OUR 2011 TRIPS

This was our campsite on Easter weekend on our firsttrip out which was 5 miles away from our house  to Yogi bears tall pines campground in Elmer, nj

Yogi and the Easter bunny came out and sang Happy Birthdayto Ben  on his 6th birthday!!!

It was a cold and rainy trip  but the fire was really nice to sit by.

Here is the Shasta all set up for the first time notice my wood box for a step,

this also doubles as my tool box to put my leveling jacks and wood blocks into while going down the road this box fits into the storage area nicely.

And there is the queen of the Shasta  Ms. Maddie.

She enjoys that spot on top of the dinette seat 

OUR TRIP TO Lancaster PA 

Millbridge Campground

Ronks, Pa

There is my new hubcaps from hubcap mikes in Cali. and my new tires and freshly painted rims!!!

We loved our second trip out to Millbridge campground  it was alot of fun our Jeep Liberty pulled the Shasta nicely in the hills of Amish country we made our first awning out of a tarp and some emt conduit.

We had great company  at Millbridge with our friends Steve and Jane parked next to us in there nice 5th wheel.

Then we had Roger and Joanne join us for a nice dinner cooked on the fire.mmmm

Ben and I had alot of fun in the shade on the creek, Fishing was slow with a bamboo pole  but we managed to catch a catfish and a small perch. There were huge Carp in the creek  but they would not bite our bait  maybe next year!!!  We are going back !!!

Here is a good picture of our campsite as well as our awning. The awning is made using a tarp purchased at  Harbor Freight then I had a 3/8 diameter rope sewn into the edge of the tarp and it slides into the awning groove on the Shasta nicely. Then I made poles out of 1/2" and 3/4" conduit  and I welded a bolt into the ends of the 1/2"  conduit  to accept the grommets on the tarp. I had to make a second awning, as you can see it does not cover enough length  on the trailer that awning can be seen in the Trap Pond  site pictures.

Nice old windmill to watch from the campsite

The pool was a lot of fun too!!

Now a ride over to Elkton , MD this was a fun trip.A little cold but nice. We still managed to use the pool which was huge!

Then on down the state of Delaware to 

Trap Pond 

State Park 

for a cold time in November with my sister and her family and a large group of friends.

 This is a picture of my larger awning as well as a shot of my home made bike rack with my old school Schwinn bike.                                                 

The lake had some real nice views                                                                                 

 The bike trail around the lake was neat  it has a nice bridge out in the middle of the woods in the back of the lake.

That does it for the 2011 year!!!

We have some  trips planned already for the 2012 season.

I can't wait!!!

April 4, 2011

Today I wire wheeled and painted the rear bumper white.
I liked it so much I did the same thing to the tongue. Now all I need to do is paint everything in between. Going to look at new tires  tomorrow. Hope my local tire store has some nice white walls. Then I will need to clean up my rims and paint them as well.

We found a brand new Bargman L66 door handle today in a RV Parts store. It was probably sitting on their shelf for the past 25+ years. Just what we needed to replace the old door handle that was missing the tumbler.

My First Blog Posting

Well this is our baby. A vintage 1962 Shasta Airflyte. We brought her home to NJ from Fairfax, VA in July of 2009. We had been looking for a few months for a vintage canned ham style camper, before finding this beauty on Craigslist.

                                     

She needed some fixing up. There was water damage around the vent and the ceiling was in pretty bad shape. The rear window had a leak as well. When we first purchased her, we cleaned up the interior and power washed the exterior. That Summer, my wife went ahead and removed the upper cabinets, doors and drawers and refinished them. She used a light stain and a nice coat of polyurethane to make 'em shine. After that she made some very nice curtains and reupholstered the dinette seats.

March 2011
My wife and I started installing new ceiling panels along with a little foam insulation. I also added a piece of 3/4" square steel tubing to take out the bow in the ceiling. I also installed a new roof vent. It isn't vintage, but it looks great and stays dry.

I had to go back to work for a couple of days, so my wife put the upper cabinets back in place. They sure do look pretty with the new stain and poly.

Next, we took a trip to Lowes and picked up some peel and stick flooring panels. They look like oak hardwood pieces and came out great. My wife installed them in one afternoon.

A couple weeks later, I removed the canvas fabric from the bunk poles and made a bed frame out of 1 x 3's. I used the same technique as the construction of the lower bed. The new frame is supported by the 3 existing metal poles. My son is excited about his new bed. Completed 3-31-11

I had to run some electric to the A/C only refrigerator that we purchased new, so I ran an outlet under the bunk for an air conditioner while I was at it. The 3.7 cu ft fridge works well in the old icebox space. With a few shims and screws, it'll be ready to travel.
The original Holiday propane stove works well, so I took some steel wool to the handle and the front face plate and cleaned it up real nice.

So next, I'll be cleaning up the bumper and tongue with the help of a wire wheel and a coat of white rustoleum before we go out on our first camping excursion next month!!!!! We're getting excited!

Our dog, Maddie is looking forward to camping too. :o)

Here is me and my mini pull vehicle.

 It's tuff stuff backing up you need a good spotter.

This Summer, we plan to give our Shasta a nice exterior paint job, new white wall tires and two shiny new moon hubcaps. Pictures to come later...

Happy Camping!!!