Turnkey Camping

​ 8 months ago, we dropped our truck off in Oklahoma to get stretched. Adding a baby to the family necessitated some more space and the truck arrived just in time for our trip to Colorado! We drove to Loveland and met up with some friends. We didn’t realize that it was cottonwood season and the trees shed so much that it looks like snowfall!  The kids loved having their friends at the campsite and we had a ball with the grown ups. We visited Estes Park and filled all 9 seats in the truck. We even found a parking spot when we got there!  

​ Stu and Dustin got the shell off and then cleaned off the frame. The condition was quite rough so now it’s off to a welding shop to get it repaired. Before Stu dropped it off, they cut the plywood for the subfloor.  We visited a flooring shop today to start to get a design palette together for the overall look. The frame repair should take about two weeks. A little progress day by day!   Choices, choices!

The renovation has begun in earnest and has so far consumed about five days.  Day one was removing furniture and saving all of it to make templates. Next came skin removal. After that, insulation was removed.  Stu and his friend built a wooden skeleton inside to give it strength when the “pull the shell” - meaning they’ll unbolt the frame from the aluminum dome. The frame is in pretty rough shape. It will need to be repaired at the very least.  The demo part has felt quick - we’ll see how rebuilding goes!  

​ Our Airstream journey started with a vintage rig, so it is somewhat appropriate that we have gone back to the vintage realm. A friend of ours restores Airstreams on the side. He is a cabinet maker by trade and he and his wife partner to rehab one trailer a year.  We were camping with them at the end of last season and they casually mentioned that they were building a trailer to take to Europe when they retire. Our ears perked up and this idea was quickly added to our bucket list.  Fast forward a few months and we needed a project to get us through the winter. Stu started looking for a project and came across a unique find: a 1956 13 panel front kitchen 22’ Safari.  It arrived on Wednesday and we gutted it on Friday and Saturday.  Next up will be removing the skins from the inside. 

After San Carlos, we headed to Santa Ana.  We stayed at a nice desert campground with full hook ups.  The caravan had a final potluck dinner - which gave us the chance to eat up any remaining meat, dairy, and fresh fruits and veggies.  We had a campfire and debriefed by sharing our favorite memories and moments.  It was a fun way to close out the caravan.  Our departure time for Nogales was 8 am.  We stopped by the banjercito to turn in our truck and trailer Temporary Import Permits and  Traveler's Visas.  About 15 minutes down the road, we reached the border crossing.  There was a bit of a line, but it didn't take terribly long to reach the front.  After a brief inspection of the truck and trailer, we were on our way!  We stopped at Walmart to restock on food and then drove about 20 minutes to Patagonia Lake State Park.  As it happened, the Four Corners Unit had an Airstream Rally going on this weekend!  We met up with ou...

​ We drove to San Carlos yesterday - it took about 6 hours due to the road conditions. We arrived at a campground that was the most “Americanized” I have seen in Mexico!  Full hook ups, nice showers, laundry, etc. Yay!  Dinner was at a restaurant across the street starting at 5. The water views were beautiful!  A mariachi band came at 7 but we left after a few songs because we were tired from the drive.  Today we boarded the tour bus at 8:30 and headed to a sea life center. We were the only ones there for the dolphin show - that was a real treat!  The kids and I all got to pet the dolphins - it harkened me back to when I was 7 at Sea World and was chosen from the crowd to “meet” the dolphins.  (Lucy getting a kiss on the cheek from the dolphin). Next we visited a pearl farm. I hadn’t realized that farming pearls takes years!   We had a nice Caravan seafood lunch and then drove to a mountain lookout spot. Several movies had been filmed at this spot incl...

​ The morning started with an 8:30 am open air trolley tour of the old colonial city. Our tour guide, Juan, was a professor and historian and showed us many houses of famous people who had lived in Los Carlos.  The architecture was really pretty. We went into the City Hall (which had a theater inside)  and then a Catholic Church.  After that, we had about an hour of free time. The trolley took us back to the campsite to let the dogs have a break and then took us to a great restaurant for a Mexican lunch - enchiladas, chile rellenos and a tostada. We came back to the campers for a little siesta and then our friends, Fred and Cheryl cooked delicious California Tritip for dinner.  Tomorrow we head to San Carlos - our second to last city on the caravan!