Thursday, December 20, 2007

Jet, Fanny's competition

Well Fanny has some competition now because we found another travel trailer which we think will work out better for us to take camping. This newer one seems solid and clean and we purchased it from an older gentleman. He thought he had the title but now he can't find it so I took the bill of sale and license plate number down to the court house and was informed that it is a 1973 Jet. That sounds pretty cool. I was tempted to name it the #2 trailer, however its colors are brown and that just seems wrong. So I guess we will call it Jet. Last registered owner is some guy named David Cloke in Prescott, so I will have to do some detective work to try and get a hold of him to sign off his interest in the trailer if Mr. Wallace can't find his title for it. How did I get in this predicament again!? Updates to follow as we test out what works in Jet. We plan to switch tires on the trailers also since the ones on Fanny are new and Jet has a mismatched pair on the one side.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Still no title

Well I have been making a half-hearted attempt to get the second bill of sale from Shane, with no success. What I need is a bill of sale from the original owner who lost the title, so I can file for lost title and move on with the ownership paper trail. Sigh.

No work has been done to Fanny since we removed the carpet and tore out the paneling to discover we need to rebuild the entire front structure. Double sigh.

I am still hoping to have Fanny in working order and ready for the road by the end of March. We'll see....

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Work Day

Updates on work today;
Four-wheel brakes
Good bearings
Good tires
Running gear looks fine for this trip
Found battery and box at Jerry's house, will see if it works
Roof collects water and is bowed in pretty bad but no obvious leaks
Trying to get down to basic structure to repair in the front and around the door and back step
Quick patch job on paneling, will do more later.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

A mess!

Yesterday Matt decided to tear out some paneling in the trailer to see what the extent of the water damage really was. Perhaps this was a good idea, or perhaps it was a mistake considering we need to use it in another week. Matt found some wood that was nearly black from rot, and some other areas where a knot in the wood was creating quite a weak spot. We are hoping to fix Fanny enough to get by, and also take a look at the bearings.

Monday, September 24, 2007

How does everything work?

Tonight Matt's dad Jerry and his wife Gail came over to check out Fanny and to give us some pointers on how things work. He showed us the "pigtail" and explained we would not be able to run the A/C without an electic hookup. Our battery on the front is missing a wire and the caps and is probably no good. The good news is they were able to light the burners on the stove and they all worked. They also got the furnace going and it works like a charm. The hot water heater works too. We guess the fridge connections need to be cleaned. More info later...

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Oh dear


Well now that we have really been able to study the water damage we have discovered it is much worse than I initially thought. Perhaps this is what is also wrong with the door frame and why the door won't latch. Matt has removed the bunk bed, the walls holding it up do not instill much confidence. Matt also removed the carpet and now we have a lovely 70s yellow patterned linolieum as a floor covering. There is a soft spot in the floor and the entryway is sagging slightly. The bathroom also has some water damage and needs a little work.

~sigh~

Our first journey in it will be early October to the American Pit Bull Terrier Nationals in Longview, WA. A drive of about five hours. We are planning to camp out in it over the weekend alongside our friends Thad and Jenee' and Maddely in their 1976 trailer. I will need to thoroughly clean it first, and hope we can get the paperwork on it completed by then and updated tabs.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Photos





Here are some photos of Fanny. Needing more work by the minute :-0

Friday, September 14, 2007

Fanny Comes Home

Today I went to work and anxiously waited for the phone call from Matt that would let me know he was hooked up and on the road home with our "new" trailer. About 11 AM the call came in. "Guess what I'm pulling?" Matt asked me...and then "Are you excited?" Of course! He said he could sure feel it back there. He pulled in at home just ahead of me when I went home for lunch and I noticed the door flying open as he went around the turns. I guess we need to get that fixed. I took Levi and poked my head in. Now that we had some real daylight I could see more areas in need of improvements than I remembered last night in Richland. Oh well, a little time and elbow grease and maybe some $ and she will be good as new.

I couldn't help myself, I had to pull her back to work with me at lunch to show her off. Everyone seemed to approve of my lucky find. Later that evening mother was in town and said "Well it looks to have a lot of potential." I think that means she wouldn't want to sleep in it.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Discovery

I had been searching on Craigslist for about a week for a camp/travel trailer so we would have something to stay in during endurance rides. I also loved the idea of having a more plush accomadations for the next time we actually go camping. The tent was just not working out so well for us. The air mattresses deflate, we were cold, etc. So begins the search...

At first I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted. As time went on and I was able to look at a few around town and online, I noticed that in order to have a bathroom I would need at least an 18'. I also wanted a double axle, mainly because if there is a blowout I feel safer with an extra wheel on each side. (By this analogy I should be driving a car with six wheels, but I digress...) I contacted a number of people with questions and most of them replied with "Already sold" or "I don't know if the lights work." There was one pretty sad one that was free but I don't need that much extracurricular work.

When I came home for lunch today Matt had the grand idea to go to Tri-Cities to PF&S (the model train store) for some supplies he needed for an article he wishes to write for Model Railroader. He wanted to leave by 4:30 pm. I thought about the camper ads I had seen in Tri-Cities on craigslist and happened to have three of them printed out and with me. So I got on the phone at lunch time and called and made appointments to look after 6 pm this evening.

Because of a late photo shoot at work that I was helping with, I was able to leave work a little early and we left town about quarter til 5.

We spent the time Matt needed at PF&S and then headed over to the first trailer. This one was advertised as "1978 22 ft. tow behind Companion travel trailer. Hunters special, Needs TLC $850.00 OBO." I didn't have very good expectations, as the price was way more than I wanted to spend, and the bit about needing TLC was a little scary. Sure enough, it was junk. The owner had gutted the bathroom, removed the table/bench section and made a little mini-bar instead. Sure it made it more spacious but I don't think anyone buys a camp trailer for its open spaces. He had taken out the original fridge and put in a different one that didn't fit right. The wires for the back lights were running up the one side of the trailer in clear view. There were dents and holes all over the outside. The floor was kind of patched together and a little soft in spots. The owner was nice and very talkative, he described what his plans for it had been. He thought it was worth $1000 to someone wanting the frame for a car trailer conversion, but he would take $600, or whatever, if he didn't sell it he would keep it, his girlfriend in Spokane didn't really want him to sell it. If we changed our minds he might have the countertop on the bar done by this weekend. A sad little tale.

Feeling excitement, and relief to finally be leaving that trailer, we headed on our way to trailer number two. The ad states: "Hunting Trailer or Parts Trailer $400 - $550; Mid 70s Komfort 20 foot self contained camp trailer. 3 way refridge, gas stove, oven, newer roof AC unit, heater. Shower/tub, toilet, sinks and holding tanks. Its an older trailer but still in useable shape. It has 5 all new radial tires 4 on the 2 axles and a spare. Pulls great. Trailer has a small amount of water damage where vent was left open last winter but still a good trailer for the money. Can be seen at XXXXXX in Richland. Also includes leveling jacks. Registration shows 20' but trailer is 18'6" plus tounge. Will take $400 with bill of sale and you can apply for a new title or $550 and I will take care of paperwork."

We arrived at about 7:12 pm and the sun was setting. I jumped out with Levi and said to the man "Hi, I am Shana and I am here to look at your trailer!" He says "Well, there it is." I first talked with him a little bit about the title. He said he had bought it from his friend, who had lost the title. He could get a bill of sale from the owner on record so we could file for lost title and do the legwork ourselves, or for another $150 he would take care of all the paperwork. In the course of the conversation it was revealed that he was a police officer, and his wife does triathalons. We went over to look at the trailer. Since the man's driveway was a bit of an incline, I had Matt hold Levi until I could get in. Looking around I was very pleased. It was clean and didn't smell and even had some things I didn't expect. For example, the bathroom was complete with a little tub. There was a closet for some storage. The L-bench and table area folded out to a double bed. There was a sink and 4 burner stove and fridge. In the front was the large bed, it might be a double or a queen I am not sure. Above that was a fold-down bunk. There was even a curtain to pull across for privacy in the "bedroom." I was in love immediately. I whispered to Matt "I want this one!" I asked about the extent of the water damage and the man said he really didn't know, someone had left the ceiling vent open all winter and it was evident that there was some damage to the ceiling. For the price, I was't really concerned. We went outside and looked around the exterior of the trailer. Matt noticed the door didn't close quite right. Shane said "oh I thnk I can fix that," and he lifted and wiggled it a little and it closed just fine. He says "I notice you drive a Chevy, its like Chevy doors, after awhile they sag and you just lift up and they will close. HA HA. He had a new F250 in the driveway, a Ford man now. The trailer looked quite good for its age. All the tires looked sound with good tread. Two propane tanks on front. Gray water hose stored in back bumper (trailer designers are so clever!) Seller Shane said all lights work on the back but may need some new bulbs for the front and side perimeter lights. It had tabs dated 2001. Shane said he wished he would have thought of it, he was at the DMV earlier that day and could have gotten us a trip permit, but he thought with the bill of sale we should be ok to tow it on home.

Well I wanted to take it home right then and there but we hadn't brought the ball mount with us (or so we thought, later I did see it in the back of the truck). It was just as well, it was dark by now and our plug for the lights didn't match the end on the trailer. I wrote the man a check and he wrote me a bill of sale and it was agreed that Matt would return tomorrow morning to pick it up about 10 am.

Driving home I told Matt, "I am so excited...I shall name her Fanny, because she follows behind..." We had a good laugh over that and then we talked about which vehicle to take back the next day to get her. We guess it is a good 2,000 lbs of trailer so Matt thought the Suburban would be the best candidate.

We stopped at Old Country Buffet for dinner a little after 8 pm, had our meal and got home about 10 PM. Put Levi to bed (who had fallen asleep on the drive home) and then went out to find our drop hitch, and measure to be sure it was the right height. The Suburban measures about 19" to the top of the ball. The truck is 18" and the trailer we guessed to be level was 18" but it should work out fine.