CitaPita...Carmen

Nice try editing out your Mickey ears, Dave.
 
We all know this is closer to the truth.
 

Nice try editing out your Mickey ears, Dave.
 
We all know this is closer to the truth.
 

You're so chatty.
 
 
Woo hoo!!!!  :jumpforjoy
Blow it up all you want.  If you're that rich you can build a new one. 
 
And if we both hit the lottery, we'll just build a drawbridge to our private campsites on Discovery Island.
 
 
Lou is not allowed to handle fireworks anywhere near Bay Lake by royal proclamation from King Triton...
 

Lou, Shannon just wants me for my cool motorhome.  

I think I'm going to need this sentiment on a t-shirt.  :thumbsup3:

For the record.
 
People I do not like:
The person who wrecked the back of Polly Luna at some point. The person who did bodywork on Polly after said wreck. The person who invented vinyl graphics. The person who bought all of the 100 grit sandpaper from the store.   
People I do like:
The person who brought an orbital sander back to the store so that I could buy it at 50% off. The workers of Dunkin Donuts for making a fine glass of iced tea. My MIL for watching our little ones while we work. The person who invented the orbital sander.


Thanks Gottlieb!  
Up next:  Polly Luna gets naked

I am 100% stealing this idea. 

I guess I get a geek point too....
My sons name is Wesley.
Star Trek Next Generation. Wesley Crusher.
Sheldon's nemesis

You get a point for that one.
 

Well, I did name my son Wesley (true story)

If you only know Wil Wheaton from Big Bang, you are too young and no where near geeky enough.  The person who posted he was from Big Bang was making a joke.

This is my kind of night!  A night with Doctor Who can't be anything but great.
 
 
 
Geek points this way, please!  
 
Funny part is, I know of Wil Wheaton, but had never heard of Luke Bryan before this thread!

And we've had times with over 95 "guests" on the site this evening - which is a whole heckuva lot ANY time, but particularly on a Saturday summer night!
 
All thanks to the ...
 

I am probing the security, and have been having fun. I just walked up to the two kids guarding one of the access points and told them I was Mr. Lukow, and asked if they would be so kind as to direct me to my party. One of them bought it!
TCD.

:bravo:
 
 

One correction, Mo.  This isn't a party....it's a revolt!  I've organized this to end injustice once and for all.  Cinnamon rolls will adorn the shoe tree, and Grande cups of Starbucks will be dumped into Bay Lake in a recreation of the Boston Tea Party.  I declare independence from the evil cartel!  

Thanks, everyone!  :)
 
Here is a bonus update for you, and with this we'll be caught up to the present. This weekend we're going to shift focus to the outside of the rig.
 
Things you'll find in this video:
My terrible voice (I can't even stand listening to it, so I watch it on mute. Completed walls (except trim) Completed floor Adorable little one with messy hair, per usual My rambling, also per usual You can watch it here: http://youtu.be/kSJAZs6gZ0A

Warning: This update contains boring pictures of wood.
 
Last we left this build, we had cut many pieces of birch for the walls and ceiling of Polly Luna.
 
Why birch? Well, it goes back to our VW days. We always dreamed of switching out our boring white headliner with the headliner of choice for VW Bus renovators: Birch. 
 
Here is a good example of what we were after. (Not our bus, but one that served as inspiration)
 

 
See how shiny and warm that is? 
 
As a reminder, here is a picture from the last update that shows what unfinished birch looks like.
 

 
I'll admit that at this stage, I was a little afraid. We (ahem, I mean DH) had spend so much time cutting out the panels and it really wasn't what I was hoping for. 
 
Google to the rescue!
 
Apparently, there is a very specific recipe to making birch look awesome. And here it is:
 

 
Scotch Brite (five or so packages), tack cloth (a bunch of them), and water resistant polyurethane (by the buckets). 
 
The front of each piece of wood was sanded, then hit with the Scotch Brite pad, then wiped with a tack cloth, then slathered in poly. After it was dry, the process started all over again. The back and edges also received a coat of the poly for water resistance, although I didn't bother sanding the back. I have my limits.
 
After all that work, we now see what the finished panels look like.
 

 
Ooooh!  Aaaaah!
 
And installed
 

 
See how the grain popped out and the tone of the wood became much warmer?  No?  Scroll up and look again because you are wrong. :)
 
And here are the finished panels in the ceiling. The ceiling panels have a different grain to them because they are a different type of birch. We needed 1/8 inch birch panels for the ceiling which is nearly impossible to find. I ended up special ordering it from a specialty wood shop ($$$$).
 

 
That's it for this update, sorry it was short and kind of lame. The next one should catch you up to where we are now. This weekend we're shifting focus to the outside of Polly in an effort to de-ugly her. 
 
To make up for the sad excuse for an update, and to honor Dave's request, I give you, my girls with some creepy dudes at Knott's Berry Farm in LA. 
 

 
 
Next up: The walls are done (the floor, too)
 

We just got home from a full day of working on Polly Luna, so I thought I should post an update or two so I can get you guys caught up to where we are right now. I'll probably have a long-ish video to share tomorrow night. We're nearing a milestone on the rig, but more on that in another update. 
 
But first, back to that moment in time when our motorhome had no walls or ceiling. That wasn't a fun moment, so we won't hang out there long. 
 
First things first, we needed a lot of wood. The only vehicle we have that is large enough to haul 4'x8' sheets of wood is, you guessed it, Polly. So Grandma watched the kids and we took off on a little joy ride down to the hardware store. 
 

 
The view out the windshield. It was a pretty day. I love riding in Polly, it's just like riding in our old VW, except maybe a bit quieter. 
 

 
Eagle eyed folks may have noticed that our windshield wiper is held on by a zip tie. That's some next generation Red Green technology there. Who needs duck tape, zip ties FTW!
 
We're in and out of the hardware store pretty quick. 
 

 
Here is the scary thing about tearing the walls out; we're not exactly great with cutting straight. (Didn't mean to rhyme that, but now that I have, I can't stop repeating it. Has a certain ring to it. I see a Pixar musical in the works featuring down on their luck power tools?)
 
Anyway, so we had a great idea. We may not be so good at cutting a straight line, but we can trace a line as well as any kindergartener. So we got some clamps, placed the old panels on top of the new wood (1/4" birch) and traced around them with a router. We are genius. 
 

 
We're not routing the concrete, I swear. We used risers under the wood. 
 
Test fitting the first piece. Success! 
 

 
See all of the bumpy craziness around the windows? There is a thick trim that goes around the windows and will hide that. All of those bumps are original since we traced the panels exactly. Nearly 50 year old mistakes and we made them all over again.
 
Also, be glad you don't have smell-o-net because that old insulation was P-capital-U.
 
My littlest and I hang out while daddy cuts more panels. 
 

 
And pretty soon the lawn looks like this. 
 

 
One more test fit for this update.
 

 
Next time: I become best friends with a sander

Okay, enough poop. Let's move along to the good stuff. 
 
Everything had been ripped out of the coach and was laying in a heap in the garage. Now what? Here is where we learned a valuable lesson. Tearing things apart in a fury of disgust is the easy part. Rebuilding, especially when you have a renovation partner with completely opposite ideas to yours is, another thing altogether. 
 
You see, I've been obsessed with "glampers" lately. Vintage campers that have been redone with bright walls, girly fabrics and cutesy accessories. Invariably the camper will have a pennant banner somewhere. Here is kind of what I had in mind:
 

 
Isn't it adorable? 
 
Predictably, Josh didn't agree. He wanted wood. Wood everywhere. Ceiling, walls, floor. His exact words was that he wanted Polly Luna to "feel like the inside of a sailboat."  Here is essentially what he wanted. 
 

 
As you might imagine, we locked horns on this for a while. There was no way I wanted the camper to feel like the inside of an old west saloon. And I'm pretty sure he's allergic to pennant banners. 
 
Eventually, we both realized that if we didn't compromise, we'd be at the Fort with a camper that contained only kitchen cabinet frames and leftover carpet glue. Didn't sound so comfy. 
 
We started thinking about our old VW and the vintage surf wagon style. What if we compromised? Bright colors and wood?  It can work.  And so we finally had a direction. Vintage beach wagon. 
 
First order of business was paint. I had sanded the olive-toned cabinets down to the bare wood before we even removed the walls. The old stain was bumpy and faded. 
 

 
There is something to be said for these old rigs. Solid wood cabinets, not a piece of particle board insight. Dove tail joinery on the drawers. They really cared about the construction of the Travco. It makes me feel both good about bringing Polly back to life, and sad that to do so we would need to alter her so significantly. 
 
Josh sent me to the store by myself to pick out the paint color for the cabinets. We had agreed on a blue/green color for the cabinets. Something beachy, something vintage, and maybe a little something crazy. Personally, I think I aced it. Josh didn't comment, so I guess he knows what's good for him. 
 
The first coat of paint goes on. 
 

 
Yes, it is a little bright. Trust me, my friends, I know what I'm doing. You'll see! Once it's not surrounded by ugly it looks fabulous. 
 
Okay, so time for some drama. See that blue panel still remaining on the stove side of the cabinets? That sucker did not want to come out. It was committed to its position more than Joan Rivers is committed to plastic surgery. Josh tugged, and tugged, and cursed, and tugged. And finally, it came loose of the wall. 
 
Bringing with it, the top cabinet. 
 
It seems that over the years the body had flexed and the screws that once held the upper cabinet to the ceiling had pulled free. Literally the only thing holding up that cabinet were two bolts that had been drilled into the blue wall we were removing. Realizing that was a fun moment, let me tell you.
 
You can sort of see one of the bolts in this picture. Look inside the bottom shelf. The other screw was just inside the top shelf. 
 

 
Yet one more reason we are grateful that we experienced the mouse poopstorm. If we hadn't been determined to rip everything out, we would never have known that the cabinet wasn't safe. Everything happens for a reason, and with these types of projects, one problem always leads to another. 
 
Next up:  Woody joins the party

The ride home from buying the Travco was surprisingly uneventful. The old girl was a champ, only threatening to vapor lock once at a particularly long traffic light. Going forward doesn't seem to be a problem for the coach. Stopping on the other hand...well, let's just say there is room for improvement. But more on that another day. 
 
First, I'd like to make a comparison over what was supposed to happen with the interior remodel, and what actually happened. 
 
Supposed to happen right away:
-  Carpet replaced with a moisture resistance vinyl plank
-  Ceiling panels replaced because they were sagging
-  Captain's chairs across from the couch removed
 
Everything else was supposed to be dealt with eventually, but not right away. Everything else was livable until next year. 
 
But a funny thing happened when we pulled down the first ceiling panel. It rained. Oh, a leak, you ask? No, it wasn't water. It was mouse poop. Mouse poop everywhere. And that was pretty much the end of me sleeping in Polly Luna until she had been purged of every spec of poop. Can you blame me? 
 
That's right folks. I said it. This mess started with a mouse. 
 

 
 
We tore out nearly everything. The ceiling, the carpet, the walls, the cabinet doors, the mattress. Everything must go. 
 
Josh found this behind the wall near the kitchen cabinets
 

 

 
Notice the teeth marks?  Awesome. 
 
In all seriousness, I wonder if they would still honor that coupon? 
 
Guess what else we found when we took out the walls? Our insulation was saturated in, you guessed it, mouse pee. So THAT's what the smell was!
 
The insulation came out, too. 
 
More fun things were found. The first, a wire to the switch for the water pump had been rubbing against a hole in the kitchen cabinet for who knows how long and was worn down to bare wire. Very, very lucky thing we tore out the walls and found this. (Thanks, Mickey!)
 

 
Another fun find. The original carpet still under the kitchen cabinets. (Accompanied by more mouse poop.)
 

 
Interesting plumbing work under the sink. Not suspect at all. 
 

 
You probably can't tell by the angle of the picture, but the elbow part of the drain (the shiny part) wasn't attached to rest of the drain at all. Completely disconnected. And from the look of that back wall, I'm thinking there is a leak somewhere. Just a hunch.
 
Next time: Rebuilding involves less poop. 

For those that expressed interest, I've started a build thread over here: http://www.fortfiends.net/forum/topic/13081-polly-luna-wakes-up-a-classic-rv-build-story/  Just an intro so far. :)

Meet the newest member of our family, Polly Luna, a 1967 Dodge Travco motorhome.
 

 
 
We've always been big fans of vintage vehicles, and before our kids were born we camped in a 1972 VW Contempo camper conversion (see profile pic). 
 
Last fall we were feeling a little worn down by work. We both really wanted to get away and knew of course what it was we wanted. The FORT. 
 
Last time we camped at the Fort we flew down and rented Donnie's fifth wheel. It was a perfect vacation, but we have had a change in the family since then. Specifically, this happened.
 

 
Two small kids on a plane?  Easy with the two of us to do zone defense. But the idea of plane travel with three kids stressed us out. Not what we wanted from this vacation. We started using a bunch of "What ifs?"  What if we managed to get two full weeks off of work together? What if we took the girls out of school for a bit? What if we took our time driving down to the Fort and saw some sights along the way?
 
We booked the trip, got the time off of work, and hung out in this happy place a bit. Until we realized that 19 hours in a Jeep with three kids in car seats jammed in back, sandwiched among the gear that wouldn't fit in our pop-up, sounded anything but peaceful. More "What ifs?" came then. What if we had a motorhome? What if the girls could sit and play games at a dinette while we traveled? What if we could stop more places because set-up and break down wasn't such a chore? What if we didn't have to worry about getting a space close to the comfort station? 
 
But seriously, what if we had a motorhome? 
 
The thing is, though, we were on a budget. We started thinking over the options. We could buy a 90's motorhome that was fairly modern and had all the amenities we needed, but would take our entire budget to purchase. Or, we could go back to familiar turf and buy a vintage rv for cheap and take the rest of the budget to make it what we really want it to be. 
 
Point of honesty here: We never actually considered the 90's motorhome. From the second the idea of a vintage rig was in our heads it was all over but the finding. And then, after three months of searching and a bunch of false starts, we did find her.
 
The 1967 Dodge Travco was less than three hours from our home near the coast of Lake Michigan where, according to the 40+ year old paperwork that came with the coach, she has spent her entire life. 
 
And so we drove out there, looked it over, and decided that finally we had found the rig we would add to the family.
 
Here's a little video we made of the purchase: http://youtu.be/3z7z37Iw8tQ   (Note: My husband fixed Hazel's car seat strap after taking the video of her. She's nearly six year old and has been buckling herself in independently for a month or so...she didn't do such a good job on this day.)
 
Next post: Polly Luna's specs and the work begins!

Awesome, I'll get it going later tonight. :)