On the road again.

We have been on the road since Thursday, dropped Norma in Minneapolis and on our way to Burning man. Location, just about to Cheyan, Wyoming. We have been and will continue uploading pictures to flicker, (sesrch for user name ricklori ), will post a link when I can.

August first- count down to Rites of Passage!

August 1! That means that this 2 year wait is almost over. Before he died, my little brother always wanted to go to burning man, so we are taking him. After that, I will move on from all the death and disaster of that terrible year.

Over the weekend we worked on the solar system and the swamp cooler. The solar system was a birthday gift from my son, Frederick. It will run our fans, keep our camera's charged and maybe some lights at night. He had the parts mailed here, but we are hooking it up. I think that it is figured out now. Because it will be over a hundred degrees in the shade, the swamp cooler is going to be great for those daytime naps. You can read about them here:
Swamp cooler

If you go here, you can zoom in and look around at the city we will call home in just a few weeks. (this was a picture taken of last year's city) http://www.gigapan.org/gigapans/fullscreen/66285/

We are going to Burning Man.

As stated in the beginning of this blog, this Airstream was inherited from my baby brother. He was the kind of guy who loved his festivals, loved grateful dead, loved life more than money. When he first told me about burning man, I thought that it sounded like the worst kind of event and could not think of a thing that I would rather do less. His words were something like, "It is out in the desert where there is not a blade of grass- and looks like the surface of the moon. People create "art" and clothes are optional and it is very hot (about 100 degrees) and crowded. Everyone dances around a man that they light on fire at the end of the week. Oh- and everyone is dirty because there are no showers." OH, hell no.

But then he died before he ever got to go. As much as he was a gipsy- on the road as much as not, the trip from Florida to just north of Reno was never one that he was able to make. And then he got sick and it was out of the question.

So Rick and I have been planning to take some his ashes there and lay them in the temple. In the discussing and planning stages for a few years now, I can not even believe that it is under a month away! For about a year and a half, we have been collecting things that we will need. We have been readying the airstream and even bought a brand new truck to pull it. (because I wanted to get the globetrotter all the way there and BACK) Reading blogs and getting ready. Today I will finish setting up the solar array and build the swamp cooler. And will take some pictures. And, I have to show you the shine on this baby too.

The polshing has begun!

And it is much easier than I thought it would be.

Hue Value Chroma

I painted this lamp today, and two others like it. All three of these lights were rusted and looking like crap. I was having difficulty matching the right color. Ace Hardware makes a rustoleum like product that can be tinted and matched to any chip, even one the size of a dime. So I used my handy Munsell Book to find the right color- with the help of my chips, I matched it perfectly at 2.5Y 8/2.

This picture shows a swatch of the paint, painted on the original color.

May smells good. Happy Spring!

I keep forgetting to post, but we have been busy. Recently we removed the old water tank. It was disconnected already, and hogging all of the space under the front gaucho. We may rebuild the water system with a new tank, but for now, it only has water if connected to a hose.

I sewed up some curtains yesterday. Rather than hunt for the original metal curtain guides, I used some old button. They work perfectly, and it was an easy fix.

Next we need to attach the astradome, repair the running lights, get the fridge running and repair the front reading lampshades. (and a million other things :-)

Our air conditioner, first outing and new upholstery.

These are the original "gauchos". Not sure why they are called that? Anyway, the 47 year old foam was kind of gross.

I used an electric knife, (the same one used on Thanksgiving turkeys) to cut the new foam.
We are trying to keep her as original as possible. We have a long way to go, but I think that she is looking pretty good.





Putting the ac on the roof of this thing would be a big expensive job. 1963 was the year BEFORE they started wiring the roofs for AC, so not only would we have t cut a hole in her, we would have to re wire and then purchase an 800 dollar ac unit. This handy solution may not be the most elegant, but it is saving us both time and money. The triangle sides continue to inside, holding the unit in place without any screws or connectors.


We finally camped in our Airstream. I had not camped since about 1977, and that was in a tent- so what a treat it was. She is really not completely ready, but you will see by the pictures that she has come a long way.
I have named her Rosie because of her rivets. The kids call her Bertha.