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Archive for the ‘kitchen’ Category

Our most recent airstreamy trip was to Prescott last weekend. I first called Point of Rocks RV park, but they wouldn’t allow us to bring our 3 dogs; they have a 2 dog maximum. So, I called Willow Lake RV park and they allowed us to bring the dogs. There aren’t many recent reviews for the Prescott RV parks, so we were hoping for the best. In our traditional last minute fashion, Matt and I decided to take Airstreamy out of town on Friday. Our 11 year wedding anniversary was on October 19th, which is why we decided it would be fun to get away. We got on the road around 9:30pm and arrived in Prescott around 11:30pm. The temperature was a crisp 40 degrees when we arrived; just what I wanted! Being a Phoenix native, cold weather is a welcome novelty.

I called the office when we arrived, as it was after hours. The night person then met us at the office and guided us to to our site. We didn’t have anyone on either of the neighboring sites, so that was nice. There isn’t a map of the RV park anywhere online (and we didn’t get on on-site) . We also didn’t get to choose our location in the park, but I was happy with the one we were given. If I had my choice, I would have liked one of the sites overlooking the granite dells, but they might not have been big enough for our 31 footer.

Here are some pics from the Willow Lake RV Park:

44 degrees in the morning on Saturday. Brrrrrrrrrr.

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Hat and cape weather! Yippee!

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There appears to be several long-term residents at Willow Lake RV Park. I only suspect that because of the patio set-ups on some and flat tires on others. Overall, the park seems to be pretty popular with all RVers.

This metal bus was pretty cool.

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One of the long-term set-ups we saw.

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Another vintage airstream (possibly our same year) was staying here.

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I didn’t notice this carved tree stump, but of course my hippy husband sees it.

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How’s that for some outside lighting. 😉

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Matt spotted an old 1960s Chevy van that he can’t stop talking about.

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Our first morning at the park, we slept in a bit, which happened to be a godsend! We had water start shooting out from under the kitchen sink when we were getting ready to leave. It was a super easy fix, but had we not been there, we likely would have come back to find a flooded mess. We didn’t end up heading into town until early afternoon. We decided to grab the dogs and get lunch. I had read about Raven Cafe on Yelp. We got there and saw a sign that said ‘No outside food or drink’, which Matt thought meant we couldn’t eat outside. I went inside to ask about sitting outside and they said that would be fine. There are 2 little tables out front, which are dog-friendly. Their upper patio isn’t dog-friendly because you have to walk the dogs through the restaurant, which is against health code.  Matt grabbed a table and I ordered us a tofu and veggie sandwich, burrito and some sweet potato fries. They serve Blue Sky natural soda, which was really good. We had many people stop and pet the dogs. Everyone seems to love dogs in Prescott!

Hank always draws the most attention because most people haven’t seen a red boston terrier before.

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Raven Cafe

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Downtown Prescott is so charming. The leaves were changing colors; it was magical.

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I love all the old buildings

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Falling leaves…the best!

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I bought 3 light-up blow mold holiday pieces from Deja Vu Antiques

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Love these AZ pieces. I have several of the cactus glasses from my grandma.

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Lala had to pose in front of her salon. 😉

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We happened upon a spooky house in downtown Prescott:

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Then, I found Christmas in Prescott! I bought lots of ornaments; I can’t pass up a good Christmas store…it’s an addiction, really.

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So many ornaments!

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We decided to  grab our anniversary dinner from Bin 239. I got an oven-roasted vegetable panini (sans cheese) and Matt got a wood-fired pizza. We were both really happy with our meals. We got back to the trailer and decided to hang up the new LED C9 bulbs that I bought at  target. Oh, and we set out our new friend, the halloween raccoon/bear. You’ll notice we don’t have an awning. Well, I thought my Prius was in park in our driveway a few months ago. But, I ended up hitting my car on the awning arm, while leaning down to grab my purse. Boo! We have the pieces to put it back together….just one of our many upcoming airstream projects.

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We’re making it a tradition to take a photo in front of the airstream at all our destinations. It will be fun to look back on all our adventures!

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Festive, aren’t we?

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Fake candlelight dinner (I forgot to bring real candles).

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We woke up early Sunday morning, ate breakfast in the trailer (with lots of coffee) and proceeded to hike to Willow Lake. It was more of a trail walk vs a hike, but there were some rocks to jump over. Here is an aerial of the RV park and it shows the proximity to the lake:

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Willow lake is so beautiful. He hiked up some boulders to a cute little bench and sat with the dogs for a while.

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After chilling at the lake for about an hour, we decided to gas up the truck for the ride home, find a good local brunch and then get on the road home. We had high hopes of checking out Pangaea Bakery (they have vegan options) and Lone Spur Cafe (a recommendation from a fellow RVer at the RV park), but Pangaea’s hours were incorrect on yelp; they are closed on Sundays. And, Lone Spur didn’t have any available outdoor seating (which we needed because we had the dogs with us). We ended up driving to Wildflower Bread Company, which was good, but we missed out on a *proper* Prescott brunch.

After packing up everything in the airstream, we hit the road back to Scottsdale. This little cutie, Lala, sits on my lap whenever we are in the truck.

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Peace out, Prescott. Our next adventure will hopefully be mid November. I’m looking forward to getting on the road again.

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We have been working on a few projects in the airstream recently. We had an issue with the location of our battery, which was in a compartment on the outside of the trailer. The compartment opened up on the road, when Matt was heading home from having the brakes looked at by Camping World. That was the catalyst to finding a new area for the battery. Matt decided to fab a compartment in one of the closets, so the batteries would be safe and accessible. We started with 1 battery, but we added 2 more.

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Matt has also started working on the kitchen, which we are doing one side at a time, so as to not disrupt a good travel season. We are using walnut for the kitchen, so he started making the end panels. He made a cardboard template and then cut the first one. We are looking forward to a stable, usable kitchen….hopefully Matt will have some time to dedicate to the kitchen before the end of the year.

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Matt and I hadn’t taken Airstreamy out since February; she’s been so lonely just sitting in the carport. We always try to figure out when we both have free schedules and we both happened to be able to take Labor Day off. So, even though we only have 1/2 a kitchen (we have lumber to order still), we called around to RV parks in Northern AZ to see what was available. My first call was to Rancho Sedona RV Park in Sedona, AZ. They were booked on the Sunday before Labor day, so I called Rio Verde RV park in Cottonwood, AZ. Rio Verde RV park had an opening on Sunday, so we booked it and then booked Rancho Sedona for Labor day.

We grabbed all our stuff and our 3 dogs, then hit the road late Sunday afternoon. It was the first time traveling with all 3 of our dogs, which wasn’t as hard as we thought it would be. We were somewhat restricted on where we could eat and where we could go, as we wanted to have the dogs with us at all times; nobody likes a barking dog in a trailer!

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We arrived to the Rio Verde RV park right past sunset and found our spot; #55. The office was closed when we arrived, so we did a self check-in. The spot was not a drive-in spot, but a parallel spot. It took a few tries to get into the spot, which seemed a bit small for our 31′ trailer. We were immediately greeted by a pack of javalinas, who lived in the hill right across from our site. They were harmless, but we definitely didn’t want to be outside with the dogs after seeing how close they were to our trailer. Our site had a big red ant problem, which was unfortunate, as it limited our outdoor time. The Verde River was the main draw to this RV park. However, our site wasn’t close enough to the river to enjoy it; all the river-frontage sites were booked on the day of our arrival. The Verde River looks like Willy Wonka’s chocolate river and there was tall grass to walk through to get up close to it. The park looks to have a few regulars; trailers that looked like they hadn’t moved in a while, which makes sense, since they offer monthly rates. There is an on-site yoga studio, which offers free yoga on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-6:30pm. There are tent and RV camping sites at Rio Verde RV Park and quite a few tent campers were set up on the river. For the price: $31.23/night, which includes full hook-ups, I would say it is a good place to stay, if you are in the area.

 

A video of our arrival at Rio Verde RV park

 

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I was informed by a friend on Instagram that there is a glitter institute in Cottonwood—say what?! Yes, there is indeed a glitter store called Art Glitter and a neighboring building called the Art Institute Glitter. What’s even cooler is that Barbara Trombley, the owner, founded Art Glitter Institute in 1983. She is literally the undisputed queen of glitter! We went by early on labor day and they were closed. I called a couple hours later and the glitter queen herself, Barbara, answered the phone. She said they were closed, but she would let me come by anyway-WOO HOO! If you don’t know, I am obsessed with glitter. Glitter is everywhere in my life; I always have glitter cell phone cases, glitter nails, glitter shoes, etc. I walked in and was in heaven. She has a little bowl of glitter by the door that she encourages customers to place their hands in upon walking in. And, then you walk around with glitter on your hands; it was like crack for me. I ended up buying 20+ pots of glitter from Barbara. My nails have never been so happy; her glitter is epic!

Video from my Art Glitter adventure

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@aymiespitzer Art Glitter is pure magic!!

A post shared by Jenny Hibbard (@fifilynn) on

 

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After getting high on glitter (kidding), we went for a quick trip to Jerome. Since it was labor day, many stores appeared closed. We mostly went for sight-seeing, but we got lured into Mooey Christmas and Udder Things. Let’s just say that it is the Christmas store you’ve dreamed of in a Christmas store! I bought so much stuff that I had a hard time carrying everything back to the truck. I bought some light-up color wheel Christmas trees, a snowman color-changing snow globe, a trailer that plays Christmas music (it doesn’t say ‘Airstream’ on it, but it is basically an Airstream), an little retro TV that lights up and plays old rock ‘n’ roll songs, some ornaments, earrings, coffee cup, a couple salt and pepper shakers, etc. Pure holiday bliss!

Video from Mooey Christmas and Utter Things

 

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We snapped a few pics around Jerome. It would be a great place to spend the whole day; we plan to go back and do just that!

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After leaving Jerome, we headed back to Rio Verde RV park and packed up to hit the road to Sedona. We arrived at Rancho Sedona RV Park and were instantly blown away by how nice it is. There were workers cleaning all around the park (we arrived just past check-in time) and the grounds were immaculate. The best part is that we reserved a spot right on Oak Creek; #79. Price: $63.90 with a Good Sam membership, which includes full hook-ups, wifi and cable TV. The park is dog-friendly- paid $2/dog and they even have a dog run.

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Our arrival at Rancho Sedona RV park

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When we checked in at the office, we asked the gal if anyone swims in the creek, by the park. She showed up exactly where to go; a secret watering hole just to the right of where we were parked. We highly recommend spot # 79. You can walk right down to the creek behind #79 and then walk a little bit to the right to get down to the watering hole. Since it was still summer, the weather was beautiful and the water was probably as warm as it would get (still pretty cold). We hiked down some boulders to get the the secret watering hole and fell in love with this park even more. Not another soul was around and there was a rope swing and a swing seat; perfection. We went back a couple times and brought our chairs to enjoy the scenery. Molly even did a little swimming.

Video of Oak Creek watering hole behind Rancho Sedona RV park

 

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We didn’t do much sight-seeing in Sedona (we were only there for a day), but we did make it to Chocola Tree, a local vegan-friendly restaurant. We brought the dogs and sat outside on their side patio, which is dog-friendly. They have amazingly big apple trees (by AZ standards) out front in the parking lot. I had a grilled cheese one day and a raw caesar salad for the car ride home. The caesar salad was the best I have had! I bought a few raw chocolates to sample and found my new favorite, a raw pine truffle in the shape of a crown. I went back and iterally bought all of them…like 15. ha.

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Matt and I picked up matching airstream shirts by a company called United By Blue. If you haven’t heard of them, check out their site. For every shirt they sell, they do trash removal from major waterways and oceans around the world. By purchasing the Airstream shirt for $34, you help UBB remove 1 pound of trash from our oceans and waterways around the world.

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Sedona is magical and inspiring; we can’t wait to go back. Until next time…weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee’ll see you later!

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Next up for Airstreamy: Polishing. We are taking her down to Eloy, AZ today to get her polished up. We are visiting 3 different truck polishing shops (M & M truck polishing, Eloy show Truck Polishing and Flash Truck Polishing) to see who can do the best job for us. Polishing will be a catalyst to getting the exterior looking better. Hopefully, we can remove some dents from our banana wraps up front and get some rock guards soon, too. We are hoping to have a couple more adventures in the coming months.

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We have been wanting to remodel the airstream kitchen, since we purchased it in 2011. We tried to live with it the way it is, with cracked counters, broken tambour, cabinet bottoms failing and latches not functioning. After our last road adventure in February, we realized that the end was near. We’ve been so busy with work (my sister and I own a real estate company and my husband, Matt, is a carpenter) that we have been putting off our various airstream projects for lack of spare time. That….oh, and the heat! Our 1974 air conditioning is a champ when it is under 100 degrees, but struggles hard when it is hotter. The heat is such a motivation-killer! In about 1-2 months, the weather in AZ will be perfect. And, hopefully, by then we’ll be able to start our adventures again, once the kitchen is finished.

We agreed to start demoing 1 side of the kitchen at a time, so we started with the refrigerator side. I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to get started on this project!

Here are a couple before photos of the refrigerator side of the kitchen:

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Tearing it apart:

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Here is the empty space, as it stands now. The side panels will be replaced with new walnut veneered panels:

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We have the old refrigerator venting, which we are going to build a cabinet around, until we purchase a 2-way refrigerator. Right now, since we aren’t planning to take more than a few weekend trips a year, we are totally fine with our electric mini fridge/freezer.

We’ve decided to go with a walnut veneer for the cabinets, green formica for counters (just like the original counters), circle latch knobs and eventually a new 2-way refrigerator. We’ll be reusing the cooktop (it is very hard to find a new 4 burner stove), the oven and the sink. I am going to paint the entry door to match the one below.

Here are a few photos of the abused sink side of the kitchen:

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When disassembling the kitchen, we noticed the metal brackets in the kitchen were stamped ‘airstream’. Pretty groovy.

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Here is our inspiration board for the sink side of the kitchen.

Airstreamy kitchen design (sink wall)
And our refrigerator side of the kitchen:
Airstreamy kitchen design (refrigerator wall)

 


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Well, it has been a while since we took Airstreamy out of the driveway. We have been so busy with the holidays and new year that we haven’t had time to take her out on adventures, like we so badly want to. On Instagram, we noticed a lot of fun stuff happening in/around Tucson this weekend. We saw that Mali Mish and Watsons Wander were both going to have their Airstreams down in Tucson. My Instagram handle is @fifilynn and my husband’s is @hibbardcustom. I begged, begged, begged Matt to go down with me for Friday night and we would come home Sunday morning. He agreed and I jumped up and down in excitement. Besides getting to meet fellow Airstreamers, we’d be able to go to the 59th annual Tucson Gem and Mineral show, which is something that I had been wanting to go to for years. We have 3 dogs and knew we couldn’t bring all of them, so we decided it was Hank’s turn for a roadtrip. Meet Hank, our Boston Terrier from the AZ Boston Terrier Rescue. We’ll have had him for a year, come May.

Meet Hank, one of our 3 dogs

The campground of choice for Mali Mish and Watsons Wander was Gilbert Ray Campground located on the West side of the Tucson mountains. We were excited to know that 2 sets of full-timers recommended this campground. Reviews of campgrounds online can be a mixed bag. I’ve come to realize that other airstreamers’ blogs are probably the best place to go for recommendations on the best places to adventure. I haven’t been let down yet!

We made the decision to go down to Tucson around 8pm on Friday and by 9:30pm, we were on the road. Matt went to fill up the gas tank on the Expedition and I went to gather weekend necessities. We packed our suitcase, grabbed some food and pulled out of the driveway.

Airstreamy leaving for our Tucson day trip

Coffee....hmmmmm

We arrived to Gilbert Ray campground just before midnight. Dan and Marlenne (Mali Mish) let us know that they were in loop A and that there were several vacant sites in their loop. The campground reservation office was closed, so we did a self-check in, found ourselves to loop A and proceeded to back into our spot, 44A.

Here is a map of the campground:

Gilbert Ray Campground map

I cleaned the inside of the airstream, while Matt got us all hooked up. Gilbert Ray doesn’t have a sewer or water connection on each site, but for $20/night, we weren’t expecting to have all the amenities. Our water pump wouldn’t work when we got hooked up, so we ended up dry-camping…thank god for dry shampoo and cleansing clothes! And, our heat was being finicky. We woke up freezing in the middle of the night and Matt had to relight the pilot.

Here’s some photos of the interior on our first night.

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I had asked my facebook friends to give me some recommendations for vegan places in Tucson, and I received a lot of responses. We knew we would be out all day, so we decided on places for breakfast, lunch and dinner, in advance. Before heading out for the day, we went on a walk around loop A with Hank.

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Our camp site

Gilbert Ray campground 44A

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Occasionally, we saw wild animals (kidding). Check out this pomeranian that was flirting with Hank

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You can tent camp at Gilbert Ray, too.

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A panorama of Gilbert Ray campground from loop A

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I wish I took a better photo of this retro Boler….it was soooo cute! For more info on Bolers, check out Bolerama.org.

A vintage Boler

There were several Airstreams in our loop A

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Pardon my thumb….another Airstream

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Hibbards + Airstreamy

Airstreamy at Gilbert Ray campground

How’s this for a sweet photo of an Airstream in the Tucson desert?!

Airstream at gilbert ray

We decided to pack up and head to town for the day. Our first destination, LaCave’s Bakery, a vegan-friendly donut shop. We parked and noticed a car show across the street.

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LaCaves Bakery has been around since 1935. The donuts=epic!

We grabbed a dozen donuts (oink, oink) and decided to find the gem show. There were multiple gem shows open this weekend, which made it a bit confusing for us. We showed up at one site, to find out it was the site of a gem show last weekend. Then, we decided to hit the 22nd Street gem show. I thought this gem show was a let-down. I really wanted to see some unique modern pieces.

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We then went searching for the main gem show, the 59th annual Tucson Gem and Mineral show. Upon pulling up, there was a line for tickets out to the street. I didn’t want to wait in a long line, so we decided to grab some lunch at a recommended vegan joint called Loving Spoonfuls. Matt had the Route 66 cheeseburger and I had the adzuki burger. We really enjoyed our meals, which came with potato salad and chips. They even gave us a water dish for Hank.

Loving Spoonfuls adzuki burger

We did a little sight-seeing around town. There are some great mid-century neighborhoods and the cutest historic houses. I found that I took photos of mostly fixer-uppers….I think that is probably the most charming thing about Tucson. A house could be ready to fall down or covered in graffiti, but it sits there; it doesn’t get knocked down like it would here in the phoenix metro area.

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We decided that we would try to go back to the large gem show and the line was gone! I wasn’t expecting there to be sooooooo much to see. The gem show was beyond worth the $10 admission. The dealers here had some of the nicest jewelry I have seen! I honestly could have bought like 20 pieces, but I practiced restraint. I really was on the lookout for modern pieces, and there were at least 10+ dealers with the raddest pieces I’ve ever seen! I told Matt he didn’t have to go in with me, so he took Hank for some sight-seeing. If you decide to go to this large gem show, plan to give yourself at least 2-3 hours there. I felt like I could have easily spent 4+ hours there.

I walked away with an amazing sterling silver and assorted gem bracelet. I really liked the modern style and colors.

Bracelet I bought at the 59th annual Tucson gem and mineral show Bracelet I bought at the 59th annual Tucson gem and mineral show Bracelet I bought at the 59th annual Tucson gem and mineral show

I bought a special ring for my sister, which is very similar in style to the settings in my bracelet

Ring I bought at the 59th annual tucson gem and mineral show

Here are some photos I snapped at the show. I didn’t feel comfortable taking photos of the higher-end designer pieces.

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Matt picked me up from the show and we went to find dinner. We had a recommendation of Guilin Chinese, which is vegan-friendly. I got some vegan ‘veg chicken’ fried rice and ‘veg chicken’ kung pao. Matt got regular chicken fried rice and vegetarian egg rolls. This is some of the best vegan Chinese food I have ever had! Yum! We got our food to go, so that we could try to catch the sunset at our camp site. We got back a little too late to get good photos, but we caught the tail-end of the colorful sky.

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We ate our dinner and decided to see if we could meet up with Dan and Marlene of Mali Mish. They came over to see our Airstream and then we got a tour of their fabulous airstream. Their airstream is was the 2nd airstream I have ever been inside of. They have a 2007 Airstream International 25FB Ocean Breeze. I loved the color theme and layout, which included a bamboo-look vinyl flooring (this may be an option for our future flooring, when we remodel the kitchen) white cabinetry with bamboo plexiglass doors and a very beachy decor.

Here is a photo from Mali Mish’s instagram feed, from the Gilbert Ray campground

malimish airstream at Gilbert Ray campground

Dan and Marlene allowed us to take a couple photos inside, as we are going to use their interior as inspiration for our future remodeling.

Mali Mish airstream bathroom Matt and Hank inside Mali Mish airstream Kitchen detail in Mali Mish airstream Dan, Marlene, Ava, Mila and Luka: Mali Mish airstream

We hope to run into Mali Mish on future adventures. Check out their blog about their full-time adventures Mali Mish.

We knew another set of airstreamers had just arrived on Saturday, so we messaged with them to arrange to meet up. Amanda and Tim of Watsons Wander have a 1999 25 ft. Airstream Safari. They snagged a great space in loop H of the Gilbert Ray campground. Here is a photo of their Airstream from their blog:

watsons wander 1999 airstream safari

Amanda and Tim are full-timers and have redone the interior of their airstream. It gives us a lot of ideas for cabinetry hardware, flooring, and window coverings.

Love this window covering in Watsons Wander airstream kitchen in Watsons Wander airstream kitchen in Watsons Wander airstream living/dining in Watsons Wander airstream draperies in Watsons Wander airstream Phineas of Watsons Wander airstream

Tim and Amanda, it was so nice to meet you! Hope to see you guys soon!

Tim and Amanda from Watsons Wander airstream

We enjoyed a quiet night in our airstream Saturday night. And, we woke up early to get ready to head back to Scottsdale. Once we hit the road, I recalled that I had read about a truck polishing stop in Eloy, AZ called M & M Truck Polishing on Air Forums. I couldn’t find a phone number anywhere online, so Matt agreed to have us do a drive-by to see if they were open. We found them at 518 S. Penn (it actually ended up being on Sunshine).

On the way to Eloy, we saw this hotel sign, but it seems that the hotel didn’t exist anymore.

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We got a quote direct from them and at $1500 for our 31 footer, which I think it is a steal. They said that if we make an appointment in advance, they should be able to have it done in 2 days. I can’t wait to see reflections in our airstream very soon!

M & M Truck Polishing in Eloy, AZ M & M Truck Polishing in Eloy, AZ M & M Truck Polishing in Eloy, AZ

We saw an airstream on our way back to Phoenix

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I have the travel bug! I envision a future trip to Oak Creek Canyon in AZ as our next day trippin’ adventure.

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DAY 1:

We hit the road on our maiden voyage on Tuesday November, 20th, 2012. We wanted to hit the road at 7:30am, but due to the need for a stop at Camping World in Avondale, about 30 minutes away, we decided to leave at 8:30am instead. We didn’t really know how much time it would take to get to Malibu, but we were guessing 7-8 hours.

We pulled out of the driveway and I felt a sense of accomplishment; we got the airstream ready in time!


Matt drove the whole time, while Christie and I napped (I didn’t sleep the night prior, as I wanted to get everything I could done before we left).
We stopped for gas 3 times on the way and arrived to Malibu Beach RV Park right before sunset. We checked in, were shown to our spot (#19, overlooking the beach!) and proceeded to get the systems connected. One thing we forgot was a cable wire. We ended up buying one at the RV store onsite, so we could watch TV on thanksgiving….watching the parade and dog show are family tradition.

Malibu Beach RV Park is located above the Pacific Coast Highway, about 3.5 miles from the Malibu Pier, overlooking the ocean. Rates at this time (Oct 1st-May 23rd are $47/ night weekday and $52/night weekend. There is a 3 day minimum and a $20/day extra fee for the thanksgiving holiday stay).

As the sun was setting, I wanted to take progress photos of the interior, after we unpacked.

Check out the dreamy view out the bathroom window!

Once I got done snapping some interior shots, the sun was setting. It was magical….this is reason enough to stay at Malibu Beach RV Park. We didn’t have any neighbors on our first night stay either. We paid for a full hook-up including 30 amp service, water, sewer and cable.

Day 2 is our Disneyland adventure!

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We had to kick our projects into high gear, in order to have the airstream ready for our maiden voyage.
The laundry list of items that got done quickly by having ASAP Mobile RV Service over the last couple weeks were:

Project 20- Smart Charger

We realized that our charger was constantly charging the battery and was inefficient. We had a new smart charger added, which will shut off once the battery is charged.

 

Project 21- Replace the heater blower motor

The Suburban heater blower motor was not working, so we had to get a new blower motor installed. It was chilly at night on our maiden voyage…thank goodness for heat!!!

 

Project 22: Install smoke detector, LP detector and carbon monoxide detector

We were concerned about gas leaks and being able to get out in the event of a gas or fire emergency. We had all 3 detectors installed and hard-wired in.

 

Project 23: Replace kitchen faucet

The old kitchen faucet was leaking, once we were finally able to test the water. ASAP had a replacement on their truck, so they hooked it up and there were no leaks.

 

Project 24: Install LED running lights

Matt ordered LED running lights to replace the old regular lights. Matt had to crimp the new wires in, but we got them all hooked up perfectly.

 

Project 25: Install the custom black and gray water tanks

We have had the tanks for months and months, but it was quite an undertaking to get them installed. I bought Matt a welder and he made brakets and supports for the front and back of the tanks. We didn’t get the tank plumbing done until we hit a Camping World on the way to California.

Project 26: Get a new fridge

We had to ditch the white fridge that came with the airstream, as it broke a couple months ago. I researched LP refrigerators and thought they all looked super expensive…like $1400 and up! I just wanted something to get us through our first few trips, as I knew we would be looking for full hook-up locations. I scoured amazon and craigslist and found a $100 mini fridge with good-sized freezer. It worked great on our maiden voyage.

Project 27: Install new shower mixer valve

I went to home depot, lowes and ace hardware to try to find a replacement shower valve, but came up empty-handed. After Matt tried Camping World, he stumbled across Central AZ Supply and they had what we needed. It turned out that we needed Moen mixing valve, which installed perfectly. AZ Central Supply even cleaned up our trim piece and it looks like new!

 

Project 28: Install max air vent

We had bought a fantastic fan to replace a leaking vent in the front of the airstream. When we went to have ASAP install the fantastic fan, we realized we would have to look our great lighting up front-NO WAY! So, Matt ran to Camping World and bought a max air vent to replace the vent cover that was leaking. We are planning to install the fantastic fan between the bedroom and bathroom, which is an area that would benefit from ventilation.

 

Project 29: New pex plumbing in the shower area

There was a major freeze at sometime before we purchased the airstream. Our uneducated selves would have never known this. Ah, the things you learn along the way! ASAP ended up replacing the burst copper with pex.

Project 30: Install shower curtain rod and curtain

I did this all by myself with a power drill. I ordered an ikea wire drapery wire, as it could be installed from the ceiilng to the wall. Once I installed it, I folded over a standard shower curtain liner (that looks like a finished curtain) and it fit perfectly!

Project 31: Test the oven

I decided to test the oven before our maiden voyage to ensure thanksgiving would be successful. I made cinnamon rolls in the oven; they cooked perfectly, but I burnt the bottoms. I asked some friends for advice on gas ovens and went out to buy a silicon mat for my cookie sheets and an oven thermometer to verify the tempurature.

NOW WE ARE READY TO HIT THE ROAD ON OUR MAIDEN VOYAGE TO MALIBU, CALIFORNIA!

 

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Christie and I have been dreaming of going camping, so we decided to get serious about getting the airstream camp-ready. We basically took a long hiatus because the Airstream needs SO much work. We decided to focus on the plumbing, as this is the system that needs the most work. We already have the toilet. Today we went to Camping World to pick up supplies for installing the toilet. We bought black and gray water tanks last year. We need to mount them, which requires a lot of work. It’s amazing how much goes into making all the systems work. A 70s airstream like a classic car and a old house combined; repairs aren’t always as simple as they seem.

After a lot of research, we decided against getting a tankless water heater for the airstream. The reviews online are surprisingly bad. I was looking forward to reducing the trailer weight and contributing to a green renovation, but all research pointed to an LP 6 gallon water heater. We bought our new Suburban water heater through PPLmotorhomes.com. We’ll be spray-painting the new exterior door silver, so it matches the airstream.

I took some photos of Airstreamy today, as motivation to get it on the road! Can’t wait to go glamping! It’s sooooo dusty inside…time to clean!

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We have owned Airstreamy for about 1.5 months and keep working on getting her ready for the road. Our custom-order black and grey water tanks arrived a couple days ago. We now have the task of installing them, which should be a lot of fun (not!). Since this airstream was lived in, a lot of the traveling components were discarded, by a prior owner. We haven’t been able to test the plumbing yet. We have heard the water pump turn on when we use the control center on button, but we haven’t filled the water tank. The waste tank install is a major hurdle to getting us on the road. We also have to take the airstream in for service to have all our gas appliances pressure-tested, to ensure they are safe for use. We hope to do that in the next couple weeks.

There aren’t many things that Christie and I can do in the trailer, as we have no mechanical knowledge whatsoever. We’re good on the cosmetic/design side. We’ve been hunting for some good drapery fabric, but still coming up slim on options. Most of the patterns we find are too busy, so we think we’ll go with a simple off white. I put together a $10 table I got at Ikea for a coffee table; It’ll work just perfect. We got all the ceiling lights working and bought brand new plastic covers for them. The covers don’t fit properly, so we have to make a few adjustments to the power knobs to get them to fit snug. I got the old speakers all painted and ready to be installed, but Matt thinks we should get new ones. Speakers are low on my priority list, as we can just bring a stereo with us. I have been spray painting the screen door silver and working on some kitchen solutions. I wish there was a way to repair our existing kitchen cabinet tambour doors, but they are in rough shape. We might build new cabinet doors or buy new tambour…we haven’t decided yet. Here’s some updated progress photos:

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This project sounds easier than it was. We bought a sofa bed ‘site-to-store’ from Walmart called the Atherton Home Manhattan Convertible Futon Sofa Bed and Lounger (Pearl color) for $269. It had great reviews and was the cheapest, nicest looking one we could find online. We picked up the sofa in a big box last night that barely fit in the back of Matt’s Expedition. We decided to wait for daylight to move the sofa into the airstream. We kept it wrapped and carefully wiggled it inside. Once inside we had to install the short little legs and figure out the ‘click-clack’ function. The sofa bed can be a sofa, double chaise lounge or a bed, with a couple clicks. We got it all put together and tried to squeeze it into the area it was supposed to go….it didn’t fit! Boo! I took measurements before buying the sofa to ensure it would fit, but what I didn’t account for was the slight curve at the front of the airstream, which strips us of 1-2″ of square space.  The sofa base is square and can’t be changed. So, in the meantime, we have it set up as a double chaise. Matt is going to do some measurements to see if it will fit snugly, if we cut the countertop to the side back a little bit. It sure does make the space look cleaner and newer. Every project gets us a step closer to a modernized airstream. Don’t mind the filthy floors in the photos….we just finished laying them last night. We still have some trim pieces to install before they’re finished.

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The airstream definitely needed new flooring; the existing vinyl flooring was worn and didn’t match the retro trailer. Once we started taking up the vinyl flooring, we realized it was not only glued down (and super sticky), but it was also nailed down. We spent a while sanding the sticky floor with 3 sanders and removed all the nails. I had originally thought of sanding the plywood smooth and painting a glossy white finish over it, but the time and cost associated with that project made me think more towards traditional floors. I really wanted white flooring, but Christie and Matt talked me into a dark wood laminate instead, which they said will be easier to keep clean. We got 7 boxes of the Tundra dark brown laminate from Ikea, which should be enough to cover the living area and bedrooms. The cost per/sq ft is $1.15, so it ended up being a very cost-effective improvement.

We are about 1/3 of the way done with the flooring. Matt hurt his back yesterday, so we are on a short hiatus until he recovers. I’ve been cleaning the inside of cabinets and working on little projects on the inside. I have to locate a light-weight modern/contemporary flooring for the bathroom and find a good fabric for the drapery this week. We have a new sleeper-sofa coming on Friday, which will get us another step closer to getting this trailer out of town. We also just got the owner’s/service manual in the mail. We are looking at dimensions for the blackwater and graywater tanks, so we can get those installed asap.  This week is expected to be HOT…some forecasts say up to 116 degrees. Until we have our 30 amp circuit installed in the garage, we won’t be able to test and/or fix the AC unit. I am counting down the days to AC!!!

UPDATE 8/24/11: We have finished laying the flooring in the living space and bedroom area. We just have to install some trim pieces and transitions.

Here are some before and progress photos of the flooring:

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