Airstream Adventures

I promised to show some of the projects we've been working on over the past year. One of our biggest time drains has been our Airstream Argosy travel trailer...

It was a bit of an impulse buy. We wanted a way to go camping as a family. We tried the tent thing in the past but the weather here is not exactly pleasant for camping most of the time. Initially we thought about a pop up camper. I started pouring over craigslist and found this adorable Airstream that was not very expensive.... $3000. We've always wanted to fix up an Airstream so we were super excited about it. We never realized we could get into an Airstream for so cheap... HA! The thing is you can't get into an Airstream for so cheap...We have spent at least another $3000 fixing her up and countless arguments over how it should be done. I admittedly geeked out and joined the airstream forums. I wanted it restored to its original glory. Willem just wanted to get it campable so we could use it. It isn't pristine but we did take a year to get it ready. So we have now taken it out a few times and are getting used to RVing...

I failed to take a lot of before pics, but they all generally looked the same. Ours is a 1974 28 foot. Here is an ad for the 1978 models. As you can see they are not the shiny silver aluminum ones. Argosies are painted but they were used to test lots of cool options that are now on current models, most noteably the wrap around front windows which we love.

Ours had been used as a hunting camp and was basically trashed. It was overwhelming as we began to restore it so I think that's why we forgot pictures...just too much to do.

The first order of business was to replace all cushions and upholstery. We were not about to sleep on 30 something year old cushions slept on by hunters. That dome part in the front was also orange so we spray painted it white. The curtains I made and we bought new foam mattresses that I covered. This bed makes out into a queen size and this is where Willem and I sleep.

Here is the kids bedroom area. I wanted it to be fun and playful. We added the bunk above and the bottom is a full that makes into a couch when we aren't sleeping. We usually leave it as a bed for now.

While I was busy making it look pretty on the inside Willem had the ridiculous task of making the thing water tight. It leaked in several places. He also was busy getting the plumbing replaced and putting in the new bamboo floor. We added a new air conditioning unit, had some welding done on the frame to reinforce it as well as added new brakes and tires. It took forever and we chose to stop at the bathroom. We got it to a point where we can use the facilities but next year's project is to make it pretty which unfortunately will mean pulling it all out.

So far we've taken it to Chicot State park and to Galveston. We hope to do more with it this fall. We are also getting it well stocked and hoping to buy a generator for it in the event we need to pull out of here for a hurricane this season.

Here are a couple more pics for you to check out....In the interest of space I'll make them smaller but feel free to click on them for an enlarged view.

Bye for now...