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FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 08:22 AM

Ke aloha nō! April and Bill here... Been hanging around airfourms.com for a while now but never really properly introduced ourselves or told our story...

April and I met and married in South Florida. Nothing much really matters before that, other than we took a trip to Hawaii and have since felt drawn to the islands... I'm an auto financier and April is an interior designer. I also dabble as a gentlemen farmer who specializes in rare palms and productive plants.

I got into towing from my palm addiction... My first ever tow rig.

My rare palm exploits led us to take a vacation to Hawaii...

Yeah, it was cool...

We fell in love with the island (How could anyone not love such natural beauty!

)

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 08:27 AM

We came back to Florida and got married...

Growing plants still weight heavily on our mind...

We pretty much worked every waking moment and weren't really enjoying life very much so it inevitably clicked, we wanted to open a farm in Hawaii...

Weather conditions there are pretty much perfect for people and plants... Plus, where is a better place in the world to pursue this endeavor?

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 08:30 AM

So how in the world do we get from our fast paced workaholic lifestyle to food production in paradise? At the time we had a super nice luxury townhouse in downtown Delray Beach...

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 08:34 AM

GARAGE SALE!!!!! We jettisoned all our worldly possessions!

Man that was liberating!!!

Aage · 03-22-2011, 08:36 AM

Well howdy and welcome to Airforums.com, April and Bill! As you already know by now, you are members of an interesting group of people who are dedicated to the promotion, protection, and propagation of Airstreams.

I too am a real fan of Hawaii and have been to Oahu, the Big Island (Hawaii) and Kuai. My wife and her sister took a trip to Muai a few years ago, and claim that it is the nicest island in the chain, but I say that they are ALL nice.

Somehow though, I can't imagine an Airstream there, although I'm sure they do have a few.

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 08:42 AM

We had our eye on an Airstream that was about 1100 miles north of us for sometime...
Since the house hadn't sold in over a year the bank accepted a deed in lieu and we loaded up the old Ford rig and took off towards the freezing lands of the bitter north!

The house was gone and all we owned was in the truck!

I've lived in Florida for over 17 years now. Really... who eats ice cream when it's this cold?

Seroiusly, even my truck didn't like the cold, it didn't wanna start and the blower motor froze on the heater after our first stop in South Carolina. After a long trek into bitter temps that gave use thin blooded Southerners nose bleeds and split digits we had finally arrived at our destination!

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 08:43 AM

Thanks for the welcome Aage... The islands are great, we didn't see a single AS while there but in a couple more years I am sure there will be at least one! We'll need a place to live while we build a farmhouse!

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 08:55 AM

We got the rig assembled indoors! Oil furnaces are a great thing!

We insured her before we left the warehouse and took delivery of our 2004 International!!!

We hightailed it out of there and booked to Florida... If you saw a silver streak on I-95 that was us... We both couldn't wait to get to warm weather... We don't own coats and only had one blanket between the two of us! Camping on the way home was unsuccessful, the batteries were 5-6 years old and stone dead... Not to mention we were totally unprepared for the -17F night in the Wally World parking lot in West VA...

Since then we have parked the A/S at my used car lot in Palm Beach County and have been working on assemblance of some sort of a normal life out of our tincan... It has been a switch to kinda jump into such a big chance head first...

We were smart enough to get a big canopy next to the rolling toaster so we could enjoy the last bit of temperate weather before summer temps arrive... Wiring it up with some work lights was a must.

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 08:57 AM

Since then we have taken on little projects... I have rebuilt the commode, replaced the shower mixer valve and generally tinkered around... I'm planning on replacing all the lights with LEDs and giving the old girl a serious wax job when some of the immediate tasks wind down...

We chose stainless dishes and storage containers that fit our new home!

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 08:58 AM

There are some niceties that make living in an RV a bit easier... We are all about ease...

Sweet paper towel holed should fit in nicely...

Bathroom upgrades are a must have...

Anyone have problems with suction things falling off the shower and damaging the fiberglass?

This little diddy was worth every penny.

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 09:03 AM

Most important upgrade was to replace the AC... We decided to go with the 13.5 Penguin heat pump model... We have been happy with it. It keeps things cold... I'm itchin to replace that TV, dumb thing is analog and I can't even pick up a single station. I miss the news in the morning... Probably not missing that much. Who care's who Obama picks for his NCAA bracket?

To help move that cold around we put a Vornado in the over storage... Helps level out the temps in the rear of the unit.

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 09:07 AM

We are in the process of changing out the "Hazard Orange" color in our trailer. We chose some fancy schmancy Italian laminate that is red to recover the shelves with. Looking forward to that switch. Last night April found the perfect fabric to make our bedding with!

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 09:11 AM

So far to date the biggest project that we have taken on to adapt out AS to it's temporary home is to add a french drain to help handle waste water from the trailer...

We hired a couple guys who were standing our in front of the local big box hardware store (who happened to have papers) and they prepared this lovely 40' trench before it was lunch time. Those guys earned their $$'s

The following day I installed a nice french drain in that ditch alongside the camper...

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 09:15 AM

I back filled it (the dirt is always easier to put back in the hole than to get it out) and planted a bunch of banana plants.

I attached a length of black poly pipe to our washing machine in the shed and ran to to irrigate the bananas from the top... That combined with our waste fluids from the trailer should keep these nanners happy and producing 100's of pounds of fruit in no time...
All that was left to do was mulch heavily and hook up the trailer!

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 09:24 AM

I'll make sure to post updates in this thread as things change, new projects, A/S modifications etc... We are glad to be here and living this lifestyle. This first year of marriage has been action packed, with this housing/lifestyle adjustment, a brain tumor removal, and a pregnancy. We are looking forward to year two! The plan is to fulltime for a few years and stack away cash in hopes of taking a year or two after that and crossing the country, seeing the sights, putting the rig on a ship to Hawaii, and eventually landing there long enough to get a permaculture style farm up and running. Thanks for having us here and if anyone needs anything please feel free to ask.

Aage · 03-22-2011, 03:37 PM

Your plan sounds like it's going to be lots of fun, and give you a feeling of fulfillment. I wish you the best of luck with it!

As for the plumbing you buried, is that for the black tank output? I'm no engineer, but did you do the calculation to make sure that 40' of leach field will handle the, uh, output?

I seem to remember several really long lines on the leach fields I saw built for home use, plus they were the last leg of a system that included a septic tank. Maybe I'm not understanding what it is that you installed?

FullTimin2HI · 03-22-2011, 03:42 PM

Thanks for the well wishes! Hope it all works out... If not we'll certainly give our best one step at a time! As for the plumbing, NO #2 allowed in there... Literally, Code Enforcement is 2 buildings away (with a direct line of sight from the approval manager's desk) from my dig site and the last thing I want to do is pick a fight there. Didn't wanna permit and figured I could get away with my little drain much easier than a septic system... Besides, we've got a commode only 15-20 feet from the Airstream in the shop where we can take our "solid fertilizers".

OB Bambi · 03-23-2011, 09:00 AM

Great photos. I like the idea of keeping a theme. (The stainless look). In post 10 you had a paper towel holder that screwed to the wall. Do you remember where you got it? Thanks
Randy Bowman

Someday'59 · 03-23-2011, 09:22 AM

Which island? Big, I assume?

FullTimin2HI · 03-23-2011, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OB Bambi

Great photos. I like the idea of keeping a theme. (The stainless look). In post 10 you had a paper towel holder that screwed to the wall. Do you remember where you got it? Thanks
Randy Bowman

Stainless plates are not only cool looking but are also very functional, we are trying to steer clear of plastics in our lives lots of nasties in plastic that get into our food... We got these plates at lifewithoutplastic.com Some cool stuff there... We found a frying pan April and I serious love... It's a stainless 18/10 pan with a ceramic baked coating in the pan... Non-stick with no flakes of teflon getting in our food!

The paper towel was picked up at our local bed bath and beyond...