Matt's New Mexico (Formerly Airstream) Adventure
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I'll be heading to the dealer on Saturday morning to pick up The Tin Palace. I'm excited to be getting it back in better shape than I left it. I'm extremely thankful we didn't turn on the water when we were staying in it at my father in law's. That could have been real messy.
We had a small yard sale on Saturday and were surprised a few people picked some things up. We put it outside the fence and sat in the yard drinking beer. Then we shouted prices at them and told them to Pay Pal us if they wanted something. We're selling tons of stuff online as well. People will buy anything on Facebook Marketplace it turns out.
But perhaps my hardest journey lies just ahead. I'm going need to make some hard choices about my t-shirt collection. My wife insists 120 is too many. I respectfully disagree.
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On Saturday I drove to VA from MD, 2 hours, to pick up the Airstream. It was a pleasant drive all on my own while my saintly wife managed the children while simultaneously attempting to sell our shit for pennies on the dollar to passerby out of the backyard. The girls wanted to advertise the yard sale by posting a homemade sidewalk chalk marquee that read simply "Live Girls" as they danced in the street. We didn't want to explain the various reasons why this was unacceptable so we just let them play with some bubbles.
The yard sale was a great success. My trip to VA… not so much.
When I got there I was greeted by a showroom full of unmasked employees and patrons, all looking at me in my mask as if I were there to rob the place. Apparently the social distancing guidelines in VA are more lax than those in MD. I inspected the inside of The Tin palace only to find a heavy layer of dirt and grease all over the floor. I asked if that was customary and was told it would be cleaned right away. I then tried to couple the trailer to my truck and found that the battery was dead so the tongue would not extend. Thus I was unable to get my ball hitch under the receiver. I asked if they could help with that as well and was told they'd get right on it.
Flash forward 20 minutes to when I go back inside to make sure help was on the way and I was told everyone was at lunch and I should do the same to wait for their return. No big deal, I needed to eat. I spotted a Bojangles Chicken & Biscuits across the way and got a little excited since we don't have those near me. I became overwhelmed with the menu choices, which is normal for me when perusing a new menu, and ordered something called the Cheddar Bo Biscuit sandwich with fries and a sweet tea. I was disappointed to find out this was nothing more than a grilled cheese on a biscuit, which on its own was pretty good, but when you're expecting chicken, not at all the same. I ate my cheesy biscuit, all the while wondering if the unmasked and ungloved Bojangles employees had passed their Coronavirus along to me, then returned to the dealer to find someone cleaning the trailer floor. Wonderful.
Next I was met by a mechanic who tried various methods to get the tongue to retract so I could place a block under it making it extend high enough to get my truck attached. He had no idea why it wouldn't start. He shuffled off muttering something about getting a trailer for someone else. I'm not entirely sure he even worked there. A few minutes later a more seemingly competent man approached me and knew exactly what was going on. Someone forgot to turn the electrical system off which in turn drained the battery. We got it working again and I was off...
Two. Hours. Later.
The drive home was long but fortunately uneventful. That is, of course until I reached my father in law's. There I need the back the trailer up his 200 yard driveway, with multiple S turns, and at a 20 degree incline. We used his truck the last time which is lower to the ground so when I tried the rear bumper sitting lower dug into the driveway while he drunkenly insisted I was fine and should gun it. I did not, because I know better, and insisted he get his truck to finish the job. Meanwhile we were totally blocking his cul de sac, which is normally pretty quite but on Saturday was evidently hosting a Shriner's Parade.
We got it up that hill and there it sits waiting for us to start slowly moving things into it. Hopefully this weekend.
When all was said and done it was a 10 hour day for me. I'm sorry I didn't get any meaningful photos. I was tired and sweaty and my hands were full with other tasks. I'll try to get something together once we start packing up.
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Hope this goes smoother,
looking for ward to updates….. -
You should definitely give Bojangles another go, though. Personally, I recommend either the Cajun Filet biscuit or the Country Ham and Egg biscuit.
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Gotta Whanna needa gotta hava Bojangles.
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Watching your kids sob silently while looking out the window at their childhood home for the last time was perhaps one of the most sobering moments of this entire experience for me. Yesterday we took them along with 2 truckloads of stuff out to my father in law's where we're staging the final weeks of our travel prep. The house closes on Wednesday but my wife and I have already signed the paperwork. We've sold so much stuff. We're either selling or taking with us, no trash!
On Monday my wife and I will take the rest of our stuff out and then we'll start loading up The Tin Palace. She'll be cleaned up, packed up and ready for full time tiny living in no time so I'm pretty hyped to start getting some photos posted. Maybe one of me in cut off shorts and a half shirt washing the truck and the trailer will hold you guys over until we start hitting up the parks…
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I’m looking forward reading about your adventure, and with lots of photos of course.
I admire you and your family for taking this bold step
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We’ve been in the trailer for a week now and there’s definitely going to be an adjustment period. Imagine living on a submarine but instead of sexually frustrated sailors you have small children who just want to break everything.
I like it though. I’m excited to disembark in July for our maiden voyage to Trap Pond State Park in Delaware.
Yesterday we decided to pull up the vinyl floor in my wife’s closet after accepting that the smell of mold wasn’t dissipating. The plywood was soaking wet and the underside of the vinyl was covered in mold. Not what I wanted to see but I wasn’t surprised. Fortunately no rot. I can live with some slightly mismatched vinyl flooring. We were worried that we’d have to take it in again to discover where the water was coming from and I have no real confidence in the dealer anymore after being told everything was fine. However…
Wife Detective to the rescue!!! She noticed that the exterior rivets punched into the bolt bracket mounts on that side had no caulk covering them. They did in the other side but the person at the factory must have taken a smoke break after doing that side then forgot where he left off.
Some silicone filler should stop the leak. There were three brackets on that side. About 20 rivers in total. Unbelievable. Ultimately all this troubleshooting is helping us get to know the trailer better.
Today’s unforeseen expenses will include a small dehumidifier and some vinyl flooring.
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Thank you @Snowy. There’s a learning curve to be sure. I can’t wait to get out on the road though. That’s when the real mayhem will begin.
The closet floor is progressing nicely. I’ve got the moisture reading down to about 16% now. If I can get it down to about 9% I will be good. It was maxing out the moisture meter yesterday so 16% is a major improvement. Then we just need to see how it holds up after the next rain to see if sealing those rivets does the trick.
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Also, in case you’re wondering what 1/4 if my tshirt collection looks like in its new home here‘s some storage porn for you…
If your having a drink this evening please say a few solemn words for the 150 shirts that won’t be joining me on my cross country journey. It’s been a real Sophie’s Choice.
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This is a brilliant thread @Matt ! I've been a regular at Overland Expo over the past several years as both an attendee and exhibitor. While I've done a fair bit of overlanding, I've played in Earthroamers a bit and was seriously checking out the Airstream setups at OEX last year. My wife and I have talked about doing something similar to your adventure but it's all just smoke and mirrors so far. Takes massive balls to actually pull the trigger so mad respect to you guys!
Really look forward to the continuing adventures of The Tin Palace Crew.
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@Manticore I'm glad you're into this. I really enjoyed being a part of the forum when I first became interested in Iron Heart but as I got older and took on more responsibility with work and with my family it just turned into something I wasn't able to sustain. This chapter of my life just seemed like a golden opportunity to get back into the community and the people with whom I share quite a few interests and passions.
This whole thing started for us after a bad day. I came home from my job that I hated and talked to my wife who hated her job. We agreed we hated everything. School wasn't caring well enough for our kids. Our neighborhood wasn't fulfilling our social needs. We were tired of doing the same thing every day with the same results and expecting it to keep us engaged and happy. We called up our money guy, told him what we wanted, he told us what we needed to do, my wife picked me up off the floor and applied a cold compress to my head, then we soldiered on and suffered for 2 years until we found ourselves buying a 30' travel trailer and selling our house.
Then the planet shut down. Obviously, because you know, why should it be easy.
Anyway, it's pissing from the heavens here the past 2 days and it's been a good chance to test our our newly sealed rivets…
The plywood showed some elevated moisture after last night's marathon downpour but we can't be certain if it's from leaking or if moisture is just migrating towards the dry plywood from an area we weren't able to pull up under the forward storage compartment.
We applied a bunch more silicone sealant to some seemingly worn caulk joints outside.
Then my wife started reading Airstream forums. Admittedly, we did this in the wrong order...
So silicone should NEVER be used to seal your Airstream. It breaks down more quickly than a poly based sealant and can't be sealed over when it wears down. So now we have to get the other stuff and peel off all the silicone we gooped all over the fucking thing.
But let's just take a step back to get some perspective. I'm sweating a leak in my Airstream that I'm going to be taking across country instead of working full time while drinking a shitload of beer and chopping a boatload of firewood and stabbing lots of things with my pocketknives. Maybe snakes and scorpions. All things considered, it could be worse.
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Update on the leak… the subfloor was as dry as it's been this morning and it rained all night. Though the silicone has to be removed, the areas we sealed seem to be the source. We've got a new product on its way to us from the fine folks at Amazon that should be here by tomorrow and we'll reseal it all. Hopefully this will solve one problem. On to the next one...
I ordered a new chainsaw today. Firewood is expensive so hopefully this will get plenty of use. I'm also excited to make one of these...
