Shasta Loflyte Loo Loo Day Five

Hello vintage trailer fans. Loo Loo here with yet another update. Things have been moving so fast my tires are spinning,,,,but 99 is happy to be working again after a long cold frigid ungodly freezing only meant for polar bears winter so I am kinda thinking we are on a roll. Funny thing is she has that disease called "save the trailoritis"! I learned that when her friend Doctor Blaine stopped over in between his jobs and noticed she started ripping the front of me open. He said, "You couldn't leave it alone could you, Janet!" Well, she couldn't.( He knows her well). I think if she had all the time and money and modern tools in the world (like a simple table saw for pete's sake) she could produce some serious stuff. Like in the old days. When the guys were making trailers out of their garages to go on to build big companies as their legacy. No matter. They all did it with hammers and nails. Oh so many nails!  Oh to dream. Never stop dreaming!

Here is my update. I must remind you, I am not intended as a show piece. 99 just wants me to be a solid piece of history that will hit for road for at least another ten or thirty years with the proper care. She cares. That is why she had to touch the front of me that she could just "not leave alone". I had some rot at my front window where it leaked. Not major but in need of care. So we dug in to it. 99 has taken trailers to the frame they were so bad. Me...I am amazingly good as far as saving and repairs go. She has never seen anything like me. Keeps saying I am a god send whatever that means. 

Here is the damage and here are the repairs:

There is a brace board that goes below my window brace that caught some moisture. 99 felt all across my window brace as best she could to feel that it was still solid and like the rest of me it surprisingly felt awesome. Someone took care of me in a past life. However, the underboards were not so great at the edges. So she cut out the bad spots keeping in mind she still  had to provide support for the cross section. I had a dent in this area so it gave her an opportunity to get out her auto body tools and hammer out it as best she could. New boards were sistered in as well as one final board to go along the distance and hold it all solidly in place. Took some thought, but it was done!

Here you can see the rotted board:

It was cut off at the spot that was she was not able to penetrate,

New board fitted in place.

Followed by another new sister board, This was done at both ends.

 Then a long board was connected to go the distance and provide more security.

 Still looks like a mess, and it was, but it all works out in the end.

The area under my window still looked a bit unsightly so 99 put up a trim board. Not to hide anything, just for eye pleasure. Hey, I am  old and short of tearing us oldies down to the frame you have to figure out a way to keep us senor trailers looking good while maintaining our will to survive. Besides, I am in unfathomable condition. She just happened to have the perfect piece to make our front area look good. It was sanded and cut to fit. I know she wants to paint me and give me some color, but she is containing herself. That is for my new family to do. As long as I am strong, they can do my decorating. 

So today, my front shelf was rebuilt and made solid to stand yet another test of time. I am ready for it!

It is kind of crazy how I am all coming together. 99  can't believe how easy I am. Not that it is not hard work. We are talking from the time she opens her eyes until she closes them kind of work. Her friends all agree. They have never seen a trailer land in her driveway in such  well maintained condition. A few of them are amazed at what she has done so far. I guess if you have a passion and a drive and a love for us old beauties you are sometimes blessed with a diamond in the rough you never expected. Add to that one that came at just the right moment in time. That would be me! Wait til my brother gets here. Then the headaches will begin! 

My cushions all need replaced and my curtains may not to be to everyone's taste, but let me tell you...I am feeling like some one just breathed a whole new life into me. And I am ready to start living it! 

If any of this looks easy to you...it's not. It's one person trying to figure out how to recreate what she deems a master of a factory of people from long ago. Every nook and cranny is amazing, to her. It is 12, 13, 15 hours days with a few curse words mixed in, but not many. It's a dream. To find old trailers and make them lovable again. Not for the money...that's a joke.Especially in NY. Wrong state, wrong weather, wrong camping season. I mean I am sure it would be nice to have a factory and hired help like they used to with the need for accountants. It's just plain and simple love for the "trade" and the "trailer". But if there is anything to be said for doing the best you can with what with you have...it's right here under the sky on the east side of  Rochester, NY. Cause in this driveway we still have dreams and we still believe and we still love. And isn't that what's most important? 

Gotta get some shut eye now. Tomorrow is going to be another drama filled day I am sure. For now, I leave you with this...

If a man is called a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and Earth will pause to say, Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Goodnight my vintage trailer fans, whoever and where ever you may be.