Those of you that have been following the "when one of us hurts" thread may have noticed we are about to leave the home we can no longer afford to live in because of my injuries keeping me from working.
After much consideration, thinking, discussing, cursing, and gnashing teeth, we have decided toi try the fulltiming option. There are several options open to us, from paying under $300/month plus electric for a space near Ocala (where we would like to eventually move anyway), to $750/month for a spot a Traveler's Rest North of Tampa, including everything from WiFi to greens fees for the golf course. All are a lot less than the $1400/month we are coughing up for our small 3 bedroom house here in Cape Coral, including rent, water, electric, and cable. Since we are going to have to make a change, we decided to REALLY make a change, and are rehabbing a 1974 Sovereign to full time in.
Now that you have the background, here is the story:
We have many spies all over the country looking for a suitable trailer to fulltime in, that we can afford to buy without finishing pushing us into bankruptcy. There have been sightings, and rumors, but nothing we could do anything with given time and financial constraints.
We were all set to go this weekend and look at a 1989 32 foot Landyacht (aka squarestream) thatwas low mileage, and needed to have the removed parts replaced. A drawback for us was the price, while pretty inexpensive for what it was, if we had bought it, and had a flat tire on the way home, we would have been sunk. With no margin for error, we were more than a little nervous about this, especially since our current trailer, listed for sale, has not had any serious nibbles.
Then, out of the blue, a forums member called me and told me he had seen a mid 70's Airstream between 29-32 feet long, with a "for sale" sign on it, about 5 miles from our house.
I hobbled out to the truck, and we rolled over to where the trailer was sitting. What I found was a 1974 Sovereign, in good overall condition. In checking it over, we noted some things that were good (floors solid, even in the rear compartment), and some things that were bad (rear frame sag), and it had "that black tank odor".
The body is in very good shape, with no dents or gouges, all compartments open and lock, the Air Conditioner works very well, and it has Zip Dee awnings all around. I have no idea why there is an awning on the front windows instead of a rock guard, but it does. Looks kind of strange. It also has a portable aquarium inside the left wing window, and the Univolt is DOA.
The axles are in good shape, but the tires were made in 1998, so they are going away, even though they have no weather checking. This could be because it had both wheelwell covers, and tire covers.
It has a new electric tongue jack, BAL stabilizers all around, all windows work, the brakes and lights work, and I heard the water pump come on when I hit the switch. It has had the same owners since 1992, and looks like that was the last time it was really cleaned. It isn't filthy, but it isn't clean, either. It seems to have a missing water heater, I can hardly wait to turn on the water, and watch it pour out the water heater compartment...
We will also be replacing the mattresses with memory foam mattresses, getting new curtains, and replacing the brown indoor outdoor carpet. Here are a few photos of the exterior, as we found it:
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