CBR and home again!

On Tuesday last week, I pulled from Jacksonville, NC to Lake Fairfax County Park in Reston, Virginia to get close to our rhendevous for the Caravan into DC on our way to the 10th annual Cherry Blossum Rally.. the CBR! There were two other Airstreams there at the park.. and one surprise - Dacia and Pee Wee "Dale Schwamborn" were there as well. I spent the evening chatting with Pee Wee about Wally and Airstreams and Caravans.. Pee Wee was to be our guest at CBR and wanted to be on the Caravan with us - how perfect!!!!

I had no idea as to how many were going to show up for the Caravan. So, at 7am, I got underway and headed for the Great Falls National Park - our rhendevous. I had a couple from Montreal in a 63 Globetrotter, who was the other Airstream at park, follow me over to the Falls.

The plan was to meet by 0930, get a group photo near the falls and start the Caravan. One by one, trailers rolled in. There's the big red Suburban I'm towing with.... I'm glad it still has the Fire Department air horns on it.

There's Frank and "Anna" below with the Fowler's right behind:

The Great Falls and our group shot below:

We departed about 15 minutes past 10am...not bad for my first Caravan. We had a total of 8 trailers in all, I would think perfect for a first timer.

Below, we are parked around the top side of the Marine Corps War Memorial.

One of my favorite shots taken by the Fowler's:

Below is on our way out of the Memorial, with downtown DC in the background.

This one below is one of my favorites out on Marshall Drive looking towards the city.

Here we are on Madison coming back towards the Washington Memorial:

And then turning left and down around the Jefferson Memorial:

On the tidal basin pulled over on Ohio Drive in Washington, DC below:

Heading for Mt. Vernon on the George Washington Memorial Drive:

Below we are parked out behind (in the employee lots) the Mt. Vernon facility:

Below we are parked out in front of Mt. Vernon. If you take the two shots you can get a nice panoramic shot.

Heading for CBR site heading north on the George Washington Memorial Parkway:

CBR - Arriving!

And then, Frank, Pee Wee and myself at the CBR chatting with Marcus, Steve and John.. how cool is that:

The weekend was a blast. Zoe' and the boys pulled right in behind our Caravan and it was so nice to see them and spend a great, memorable weekend there in Maryland. We went over to Annapolis on Saturday to see the Academy (my alma mater) and the new field house they've built. There were 49 Airstreams in all in attendance, including my uncle Donald - see it was his dad, my grandfather, that got me into Airstreaming - thanks Grandpa - I know you were watching us this weekend and guiding me during the Caravan!!!! Next rally - my own Pageant of Bands boondocking rally - if not the Region 2 rally here in NY.

A little bit of chimney

Well, tomorrow I pack up and head for DC... for Wednesday's Caravan into the city and Mt. Vernon.... and ending over at the location of the 10th annual Cherry Blossum Rally where 53 Airstreams are signed up for a good few days of Streaming. Here are a few pictures! So, about 300 miles tomorrow, where I'm staying at the Fairfax County Park tomorrow night.

A sneak preview

On my way down here to North Kakalaki (Camp Lejeune, North Carolina), I took a detour through Washington, DC to scout out our Caravan route to make sure the SOTR would fit. It was a blast...and alot of people were snapping pictures of her along the route. Here's a shot at the Marine Corps Memorial - Iwo Jima, a place I've never been too in my 18 years as a Marine. Then it was over past the Lincoln, down Constitution Ave and a right just past the Washington Monument, over to the Jefferson Memorial, around the tidal basin splitting the Washington Monument and the Jefferson, onto I395 for a short 1/2 mile and onto Route 1, down past the Reagan National Airport, through Alexandria and down to Mount Vernon... I almost ran out of gas in Alexandria again... why isn't there a gas station when Rob needs one... then it was down I95 for a long 700 mile tow in 13.5 hours.. I was beat. Down here, just up the road, this guy has 2 2000+ model Airstreams in need of repairs.. he's parting them out.. Parts anyone?

If you are interested in parts for these two trailers, contact Pierce's Cars and Parts at piercescars@yahoo.com or call 910 455 0214

My deer!

This morning, as I was driving down the road in the dark, saw a deer jump out and realized that with the 30 foot trailer in tow, that the deer was going to hit it... so I induced a sway, and just when I thought the deer was going to hit it, I whipped the truck back... boy did it sway.. the result, I have permanent deer fur in the back end trim line... check it out. No dents - really lucky...

I wonder if the thing knew what it hit... like - what the hell was that shiny thing? Man - must have been one of those 58 Airstreams.... I would have dented a 70s model. Phew!

Single Pane to Double Pane!

So, here are two more windows installed... a little finishing off and we're done with the saws. Now, it's just some sanding on the old hardwood floors, a new finish and we'll be installing the stove, sink, fridge and dishwasher... cabinets will be from Ikea and I'll get a few each paycheck and put them together over time. Here's a few pictures.

Before:

After:

Here's the stove, a commercial South Bend 60 inch range and griddle combo - Ebay purchase. Remember, Zoe' is cooking for four boys.

It's a tight fit!

Well, the new room is coming along nicely... below are some pictures. This afternoon, I drove down the 400 yards to our old place and hooked onto the Sovereign that's been out in the middle of the yard since November. I hooked on and pulled it up here, wondering if I could get in our driveway that has a garage on one side and trees on the other with a nice telephone / cable box right on the corner. Well, with a little patience and stopping to get out every couple of feet, I was able to get the old girl in! So, now she's up here and later tonight I'll be going through the drawers and closets cleaning her out and packing her up for a departure tomorrow afternoon for northern Virginia, then down to Camp Lejeune, NC for Reserves and then back to Northern Virginia on the 31st for our 1 April WDCU Caravan for the 10th Annual Cherry Blossum Rally. The old Suburban - our tow vehicle for most of this summer, had a prodigy brake controller installed this past week as well as a new round 7 way plug in the rear. The old Fire Chief suburban (which still has the sirens and lights w/ PA system) is a ready to go as well. Enjoy!

It took me a while to get it in here... Zoe' was in with the boys and dog.

It'll take me a while to find her / or make her the right parking space... most likely it'll be out back up on the land bridge that goes into the hay mow... it's really wet to get up there right now.

As you can see, not much room going in

Can you say tight?

Panel replacement anyone? Not me! Those trees have Frank's Anna's names writen all over them.

Making the turn.

Coming or going?

At first, we did not like the brick... but it's growing on us.

The floors will be sanded this upcoming week.

The breakfast nook with bench window seats. Those two big windows get replaced tomorrow with dual pane sliders.

The stairs going up have been closed in with risers and sidewall sheetrock.

The new awning style windows are in. Put the sink on that cabinet and imagine all butcher block countertop with an island in the center, stainless fridge in that corner there with stainless dishwasher and you can start to imagine the finished project.

Getting there

Well, it's quite muddy up here and so the SOTR still sits about 500 yards away at our old house... not sure when I can get it up here.. it has to dry out a bit.. the snow here is all but gone (just some in the low spots where the sun doesn't shine). The kitchen is almost done with the construction phase - painting is occuring now. Zoe' went with a smokey slate color. The new windows should be here today, which with those and some white cabinets the light in the room should be perfect. Also, one of my almost 2 year old with our large puppy Cricket. Enjoy!

Out and about

On point!

Cricket flying across the hayfield

Big old post and beam barn above

The snow is a melting

Today, with the snow melting away (which is nice) we took the Chessie out for a walk in the woods. She had a blast. She's been challenging, but when she's good, she's very enjoyable. Today she had a blast in the woods. Also, some shots of the pond and barn and us closing up the window openings on the new kitchen.

New windows

New framing for the new windows.

This is what the view will be. The sink will centered underneath with a butcher block countertop. Dishwasher to the right, then wine rack with fridge to the right of that.

Below was the hole remaining after the old windows were removed.

Removing the old windows. Two new awning style 42.5" wide by 40" high will be installed. They should be here early next week.

The old windows were huge single panes.... should save some more on the heat bill.

I fought the stick, and the stick won!

So, here are some pictures of the kitchen under progress. The sun room is coming together.

We'll be tackling the ceiling and walls on this side tomorrow and Friday.

Luckily, behind that dark paneling was nice sheetrock that will get skimmed, sanded and then primed and painting.

When Wayne comes to re-do the dark floors hopefully he can match the two and refinish together so you won't be able to tell.

You can see here where the benchs will be. Those windows will come up a little even with the top of the 18" benchtop. There will be bench seats around two of the three walls with storage underneath. It's looking good.

A nice little nook to have coffee with future Courtesy Parkers.

Today, during lunch, I took a load on the dump truck to the dump. What my brother Marc did not tell me was that he had put a long board in the back of the truck... I knew it was there, but when I was using the tie downs for the load cover, I forgot about it..... and ran right into it, just missing my eye... man it hurt.