Nile Valley Rally

 Hubby and I took Huaka'i Annie to a trailer rally in Naches, Washington this past weekend. It was at the Jim Sprick Park along the Naches River in the Nile Valley.  I had a hunch it'd be fun because Rita and Denise were in charge.  It was crazy fun, over the top fun and in a gorgeous location.

We had a small Alohaville with Steve and Jean and Jeremy and Rene. We shared dinner on Thursday evening.

 When she wasn't selling her jams and jellies, Liz came to visit with us.

The guys traded beer and stories.

 We played Pass the Deuce with a lot of people for a sweet pot.

We checked out a brewery in Naches on Friday.

The trailers were open to the public on Saturday and we had a lot of visitors.

Hubby and I toured some of the trailers but not all of them.  Most of my pictures are of weird little things that we wanted to remember for the Curtis Wright restoration so I don't have a lot of good pictures of all of the trailers.  But here are a few...

This Kenskill was for sale and did sell on Saturday.  It has a Seattle World's Fair theme and was really pretty.

I loved Marian and her story.

The photo below is of a camper on a Jeep truck, they had parked by the river and had a 180 degree view out their breakfast nook.

I was coveting Rita's chairs in the Yellowstone.

Annie was all set up and we had fun sharing her story.

Tracy made some snacks for visitors.  Isn't she a cute little homemaker?

I loved the curtains and look in Pinkie's trailer.

Now when I see state ash trays I know what to do with them, group them on a wall, of course.

Brilliant!

I love a Princess stove and this mint green one is a honey.  Doug told me it's what sold him on the trailer.

We sat by the river, floated on the river and gazed at the river.  It's a gorgeous spot and it was a natural lazy river.  We floated down and then back up without having to paddle.

On Saturday evening we enjoyed Let's Make a Deal with Monte Hall.  I am still marveling how much it was like the real deal, pun intended.  You can watch it in black and white.

 

 I went as the Queen of Christmas and Hubby was an off season Santa.  I sewed a lot of baubles on a green petticoat, made a pageant sash, and bought a tiara.  For Santa I found a Christmas Hawaiian shirt with pinups(this was challenging in the summer) and I made him a lei of flowers and bottles of booze.

 My number got picked!  It was a game where you had to know  prices of trailer parts.  Well, you know who has been searching for trailer parts for the past two years.  I knew my stuff!

 I won! I traded my cash for curtain number two.  It was a vintage trailer theme prize package with a puzzle, towel, mug, socks, coasters, two cute bags, and more.  I could have traded it to play for the big deal of the day but it was a great prize so I kept it.

 The cast and crew were fantastic! Jay's description of the products made me laugh so hard.  It was just like the show. They gave away a fur coat, an encyclopedia set, TV trays, toilet paper and luggage with a trip, just like the original show.
Kudos to Rita and Denise and their guys and families for a fun show and wonderful rally!

On Sunday we drove home and saw the harsh reality of the Curtis Wright Flagship Model 6 waiting in the driveway.  It's back to work on the CW but it was great to take a break at the Best Rally Ever.

 Yesterday I went to my upholstery class and worked on the love seat for the CW.  I'll post more about my classes this week.  I am having some frustrations and some fun.  Mostly, fun!

Random

*Do you have the Chatbook app? I love Chatbooks and use them with my instagram.  Every 60 instagrams I automatically get a book sent to me.  They are $6.   I print so few pictures and so this is one way to get something printed.  I plan to take these little books with me to the care center when I'm old so I can just flip through and reminisce about the good old days.

Last week I put together a Chatbook of  Huaka'i Annie's restoration.  I've been meaning to do this for a bit and I am not sure why it took me so long because it actually only took about a half hour.  It's 60 pictures, in order, of the story of Annie.  This is my first non-instagram Chatbook and I think I'm addicted.

 *It's been a bit warm so I have been using our pool.  The hot tub is now a coolpool.

*I started my upholstery classes with Gerrit.  He was working on some chairs for a customer and he thought I'd like to see how to do some of the techniques.  Tomorrow we are working on the sofa for the Curtis Wright.  Speaking of the CW, it seems to be falling in farther every day.

*We have a fun camping trip planned for later this week.  Hubby has six days off this week.  Yay!

There will some work and some play.

*Has anyone grilled corn and then froze it? Any tips? Does it actually taste good after being frozen?

*What are some things that you remember Monte Hall asking participants for while on Let's Make A Deal?  Seriously, I need to know.

*Danny is coming for a visit and that makes this mama real happy!

*I think that's about as random as it gets today and actually it's pretty random.  Have a good week!

Curtis Wright Tear Down

Hubby and I needed a little help getting the top piece of metal off the Curtis Wright so we had a BBQ.  Hey, while you're here, would you mind giving us a hand?  Sneaky, but effective and our guests did enjoy grilled burgers, Caesar salad, grilled corn salad and cold beer.

 The top is riveted and we wanted to keep it that way.  It's a big piece, not heavy, just unwieldy.

It came off and got moved without any kinks and that was our goal.

 Now what? Well, we did move it off the front yard.  Storing it is a challenge.  This is one of those times where we once again put the cart before the horse.  We'd like to tear down our garage and build a new shop but now that the Curtis Wright is here and started, we really need to finish it in order to have the space to tear down the garage and build the shop. Ugh. There will be some space challenges with this project.

 We didn't see this coming but when the top metal was pulled off the ceiling fell in to the living room.  No cabinets to hold it up.  Well, that's not good.

 The metal is off.  The tar paper and insulation are removed and bagged.  We are moving forward,  however; last night I had a little melt down.  I just want the old walls off and the new floor built so that we are moving forward.  Forward in a visual way.  It's not all lollipops and roses when Hubby and I do a major project.  Sometimes one of us gets discouraged and last night was my turn.  Vintage trailer rebuilds are messy, overwhelming projects and some times they get the best of me.

Earlier in the week I had my first upholstery lesson.  Next week I'll be working with my teacher on a project for the CW.  It may help my attitude to see some pretty.

Buck up lil camper!

Hey Girlfriend

There have been some shenanigans with the girlfriends this month.

 Shelly celebrated her birthday this year in a big way, all day.  I may have celebrated more than her but it's all good.  Debbie came from the island and called a few of us to join her and Shell for lunch.  Great idea Deb!

 Lunch at Keenan's and then back to the farm where we picked blueberries.

We got up close and personal with the dahlias.  Some more than others.  Our plan was to be poolside in the sunshine.  It was cloudy but we managed.

 This week we went to Birch Bay to Grandma DoDo's cabin for a baby sip-n-see.  Four new babies!

 .The mamas with their little bundles.

  

Really, Veira loves her Shema!  Veira, Ava, Briggs and Ivy with the Nanas.  Aren't they cute?

The babies and the grannies!

Doreen with her tribe.

Sheryl with her tribe.

Shelly and I don't have any grand babies but Dor and Sheryl share so it all works out just fine.

It's always a good day at the beach and this was a fun one.

Alcoa Aluminum

 While I was at the Treasures Under the Tents with our '57 Aloha, Hubby was at home tearing into our Curtis Wright Model 6.  Dal had some questions about the windows so Hubby took a hard look at those and removed them.   Our windows are in pretty tough shape.  It looks like the inside metal can be saved but some the exterior metal is pretty corroded.  We will do everything possible to keep the original but we may have to have new parts made for some of the windows.

The interior window trim has some grooves so we'll look for a new match.

 The underside of the aluminum is stamped with ALCOA.  This was interesting for us as we have Intalco, an Alcoa plant in Whatcom County.  We have family and friends that work there.  I didn't realize that Alcoa was established in the late 1880's.

 It's tough for me to drive  onto our place right now and see the CW looking like the picture below.

It's like a flashback to Annie's ugly past and it reminds of all the work we have coming at us. 

Yesterday we removed the metal.  Hubby took the nails out and I did the organizing and labeling.

 Some of the sheets were Reynolds Aluminum.

 There was a method to my madness.  We want to insure that we can put the puzzle back together.

The insulation was not asbestos but it was made from wood fibers.  That made me feel better and safer.  I filled two garbage bags.

 Stacks of metal were everywhere on the driveway.

 The Curtis Wright definitely has some rot and our decision for a rebuild was confirmed.  Hubby's decision was always confirmed but I am shortcutsally and I want to do anything in the world rather than rebuild.  Hubby was right, this time.

 The bathroom in the CW has a goofy window that continues into the bedroom.  The electrical was right out in the open in a wet bathroom/shower.  Ugh! It's hard to believe no one got electrocuted.  The shower curtain must have been enough to save lives but we are not going to take that chance.  We are throwing out ideas to each other to move the bathroom several inches so that the goofy window thing isn't an issue.  And the electrical will be moved to a safer place.  We plan to save as much of the original bathroom as possible.  The floor/shower pan is metal but is corroded so we will have a new one made.

Tonight we are grilling burgers.  What does that have to do with the CW?  Our guests don't know it but we need a little help getting the top metal piece off.  It's not heavy, just large and unwieldy.
Today I'm off to my first upholstery lesson. All part of the CW grand plan!

I Just Love Junking

If my teacher asked me to write an essay on something that I love to do it would be about junkin'. I just love to go junkin'.  Searching for just the right item at the best price. Thrift stores, garage sales, antique shops, yard sales are all good but an estate sale is the best.  

Some sales are mislabeled on Craigslist.  The Blaine High School Band was having an estate sale this weekend.  Seriously, if the whole BHS band died I think we would have read about it in the news.  And if they'd all died I do not think they would be trying to fund a trip to Japan.  Just sayin'.

At estate sales that are really estate sales I some times find kindred souls. Except their souls aren't here on earth anymore.  But if I'd met some of these dear people when they were alive I know we could have been friends.  Not every estate sale but there have been a few that after I left I felt like I'd been to a friend's home.

Last week I went to a sale where I could feel how creative the couple was, both of them.  Her sewing room and his wood shop in the basement belonged to creative people.  I loved how he'd labeled everything in the shop with cut out letters.  It's a dear man that sorts his screws and then labels the cans like a teen age girl cutting out a collage from her old Seventeen magazines.

Everything in the house was clean.  The picnic thermos was dirty on the outside (it'd had been in the garage) but the inside was perfect.  Three dollars and a little elbow grease and it's good to go to Mt. Baker filled with hot cocoa for a snow day.

 The matching luggage is for the Curtis Wright.  It is clean and has no odor.  Anyone that has ever bought vintage luggage knows that is a modern day miracle to find luggage without an odor.

This morning Hubby and I went to a sweet cottage in Fairhaven. I found something that I have been trying to find forever, since we started working on Annie, anyway.  It's a clothesline to attach to the outside of the trailer, so beach towels and swim suits can dry in the breeze. It's aqua!  I have seen them before and they were always the wrong color or their owners were very proud of them.

There was a lot of aqua in the cottage, and a lot of vintage Christmas decorations.  It was a small house and very crowded so I didn't see everything and I left a lot of great things behind but I got enough.

Five deer, a lot of glass garland, some sweet boxes and the most  kitchy garland I have ever seen.  It has pine cone elves.

It was a dear woman's home today.  She made do with what she had and saw no need to always replace things.  She was Catholic and collected crucifixes. She read horror stories, which seemed out of character. She was a baker, a gardener and must have loved decorating for Christmas. A kindred soul, if you will.   I'm going to enjoy her good sense of style.
I like to think we could have been friends. I know I'll enjoy that clothesline!  It's definitely the FIND of the summer.