Rear Dinette and Bunk

It's tough to put a "finish" date on this, since there always seem to be a few loose ends to tidy up. This dinette had seats and cushions enough to for us to use in Death Valley in April, and to have its first guest at Casini a week later. We had the bunk bed ready for Alison to use at Burning Man in August while Brian used the bottom bunk. It wasn't until November that I finally got it looking sort of finished. And there are a few more possible improvements that may still show up.

Before

Pullman style dining

On the right is the original gaucho. The construction is clever and lightweight. But the naugahyde was sloppy, the bed made it difficult to get to the bathroom when extended, and it wouldn't sleep our two adult children.

Also, with the main dinette area permanently taken up with our bed, we needed a place for our morning coffee and croissants. The finished design is modeled vaguely after a Pullman train sleeper car I had access to as a child.

The construction details developed as a response to the odd requirements of the space.

Burning Man Festival 2011

August 26 - September 6, 2011

 This entry explores our experience of having an Airstream at Burning Man: the what, the how and the why. For more about Burning Man as a whole, look at my Burning Man 2011 album.

The sign says "Rites of Passage" - the theme for 2011

We arrived in the morning, having spent the night outside Sparks. Bart's volunteer Ranger job secured us early admission passes so we weren't stuck in the usual traffic jams at the gate. This picture was taken from a van that we used to pull a trailer with the two mutant vehicles, Roboshaw and Zombie Bait.

Shower Pan and Vanity

We hadn't planned to gut the bathroom. But when early floor investigations turned up rot and rear end separation, we had no choice. We did have the choice between restoring the original or starting from scratch. Guess what we did?

The spiffy new shower, sink and vanity cabinet.

Before

Fire Mountain 2011

Snow? In May?

May 27-30, 2011 

What is this white stuff drifting from the sky and why is it where we are, in the coast range of Northern California, and in May, no less?

Getting to our friends' gathering took a bit more care and savvy driving than usual this year. The Tin Pickle and the Blue Behemoth seem to be a good pair for getting us nearly anywhere we want to go.

Casini Ranch AirForums Rally 2011

April 15-17, 2011

Our first Airstream rally, at Casini Ranch on the Russian River, brought us into contact with many of the experienced Airstreamers we'd been swapping ideas with on airforums.com. Seeing that much aluminum in one place made us feel right at home.

wall-o'-luminum

Death Valley 2011

April 7-10, 2011

Camping at the edge

We squeezed out a long weekend and took a mad dash trip to Death Valley. It took all of Thursday to drive down and all of Sunday to drive back, but we had two glorious days in one of the most spectacular places we've been.

We chose a campsite at the edge of Furnace Creek campground with an unfettered view of the eastern side of the valley.

Kitchen Window Frame

Replacing the kitchen window frame had to be done. No one would argue with that.

The finished window frame holds the blinds in place.

Before

The old plastic one was brittle and cracked. We wanted a frame that would hold blinds against the wall and would match the Airstream's rounded legacy and our commitment to a natural wood interior. It was only pure stubbornness on my part that pushed me to try to remake the original plastic shape, but in wood. I learned a lot, mostly about the inflexibility of birch and the advantages of having the right router bits.