Buddy

Specifically, it was 33' long for the shell, plus tongue.  Oof.  That's big!  But, I have a family of five.  And stuff.  (I like the size of this.  The wife, less so.  But, it tows really easily.)  If I'm going to have a blank slate, it may as well be large.

Against my better judgement, I went to the campground office to ask some questions about the trailer.  The campground office was this little shack with a porch.  Inside was an office, small store, and cooler of ice cream.  You might have been here before.   It was the kind of office that's directly attached to the owner's house, so, just behind the counter is a living room with LazyBoy and TV going all day.

Buddy was there to help me.  Buddy and Linda own the campground.  Buddy is a person who only responds in wisecracks and is quite glib.  The conversation went like this:

ME: "Do you know anything about the Streamline trailer in that lot over there?"

BUDDY: "Yep"

ME: "Is it yours?"

BUDDY: "Yep"

ME: "Interested in selling it"

BUDDY: "$500"

And thus ended negotiations.

Here birdy, birdy

Inside the trailer was the door, again in rough shape bu there.  The hinges were rusted into oblivion.  (Truthfully, I think a weak point of the Streamline design was the hinges.  They skimped on these.  They were steel with only a vague coating for protection.  I'm surprised any are still functional.)

Also inside the trailer was a bird's nest, and a startled bird.  It flew out the open door and I almost peed my pants.  It was not a small bird.

With the bird gone, I could explore what was left in the trailer.  The bathroom was there, as was the curb side of cabinets and bed, but the kitchen and street side cabinets and bed were gone.

The mess and the lack of kitchen did not deter me.  I like the vintage look of old trailers, but, I was not interested in one with an interior that was a museum or was so nice that I'd feel wrong about ripping it out.  I want a newer interior and am willing to build it.  So, this shell was a good fit for me.

How long was it?  Long.

Chance Encounter

So, I met the Streamline on March 28th, 2015.  I like to blame this event on my smallest child, who was doing everything in her power to interrupt and break up the Frisbee game we had going on.  Because of this behavior, we had to go for a little stroll.  We were staying in Raton NM at a campground, and this campground also had a little RV repair biz going on, and a yard full of derelict RVs and Trailers.  I chose to go for the stroll around the yard.  Just browsing, of course.

Now, to backtrack, I have always had an unexplained fascination with aluminum-skinned trailers.  Where this comes from, is unknown.  Many people have it, some call it Aluminitis.  I sometimes wonder if the aluminum and riveted construction, an evolution from airplanes, makes us think we have our very own WWII Bomber? Or maybe it's the aerodynamic shape these trailers were fashioned into that is so appealing?  Maybe we just want something that does not look like a slab-sided white box like modern trailers?  Who knows.  What I did know is that I wanted one.  Whether it was a Streamline, Silver Streak, Avion, Argosy, Travelux, or the well known Airstream, it did not matter.  (Although, truth be told I would chose a non-Airstream, all things being equal, just to have something a bit different.)

Back to the story.  In the yard was this Streamline.  It was in rough shape.  Being that the door was not attached, I invited myself in for a look-see.  Because I have no self-control, I mostly invited myself in to see if the door was around so that I could possibly buy it.  No door, no threat of purchase.

Here's what it looked like that day.

Starts now!

Well, I have been terrible about getting this blog going. For a while I thought "I'm too far into it" and then I thought "I will not be posting often enough to make it worthwhile".  But to Heck with that.  There's definitely a long road ahead, and maybe you want to join me on this journey?

My short-term goal is to rewind time and bring you, Dear Reader, up to speed.  I'll post a bit of the timeline each day.