Tent Trailer Resoration (crap, it's been a while)

 ok, so this blog started off OK 9 years ago.  just read the 6 days of BLOGGING I did, kinda funny to see a few days I have little recollection of many years later.

anyway, this latest adventure started last summer when a deer decided to not stop for me and our tent trailer.  sad, but I think the volunteer fire chief had some nice venison for a while (he said he always kept what he could). elsa was riding in the car behind us with dana, said she saw the deer flying down the embankment, at least one leg flying off by itself.

 

a few weeks ago, we decided to rebuild, not replace.  for a few hundred bucks we can fix it. sure.

step one, tear off the bad stuff (this was back on march 30th):

(amazing crap construction. this should be easy to replace)

one entire weekend later:

sometime around the next thursday, april 3rd ish:

frame painted

now the building begins. more in a bit.

I finally caught a pine cone straight off a tree today. Been trying for almost 3 years. You get plenty of warning; Ponderosa pines are almost 100 feet tall, and the cones fall through the branches, so you hear them coming. I always look up, but until today, they were always too far away. I had several witnesses: Hap, Dana, Susan (a friend of ours), possibly Elsa, and Susan's kids Owen and Nora.

Standing on the back deck, only maybe 12 inches from the counter at the window, I heard the familiar sound, looked up, saw it coming straight for me (it would have hit me), had a momentary flashback to catching fly balls in the outfield: that moment you know you're in the right place, you can't possibly miss, and I got it. The fucker hurt, but I hung on. No blood, but the thorns scratched good. I can still feel it, several hours later.

The pine cone still has never been on the earth; I have it in a glass case on the bookshelf. I'll make a label for it and tie it to the cone so my great grand kids can wonder about what a weird guy I was.

several months later... thursday evening

hap's new toy with wheels. after a project at hap' s school, i had to promise him we'd make a new one at home before he'd leave the classroom without a professional temper fit. the dowel across the middle are the wings, the peg in front with the head is the driver, the block on back is the house where people ride, with person and smokestack on top.

wednesday midday

this morning: smoothies for everyone, folding laundry. Hap takes it upstairs, delivers it where it goes, except one load that "exploded everywhere, it was so heavy!" little kid's sized oatmeal, for a snack (dry instant oatmeal-ask Dana). then a pbs kids show while i take a shower. i invent in my head the shower monitor, a water proof baby monitor you can take in the shower. then shows over, kids scream for more, i start cleaning up, evenutally they stop screaming and jumping off the couch and actually help. i vaccuum, they destroy, i vaccuum, Hap takes over vaccuuming, I fix the destruction, Hap hurts his foot on the vaccuum, takes a break on the couch. i finish vaccuuming, they start rolling the couch all over the room, bumping stuff, knocking over a fake plant. then Hap gets out all the stuff to make scrambled eggs, pan bowl eggs whisk. drops 2 of the 4 eggs on the floor. a fight ensues over who gets the last 2 eggs. i resolve it, and make mac and cheese also. i'm beginning to feel like crap, take 2 dayquil, dream of more coffee or a latte at the shop. feeling better, the kids decide to play a game, Hap's asking Elsa which one she wants to play, they pick the Zoboomafoo puzzle, i give it to them, they work on it while i start typing this, mostly quietly, with some success. now they're in here hanging on my shoulders singing 'this land is your land' mostly together, Hap knows all the words, Elsa hits most of the notes. now it's a lecture about hippos, Elsa tells me they swim and can open their mouth huge, Hap says they grow as big as me, 5 feet tall. Hap's upstairs pooping, now i have to go wipe his bottom.

tuesday

no school for Hap this week. Elsa at Linda's until 4, like every mon and tue. after Dana takes Elsa and goes to work, Hap and i head up to south regal lumber for some quarter inch drywall and hot mud. the opening for the fridge turned out a bit small, like an eigth of an inch, so i'm taking out the half inch drywall on the sides and putting in quarter inch, for more room. Hap's set up at the computer playing internet games for kids, so i get to work. getting the fridge out of the hole is the hardest part, and it only gives up after about 45 minutes with a flat bar under the front, a sixteenth of an inch at at time, interrupted by Hap screaming for help with his game (he crashes speed racer into trees all the time and gets stuck). by lunch, i have the old rock out, the new in, and most of the tape up, ready for mud. throw balls for Bing, step in poo. Hap helps by screwing drywall screws into pre-drilled holes in a piece of wood with his new 6 in one screwdriver, staying out of the my way. Hap starts begging for a snack, right about when i notice Bing has poo on his front paw. as the hoses are shut off for the winter, i have to gat a bucket and a toilet brush and go outside to clean him off. i get the mud up, 3 batches. go to ace hardware for new compression seat and nut for the fridge water connection, and a big hunk for me and mike and ikes for Hap. he saves some for Elsa and momma. at home, we hook up the fridge water, Hap screws in the little p-clamp water line stabilizer near the connector with his 6 in one and is very satisfied to do good work. as i'm putting the fridge back in, Dana comes home with Elsa, and we all have to have a screaming hello jump around and act wild time. the fridge goes all the way in pretty easily this time. i clean up the disaster that is the kitchen and open the last sierra celebration ale.

monday afternoon

our automatic alarm didn't function too well this morning. must've been too tired, they both slept in till 7. Hap had his parent teacher conference at 8 (which was almost impossible to get to on time, what with getting the 2 kids ready and Dana needing her 45 minutes to shower and dress); he is brilliant, way ahead of what is expected (we're so great, it had to rub off). finished taping the drywall. worked from 9:30 to 3:30 on it. figured out how to use a drywall tape banjo, borrowed from Mike.

sunday morning

at some point, after the usual coffee, mom's shows, procrastinating starting the day, Hap comes downstairs announcing 'its my turn to make breakfast.'
I say, 'ok, what's for breakfast?'
'samwiches.'
'what kind of sandwiches?'
'fruit samwiches'
what kind of fruit?'
'oh, any old kind, whatever.'
'we only have bananas and apples.'
'ok, apple sandwiches.'
'why don't you ask everyone what kind of sandwiches they want?'
'ok.'

he runs around the house, shouting out the question, shouting back the answers as he leaps downs the stairs, eyes wide with excitement at running the whole morning.

I tell him I already had peanut butter toast, I'm not hungry. that's ok. I get him the bread, wipe a clean spot in the sheetrock dust on the counter from last afternoon's work, get plates, a knife. Elsa has proclaimed unequivically 'peanut buttetr and jelly' and Hap tells me Dana wants grilled cheese.

'you want apples on your peanut butter and jelly, Elsa?'
'no thank you, Hap.'

I open the jars, Hap spreads the PBandJ, puts it together.

'should I cut it in half for you, Elsa?'
'SURE'
I cut.
'NO, NOT A TOP, ONLY ONE BREAD.'
'like this?' I remove the jelly side. 'it's all messy now'
'take off the jelly, I only want penutBUTter.'
'no, you asked for peanut butter and jelly, you can eat it like this or don't eat it. I don't care.'
'I want maynoaise like Hap.'
'Elsa, you can't have mayonaise on peanut butter and jelly.'
'I want mayonaise.'

I leave the room.