RV’ing vs. camping is quite
a personal decision. We were
die-hard tent campers for most of our lives. My family took me camping when I was two years old to
Havisupi Indian Reservation at the bottom of the Colorado River. We took packhorses in and spent a
week. I had to take a shovel and
go dig a hole, so that was before pit toilets. I remember the fire falls in Yosemite. During the day a big bonfire was lit
and hot coals were ready to be pushed over the edge at Glacier Point. George is an Eagle Scout and spent most
of his fondest backpacking/camping memories camping out. So it was a HUGE discussion on whether
to buy a RV.
After much discussion we
decided a smaller trailer would suit us well. We started to look for a trailer
small enough to get into National Parks and Forrest Service campgrounds, but
big enough to get out of inclement weather when camping. We looked at all of the new ones, but
nothing struck our fancy. We were
driving up highway 1 at Pismo Beach and saw….Airstream's! Had to check them out. After recovering from sticker shock at
the price of new ones, we knew what we liked but wasn’t sure if we could afford
it.
I started haunting Craig’s
List and looked for “vintage” (another term for old) Airstream's. We found online forums, several pages
devoted to older trailers and finally a friend found a 1962, 26 foot Overlander
and was in the process of remodeling it.
We were hooked.
We finally found our 1975,
25 foot, Safari Airstream, extremely clean inside with original interior in Rogue
River Oregon. When we answered the
ad it was exactly what we thought we wanted. It is comfortable, and everything we need fits but after a
year, I decided I hate “Country Blue” décor, time to redecorate!
So I had absolutely no idea
what to do inside an Airstream. I
have a modest budget but I don’t want to get carried away. So I did an Internet search…wow. So many ideas and not too many I was
interested in. There is an Elvis
theme, a Route 66 theme, Yogi Bear, vintage camping and others color schemes
and an infinite amount of themed trailers. Then there are the Airstream's that have been gutted and
turned into film studios, apartments, hotel rooms, dressing rooms of celebrates
and portable offices. The new
Airstream's have been the canvases of famous designers and sold for thousands of
dollars. If you are ever in Cape
Town South Africa, The Gran Daddy Motel has seven Airstream's designed by local
artists as hotel rooms.
So we decided to re-carpet,
upholster the gaucho couch and update the roller shades. Sounds simple right? I am cross-eyed from looking at
upholstery samples, who knew!
Finding what I like is so much harder than I thought.. So the plan is find material for the
couch then a coordinating fabric for the fabric covered roller shades I have
committed to making. After that
pick a carpet that makes the colors pop but not show too much dirt, it is a
trailer after all. Easy Peasy…
hahahaha.
There is a one-inch track
that originally had colored plastic, which over the years has hardened and
cracked. What to do? I found adhesive tiles from Home Depot,
“Smart Tiles” and cut them in strips and threaded this into the track. It looks fantastic, like real tile and
makes the colors pop. We found
discount upholstery fabric from an online place, New Toto.com. They were great and I highly recommend
them. They will send you free
samples. You tube provided
instruction on how to make a fabric covered roller shade. New carpet, we decided hardwood
flooring was too cold for us, and the face lift was complete. George spent this time buffing the
exterior and working towards a mirror finish.
We wrapped up the
redecorating last year and went on the road to Grand Teton/ Yellowstone. We thought we were the best looking
trailer in the campground. So I am
posting my redecorating photos.
This year we are putting solar panels on the top and will be self
sufficient for dry camping. Will
update when we get them on.
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