FIRST TRIP....FIRST TRIP.....FIRST TRIP!!!!!

After almost ten months of hard work, my sister and I finally got to enjoy our first camping trip. We were worried about how stressful it would be with 4 dogs in such a small space so we went to a campground close to my house (Lake Griffin) and only stayed 1 night. The ride to the campground was uneventful but as we started to get close to our destination, the tension started to rise. We had plenty of fear about becoming some kind of circus freak show at the campground with our crazy homemade trailer trying unsuccessfully to get it into our site. We intended to do some practice driving before this trip but of course that didn't happen so we had know idea how long or if we could manage to get the trailer into the campsite. Much to our surprise and delight, my sister was able to back the trailer in within 5 minutes with no problems at all. Once we got the trailer set up, we took all of the dogs for a walk. While we were walking, we ran into a couple that asked us if we were the owners of the pink trailer, no doubt that our attire was a dead giveaway. They said they had already taken a picture of the trailer and wanted to know if they could get a picture of us. After our walk, we went back to the trailer for a late dinner. I knew that we would forget something important on this trip and sure enough we left the house without any silverware. We had to eat our ravioli with our fingers. After a messy dinner, we settled in and watched a movie on our very cool pink dvd player. I knew that the temperature was going to get down into the 60s. However, I did not think that it would be necessary to bring a heater.........that was a mistake. By 3 am, it was freezing inside the trailer. We managed to make it through the cold night and in the moring, we took the dogs for another walk. As we were backing up to leave, the couple from the night before stopped by our campsite to see the inside of the trailer. I am shocked at how smoothly our first trip went. Taking care of all the dogs was not stressful at all. They were all so good. Everything in the trailer worked exactly as it was designed to do. We had a great time and we can't wait unit our next trip.

PINKALICIOUS!!!!!

After 3 weeks of nonstop sanding, I finally got it painted. I will be doing to more body work where the roof meets the front and back walls but that will be after next weekend. Because next weekend we will be going on our first trip. This will be a test trip close to home. That way we can work out all the kinks before our big trip to St. Augustine next month.

Paint?

I thought I was ready to start painting but that was just wishful thinking. Once I painted a small amount, I realized that the finish is just not smooth enough. So I will spend yet another week sanding and hopefully it will be ready to paint by the weekend.

Road Ready

Last weekend, while I spent hours and hours sanding and getting the outside ready to paint, my sister worked on getting the trailer street legal. She did a great job getting the tail lights, side markers and license plate light attached to the trailer but unfortunately only 1 out of 5 lights actually came on. After doing some research, she was able to get them to all come on this morning.

Camping in the Driveway

We decided that our first night in the trailer would be spent in the driveway just in case we had any problems with the dogs. And sure enough, ten minutes into the slumber party, we had a problem. But it wasn't one of the dogs. I looked at the floor and noticed a small steady stream of water coming from the air conditioner. Because my driveway has such a steep incline, the back of the trailer was much higher than the front causing the water draining from the air conditioner to run into the trailer instead of out on the ground. The only way to fix it was to pull the trailer out of the driveway, drive it around the block and pull it back in so it was facing the other direction. I did not envision that our first test drive of the trailer would be done at nine o'clock at night with no lights on the trailer. It was scary but we made it and the water problem was solved. The rest of the night was peacefully uneventful. All of the dogs were so good. They slept quietly all night. We all had plenty of room and we were very comfortable.

Hidden Talent...........who knew?

I knew that I wanted the added touch of hand painting in my trailer but I wasn't sure if I had the ability to produce the desired results. So I took a piece of scrap wood and put my talent to the test. I'm no Michelangelo but I'm pretty happy the outcome.

Ikea Night Light

I got the cutest night light from Ikea. The power cord is green so it looks like the stem of the flower. I painted some leaves on the wall to add to the effect.

The Windows and Cabinets are Done

Thanks to tropical storm Fay, the weather here was slightly cooler this weekend. My sister and I were able to permanently install both windows and finally attach the last of the cabinet doors.

A Window and Some Interior Shots

Even though its been almost a month since I posted, I haven't stopped working on the trailer. I have been making the covers for the cushions and painting the cabinet doors. Today, my sister and I finally ventured outside and put on some of the second layer of the roof and cut the hole for one of the windows.

The Powder Puff's First Trip

Granted, it was only 50 feet down the driveway. But it was SPECTACULAR! This is the first time it has ever been out of the garage. So up until today, I didn't know for sure if it would clear the garage door way. I have a very sloped driveway so anything could have happened. I was really afraid to even attempt this as my sister and I have no experience towing anything. I had visions of ripping of the roof or sending the trailer careening into the house across the street. But I wanted to get some full shot pictures of it before I start painting it. This was also the only way to get a shot of the roof. To my surprise and delight, we were able to get it in and out of the garage without any problems.

Microwave

Yep.......that's right.........I found a pink one!

Backsplash

I got this idea about 5 months ago and now I finally got to implement it. I used some beige floor tiles I had laying around. I primered them and then painted them. Some of them are also sprinkled with pink glitter.

And Now for the Sewing Portion of this Project

Since it's too hot to be in my garage, I have been working on things that can be done inside the house. I made a curtain to hang down under the counter top to hide the dog crates.

More Work on the Door

I got the trim around the window and the inside of the door painted.

I Should Be Working on My Roof But............

The weather here is just brutal. It's in the 90's pretty much every day. So I've been working on small things. I built a drawer and attached it under the counter top.

The AC Install is Complete

The air conditioner has been successfully mounted to a drawer slide. The slide I used is rated for 100 lbs. so it easily supports the entire weight of the AC. So I was able to remove the tacky little shelf that I had on the back of the trailer. I tried to take pictures of how it operates but I think you have to watch the video to really understand it.

The Door Has a Handle

My sister and I got the door handle on without any problems. We made a small mock door and installed it in there first to make sure we understood how it worked. The handle is a storm door handle with a deadbolt lock. I know it looks really modern in comparision to my jalousie window but my choices on what to use were very limited.

Jalousie Window

Jalousie windows were popular on travel trailers in the 1950s and 60s. As soon as I decided to build my own trailer, I knew that I wanted to use this type of window. I felt like it would give my trailer the retro look that I'm shooting for. Back in January, when my sister and I went to the junk yard, I was hoping to find some of these windows. There was only one in the entire junk yard. It was in the door of this old delivery truck.

We fought for 2 and a half hours in the blazing sun with no water to get the window out of that door. I really wanted to give up but my sister insisted that we keep working until we got it out. I'm really glad she made me stick it out because now I have a great since of satisfaction seeing it in the door of my trailer.

Knock, Knock

After 3 weeks of working on it, the door is finally on. I had been putting off building the door because I made a big mess cutting out the doorway. It was really hard to control the saw holding it vertically. So the doorway ended up being very crooked and uneven. I wasn't sure how on earth I would get a door to fit. I bought a sheet of 1/8 inch door skin, clamped it over the doorway, and traced around it from the inside of the trailer. After about 3 hours of shaving off tiny slivers, the piece finally fit inside. Then I put the piece onto a sheet of 3/8 inch plywood and cut it out. It fit pretty good but then I had to frame the door with 1 X 3s. That seemed to throw everything off and there were many more hours of shaving tiny slivers. Once I got it to fit with the framing on it, I filled in the middle with sheets of styrofoam and glued the door skin to the side that faces inside the trailer. All along, I knew that the piece of plywood was bowed out but I thought that the framing pieces would straighten it out but it didn't. So I clamed the top half of the door to a dog crate (just what was available) and let the bottom half hang over unsupported. Then I put a lot of weight on the bottom corner of the door and left it there for 2 days. It's not completly straighten out but I felt like was close enough to go ahead and attach the door.