NEW AIRSTREAM WINDOW TREATMENT DESIGN . . .

Finally the last of my window treatments have been installed in the Airstream. Last year I made both front and rear drapes. Then we replaced the old white dinette roller shades with new black roller shades and replaced the kitchen roller shade with with an aluminum mini blind. The only thing left to replace were the side bedroom windows. Last year before I took off to Clearwater for six months I designed and made those new window treatments. The plan was to install these while the bedroom was dismantled for the floor/trunk repair. That didn't happen! I needed to be there and have some time and consultations with my engineer for the exact placement in order for these to work properly.

OLD ROLLER SHADES

Well the time finally came a few weeks ago for the installation. The original idea came from the mariners and from a boat my parents had when I was in high school. These snap style covers are used both on the interior and exterior of boat windows. I made an exact template for each of the windows out of craft paper and went from there to make patterns for each window. For the installation my engineer (Tim) used Stainless Steel 3/8" Screw Snap Studs in the window frames. On the actual window treatments that I made we used the matching Stainless Steel Sockets & Buttons installed with a handy dandy snap die tool that we have for our canvas work that we dabble in. Where the old roller shades hung I had Engineer Tim place rivets in those holes to help conceal that.

These window treatments are amazing. No more bumping into the shades while getting into the wardrobes or snagging them while making the bed. No more dingy crinkled and shredding roller shades to look at. Remember they have had ten years of hard use. The new design & snaps allow for the shades to conform to the curve of the Airstream walls. No more thoughts of 'Can someone see in those gaping side cracks of the roller shades at night?' I also sewed drape black out material on the back side of each piece of material. It's like a dark den in there now even in the middle of the day.

 SPECTACULAR NEW AIRSTREAM WINDOW TREATMENTS

These are so versatile they can be snapped into place to completely cover the windows. I can un-snap the bottom and then re-snap the bottom toward the top of the window frame to give a Roman shade look. Or if you want to take a nap while the windows are open I can do a reverse Roman shade configuration from the bottom. Just in case someone walks by they can't see in from the outside but the window can still be open allowing for airflow. And they can come completely off depending on where you are. I pre-washed everything prior to sewing so if need be it's a quick throw in the washer to be cleaned. Brilliant!!!

VIEW TO REAR BEDROOM ... ALMOST A COMPLETE BLACKOUT

DURING THE DAY WITH NEW WINDOW TREATMENTS

UPGRADES . . .

Over the years since we've had the Airstream a few things have needed changed along the way. Some of these things usually get forgotten about until the middle of a trip and the others are just put off until we have the time to deal with them. Two items of note that we have recently replaced in the Airstream are the TV and the mattress.

THE TELEVISION

To be honest Tim and I don't watch much TV while traveling in the Airstream so it was never important to us to replace it. We might catch the weather if needed. However today's smart phones fill that need most of the time. We have been known to have been gone for over a month and never turned on the TV. It's just one of those things we don't do in order for us to disconnect and feel off grid while traveling. On our trip to Charleston last year we hadn't been watching any TV and were surprised to learn of a tropical storm heading our way. While I was working in Clearwater recently my condo that I had did not have a TV in the bedroom so I purchased one that we would be able to use in the Airstream. Now our original 15" Sharp Aquos has been replaced by a 22" Samsung. The old Sharp is being re-purposed in my home office . . . perfect. What a difference the new TV makes in the Airstream. The picture is amazing and maybe just maybe we will watch some TV while traveling.

THE MATTRESS

Oh yeah! So I'm sure some of you have heard the stories over the years about our Airstream mattress. The first night we had the Airstream Tim and I and Roxy slept in it in the yard. Around 4AM Tim woke and said he couldn't take it anymore. The mattress was horrible and he couldn't sleep on it. He then got up and took the dog inside leaving me by myself. Over the years we have gone back and forth to first adding a two inch memory foam pad then added a three inch on top of that. Eventually the complaints came again and we went back to just using the three inch memory foam pad. Still more complaints. This is when we broke down and last month purchased a new mattress for the Airstream. We have a very long and exciting trip coming later in the year and we really don't want to be gone for an extended period of time still sleeping on a bad mattress.

We spent tons of time researching and asking others what they did. Our final decision landed us with a Rocky Mountain Mattress custom made for Airstreams. The 10" Sundance had the best fit to clear the sides of the wardrobe and to just miss the bottom drape rail. Like everything we read we knew the mattress would be shipped in a smaller package since it would arrive having been vacuum packed. WOW! it really was and we decided the best plan of attack would be not to open it until it was as close to being in place as possible. The quality and comfort seem really great so far. However since we received the mattress we have yet to sleep on it. I do feel a trip coming in the VERY near future and will update you all on how well it sleeps.

FLEX KEY REPLACEMENT . . .

For those wondering "What the heck is that?" Here you go . . .

The FLEX KEY is the strip of material on your Zip Dee awning that goes the length of the trailer between the awning rail and the metal flex strips that wrap the length of the awning when it is closed. It connects the awning to the Airstream.


On our Airstream ... which is now TEN years old ... we have three Zip Dee awnings. All three flex keys were close to needing to be replaced. While we were at Alumaflamingo in Sarasota we volunteered our Airstream to be used for the Zip Dee Awning Demo. During the demos the Zip Dee guys only have time to replace one awning flex key & do some maintenance but we bought the materials to do the other two ourselves. Tim and I spent a few hours this week replacing the other two. It was actually a pretty easy process of undoing a few screws, sliding the old ones out while inserting temporary mini flex keys, un-crimp a few spots, clean and then slide the new ones in. Then re-crimp, put the screws back in and your done. The hardest part and what took the longest was cleaning the metal strips and the tracks. It was a learning process for me ... kinda cool to actually see and know how these awnings are attached.

SLIDING OLD FLEX KEY OUT

SLIDING OLD FLEX KEY OUT

(Ooops dirty roof)

WAITING FOR NEW FLEX KEY TO BE INSERTED

OLD VS. NEW

NEW FLEX KEY INSTALLED

RECENT TRIPS . . .

Since the Airstream floor repair was finished back in October and while I was out of town working we were able to take several trips. For most of these trips Tim would arrive early in the week and I would either commute daily to work or just come for the weekend. The following are a few pictures from these trips . . .

FT. DeSOTO IN ST. PETERSBURG, FL

OCTOBER 2013

(Best fish ever!!!)

SILVER SPRINGS STATE PARK IN OCALA, FL

(WYMER DECEMBER GATHERING WITH FRIENDS & FAMILY)

DECEMBER 2013

New family addition . . . Emma!

(Born November of 2013)

LAKE LOUISA STATE PARK IN CLERMONT, FLORIDA

CHRISTMAS 2013

Big Al's Famous Waffles

(Christmas Morning)

ALUMAFLAMINGO IN SARASOTA, FL

FEBRUARY 2014

 Flex Key Replacement Demo with Zip Dee Awning Reps

 

BLUEGRASS VOLUNTEER RALLY AT FT. CHRISTMAS, FL

MARCH 2014

Private Jam for our Airstream Unit by some of the event performers

AIRSTREAM FLOOR REPAIR FINISHED . . .

Trunk rot no more! I have finally assembled the pictures showing the Airstream floor repair being finished. In comparing the 'walking' feel of the Airstream to before & after ... there is a big difference. She is better than new now! Of course there are many more pictures and so much more detail involved with this repair. If anyone has any specific questions on our repair please feel free to call us or send us an email.

Tim finished the repair back in October. Since then we have taken several trips and have made a few additional changes to the interior. I will be covering all of these in the upcoming blog entries. Stay tuned!

 Insulation was two layers of Rmax sheet insulation with an air gap between the floor 

and the insulation.

Nice New Belly Pan Above!

Below Marine Epoxy was used on the sub-floor topped with light gray porch paint on the top surface.

CATCHING UP . . .

I know! I know! But I just have to say “Life got in the way.”

Over the next week or so I will catch you all up on what has happened since the last blog post in AUGUST. First of all we are both doing well. In September I began working on a feature film out of town. In total I was gone just over six months. It was really hard work with extremely long hours. So come this September please be sure to go to your local movie theater to see DOLPHIN TALE 2.

  

 Views from my condo while working on DOLPHIN TALE 2

View from my office window on DOLPHIN TALE 2

 

Even though I was living out of town during this period Tim was able to finish the floor repair in the Airstream and we took several trips. I will begin this post with more details of the floor repair. In the blog posts that will soon follow I hope to cover the trips we have taken since last August, more changes to the interior of the Airstream and a few hints of our EXCITING travels yet to come this year.

 New Sub Floor Being Prepped

 New Sub Floor Installed

 New Belly Pan Purchase (4' x 12')

YES ... That Fit Into My Explorer

Home Safe!