Vintage Curtains Don’t Belong in the Wash

We finally came to interior renovations, although the first update was an accidental one. After all the effort put into the Airstream, the interior still appeared almost exactly the same as the day we bought it—unfortunate faux wood paneling, yellowing curtains, and upholstery only a senior citizen could love.

The original curtains were dusty and slightly moldy to complement their once-white hue. We thought it would be fine to just throw them in the washing machine. We didn’t have the foresight to test drive just one in the wash before throwing them all in. I still wonder what came over me that day. I am usually extremely cautious when laundering different fibers/fabrics because of poor results experienced through my other hobbies, knitting and sewing.

The curtains had a vinyl-like UV protective coating on the back. This coating melted and fused to itself in the wash. They came out as a large ball of polyester. We tried to gently pull the ball apart, but the curtains were a lost cause.

We special ordered replacement curtains from a vendor we found in the WBCCI Region 1 newsletter. Delivered in a month, the workmanship was incredible. You can see the amount of pleating involved in the picture above. The new curtains completely brightened the space, and our privacy was restored.

Airstream Stonehenge

The Airstream has been the subject of a flurry of news briefs the past few days. Frank Bates, an RV sales lot owner, planted 7 Airstreams in the ground outside of his business in a tribute to Cadillac Ranch. His neighbors are complaining about the eyesore and rubberneckers. He says it’s art. Links to coverage are below:

RVs Half Buried

One Man’s Art Is Another’s Trailer Trash

‘Art’ Evokes Nostalgia — or Queasiness

Even though I’m partial to the Airstream, I have to agree with those who question whether his installation is art. His motivations appear to be sales instead of artistic expression. Roadside America (an online guide to offbeat tourist attractions) has a longer article with further insights.

Scouting for Gaucho Fabric

I recently ventured to Zimman’s in Lynn, MA with my friend Joy. She was there to buy silk to fashion into hot pink balloon curtains for her bedroom. Zimman’s is an upholstery and fabric store established in 1909. During my visit, I felt like I had traveled to a bygone era. I have never witnessed such knowledgeable sales associates. Joy needed advice because the curtains she imagined were complicated. The salespeople spent close to an hour explaining the challenges of her intended project.

While she was huddled with them, I wandered through the fabrics, hoping to find something to reupholster the front pullout couch (official Airstream term: gaucho). Whatever we pick will be on full display as one of the primary design elements in the interior. We aren’t quite at a place where we can make the purchase because we’ve yet to determine a color palette. Vote for your favorites in the comments, and we’ll take it all into consideration as we debate the color scheme.

Our First Trip: Seacoast of New Hampshire

In September 2007, we camped in the Merrimack Valley in New Hampshire. The trailer required merely 19 months of renovation work to make this trip.

We traveled from its resting spot in Rhode Island to a campground in New Hampshire. Since we were driving early in the morning, we decided to go directly through Boston’s Big Dig using Interstate 93. We made it through unscathed. 

We stayed at the Wakeda Campground . Aluminuts and I usually avoid RV campgrounds, but we were short on planning time and had to make arrangements quickly. The campground was nearly empty as we arrived on the last weekend of the season. We didn’t have any close neighbors, and it felt private enough. If the campground were fully booked, though, other campers would be right on top of you.

We prepared salmon with corn maque choux for dinner our first night. One can eat like a king with the convenience of a kitchen in the wild.

The following weekend, we took the Airstream to Salem, MA, for our friends’ wedding. We camped in the driveway of the bride and groom.

During the week in between, we stored the Airstream in a guy’s backyard in southern NH, located through Craigslist. We didn’t have a place to park it in Boston, and we didn’t want to tow in back to Rhode Island and have to make the same trip the next weekend. I was impressed by Aluminuts’ ingenuity in finding a RV parking spot online. 

See a full account of our voyage with pictures in the First Camping Trip slideshow on our Flickr page.

A Vessel Worthy of StoryCorps

I’ve always been especially proud that StoryCorps outfitted an Airstream as its roving recording studio. Anyone can drag a friend or family member into the StoryCorps booth and record an interview with them. WBUR in Boston broadcasts vignettes from the recordings during the morning news, and they are so often wonderful to hear. I dream of the day the StoryCorps booth finds my Momma Mae and me in the same city so that I can record an account of her time spent as a teenager touring New England with an traveling variety show.

Today, the Orlando Sentinel has an article to welcome the StoryCorps Airstream to the Orlando Public Library.

Bamboo Underfoot

We installed a bamboo floor over the old faux wood linoleum tiles that existed before. The bamboo was a snap together system from Ikea, which ran only around $100 for the whole job (about 55 square feet). With the new floor, we have taken our first step out of the 70s. It feels good!

Obligatory Resolutions: Airstream Goals for the New Year

The biggest task I have planned for this spring is to replumb the entire trailer with Pex plastic tubing. The plumbing has never worked 100%, and there is a leak in one of the drainpipes. To fix this I will need to remove part, or perhaps the entire, belly plate to reach the pipes. Once I remove the belly I might as well sand and paint the frame to halt the considerable rust. My goal is to have this work done by April so I can have the trailer ready to bring to whatever campsite we choose in May and camp most weekends in the summer.

Repairs for later in ‘08:

• Replace refrigerator
• Replace air conditioner
• New lighting (probably some track lighting from Ikea)
• New, quieter vents
• New inverter, to help charge the battery