Huaka'i Annie Our '57 Aloha Project

Before:  Hubby and Max brought the '57 Aloha home from George, Washington.  It was a long and painful trip with truck trouble and traffic.  Since the trailer had been loaded at the farm with a fork lift it took some ingenuity to get her off the trailer.

The first step was to take all of the metal off.

 

 

We loaded up the old stove and ice box, and drove around the county asking experts if they could be restored.  It was cost prohibitive as there was too much rust.

One day while I was at work Hubby started the tear down and just couldn't stop.

I am not kidding when I say that at this point I didn't think we'd ever go camping.

Hubby painted the trailer frame and built a new floor.

We laid the marmoleum. 

Using the old walls as a pattern the new walls were built. 

Framing the curves wasn't easy but Hubby had a plan.

He trimmed off the walls up to the curves.

TaaDA!

The walls went up.

We took a trip to Maui for inspiration.  Hey!  We were tired!

We were inspired and I chose a color palette.

All of the staining and finishing was done by Hubby.  He's a perfectionist and I am not, enough said.

The cabinets got built and installed.

We had our original seats recovered with aqua vinyl and white piping.  Remember, I have Gerrit the upholsterer extraordinaire. 

I polished and cleaned parts.  We wanted to use the original hardware.

So we did.

The new old appliances were installed.  We found the appliances in George, WA.  I spent hours cleaning them.

I sewed a canvas bunk.  Twice.  Hah!

The Formica and sink were installed.

We ordered a mattress from Overstock.com.  It was actually the first thing we did as the cabinets were going to be new so they could be any size we wanted to fit around the bed.  The cabinets are two inches smaller than the original.

In June I went to the Farm Chick's Show in Spokane and found some treasures.

I sewed curtains and Hubby continued to work on the trailer, wiring etc.

We went everywhere to find the missing window.  We finally found one in Anacortes.

I polished aluminum.  After a lot of research, trial and error, and hard labor I got 'er done.

Hubby wired and insulated, such a small sentence for such big jobs.

Hubby pounded out some dents and dings and we resigned ourselves to the imperfections.

 Hubby wrapped her.

I was polishing for a long time while Hubby was getting her ready.  It wasn't a fun job but it was rewarding as I could see where I'd been.

Hubby put the metal back on.  And repolished...

The exterior lights were installed, the license was taken care of, the fantastic fan went in, the door was rebuilt.  Many little things taking time!

Hubby built a table.

The curtains got finished and the right rods and rings were found.

 We started to move in and hang curtains,

My Dad and Hubby repacked the bearings.

I painted the wheels.  Hubby put a  hitch together and hooked up the lights.

We hitched up and drove around town to check things.

We had a party in Annie!

I put together a mini bar.

We checked the oven with chocolate chip cookies.

We still have trim to finish, no running water and an awning to sew but Annie is road ready!
After:

We took our first trip to George, WA for a family reunion.  It was so much fun!

We took another little trip and decided it was all worth it!

There were times when it seemed impossible and it was probably too ambitious of a project for our first one but Yee Haw we did it!  We are happy campers!  You may visit us at the Mt. Baker Vintage Trailer Rally at the Lynden Fairgrounds this weekend.  Saturday afternoon is the official open house and many of the trailers are open to the public.  See you there!