Our Airstream life began about 2 years ago when we decided to retire at the end of 2010 and spend a year traveling the country. Like a lot of folks, we looked at RV after RV, but couldn’t find one we liked. They just all seemed so dull and cookie-cutter to us - monochromatic color schemes, plastic trim everywhere, each one looking like the previous one and the next one. But out there glimmering in the sunlight was the occasional shiny, silver Airstream, quirky, interesting, no two looking alike inside. So we searched on the internet and finally last October, spotted THE ONE. We drove down to Los Angeles from the San Francisco area and bought our 1974 Excella, with all its bumps, bruises, warts, and dings. It didn’t look too bad on first inspection, a little shopworn, but respectable.

Then we started to deconstruct it (or demolish it as the neighbors referred to the process). And there they were: water damaged floor, mouse eaten insulation (if I never see another acorn shell it will be fine with me!), twisted/rusted frame pieces, leaking rivets/seams, etc., etc., etc.

It’s now August, almost a year later and two novices have learned to buck rivets and install aluminum patches. We have replaced the flooring and numerous pieces of sheet metal; removed, cleaned and reinstalled the Vista View windows; cleaned and re-installed the water tanks; installed a new air conditioner and 300 watts worth of solar panels. As of last week it is now officially waterproof. In fact, we’ve tested it so often our next door neighbor felt compelled to comment that we could keep watering it, but it wasn’t going to grow. The only work we didn’t do ourselves was the welding to replace the rusted areas on the frame which we had done by a local trailer repair company.

It’s been somewhat, to say the least, time consuming, but we’ve reached a red letter moment: the outside is done and we started on the inside last Sunday. Whoo Hoo! As of today, the 50 amp service, 110 volt and 12 volt wiring is place – waiting installation of the inner sheet metal. Our next step will be insulation, then the inner skins.

So far we've come up with two major recommendations to anyone trying this on their own. 1) If you can’t be talked out of it, then press on. But be sure to take at least one weekend a month to play. All work and no play can really stress a relationship, both with your spouse and with your Airstream. 2) If you don’t have a warehouse-sized indoor storage place with electricity and tools, be sure you have tolerant neighbors who don’t mind you dragging a 31 ft trailer home every weekend and parking it in the street. It also helps if they don’t mind providing the occasional extra muscle or set of hands. We've lucked out with great neighbors that are fascinated by the project and drop by every weekend to check out the progress (or else they're calculating how long until we finish and pack up to leave).

Things are winding down a bit at work for both of us in anticipation of retirement, so we should be a little more regular at postings.