'd and installed, in the closed position,

Open position,

Since my trailer has a aluminum screen door originally, I had to create some hinge mortises in the door frame so the door would be the correct depth in the frame.

All the Cabinet doors are done and installed, it's starting to come together!! The doors are true to the originals, in order to keep the weight down I made them hollow core.