The Excella Files

[Lance M]

Originally Posted by jsmith84

I love when I can post on this thread, means Im using and enjoying all my work I put into our AS!

We are all packed up ready to head out at 0600hrs. Everythings ready to go, trailer and TV are all washed up, and all systems checked.

Headed back to Canton, TX to do some shopping for Xmas.

I added a final touch to the AS today!

Attachment 144450

Gotta let folks know we are a supporting member of this geat forum!

Stay tuned......Travels soon to follow!

I'm a fan of stickers in the back window! Looks great! Enjoy the weekend!

[Mr & Mrs S]

Well we made it to Canton yesterday!
Wow at the people! Where did they all come from?
Its was only Thursday and theres not a place to park or a place for an RV.
Luckly we have had reservations since June, but unluckly the RV park got our reservations messed up. We had a group of 7 RVs and now we are all spread out.
Its all good! Its all in what you make of the hand your delt.

We are not the only Airstream in the park, there is one more about 6 sites down from us. Newer looking 25ish ' Classic. I didnt get a chance to meet the owners but hopefully Ill spot them today.

Not much shopping got done yesterday, it was a lot cooler here than I planned for but most of all the WIND! It was just a cutting cold wind.

Who ordered all this cold weather??!!

I will say Im really enjoying staying in my camper during this cooler weather. Sure is warm and toasty in here this morning.

Hopefully it wont be so windy today, Mrs. S is telling me our main misson for today is to find her a Flamingo to display with the Airstream.......
Please tell me its ok for me to display Flamingos on and around something Ive worked so hard on.......?
Anyone??

[Mr & Mrs S]

Its 0645 hrs, my feet hurt my knees are swollen and I just took Advil with my coffee. Mrs. S can walk for miles.... The search went on and on for the pink flamingo......But it was a success (finally).

Here they are, the twin Flamingos. Mrs. S had to have them when she saw them head bobbing in the wind. She wanted the big ones which stand nearly 6 foot tall but settled for these that are only about 1.5 foot tall.

Spotted this litte to:

Mrs. S had a fit for this but I just wouldnt go for it. Cant see big ole Zeus riding around in that little thing..

Well Ive been hunting my next project to work on. Ive been leaning hard towards finding a Spartan.

I stumbled across this little feller while walking around. I talked with the owner and he told me what brand it was but for the life of me I cant remember what he said. Its a 1947 ....something I wanna say it started with a V, but I cant remeber. Anybody wanna throw a name out there and see if I can remeber??

The outside is in GREAT shape as far as the skins. Its about 16 foot long. The inside is pretty much trashed. But I tried and tried to get the guy to come off it. He thought about it but just couldnt commit.
I would have loved to got it and made it my next project and do a custom interior.
Would have been a great weekender trailer.

Well couple more hours of shopping and then we will have to pack up and head out....But luckily when we leave here we will be gearing up for the Texas Piney Woods Rally.........
Really looking forward to that!
Been a great weekend here but Im shopped out and looking forward to visiting and relaxing at the lake.

Ok Ive got to go Mrs. S it fussing for me to help take the dogs out...

See Yawl Later

[Mr & Mrs S]

Well we made it home from Canton, our wallets are alittle more lite than when we started but we had a heck of a good time.
On Saturday there was estimated to have been 150,000 people shopping in Canton.
I didnt get much done on that day but Mrs. S fought the crowds and did good.

We planned to head out early in the a.m. this morning but we decided to hit it one last time......Boy am I glad we did. There was hardly anyone shopping and the deals were to be made.

Im a collector of vintage things: castiron, vintage coolers, really anything old that intrest me.
Well Mrs. S has been on me for us to get us a set of bicycles to use while we are staying in parks an such.
I didnt have much intrest in them until I stumbled across this bad boy:


This guy restores 5 vintage bikes a year and he told me this one is a 1948 Monarch. I HAD to have it. I got it!
Had to put my poker face on to get a deal on it but after a good stand off I got it for a price I was willing to give for it. The seller wasnt happy with the deal but he let it go.

Cant wait to cruise Mill Creek park this week at the Texas Piney Woods Rally!
I got so many compliments on the way out of the shopping center while I was riding it back to the Airstrem.
Between that and the fact I FINALLY found a cast iron Bundt Pan to add to my collection Im super happy with the outcome of our shopping adventure.
We had a great time! We got two days to restock and wash clothes and then were heading out again. But this time its to relax and have a good time with fellow Airstreamers.
Now we got to get Mrs. S a cool crusier like mine for the rally.
Wonder what shes got in mind....
To be continued...

[HiHoAgRV]

Wow! awesome bike...lets see...isn't there a thread here somewhere about adding a bumper mounted bike rack?

Lookin forward to checkin it out this coming weekend!

[bike_addict]

That is a pretty slick bike. I like it.

[Mr & Mrs S]

Well Ive been charting out our next big adventrue with "Tha Stream" and I looks like we are going to get a second chance at visiting New Mexico. If you remember we had planned on making a grand trip back in September but we had to scrap it at the last minute.

So as of now our plans are as follow:

Dec 25th- depart from home base and drive to Tyler, Texas to pick up Sis & Brother-in-Law.

Dec 26th- depart Tyler, Tx and spend the night in Clayton, New Mexico at a KOA.

Dec 27th - Depart Clayton and arrive in Red River, New Mexico for a 5 night stay. We will be skiing/snowboarding with our family. We will also bring in the new year here.

Jan 1st 2012 - Depart Red River, NM and head to Albuquerque Airport and drop off Sis & Brother in law. Continue down to White Sands Monument for a 2 night stay in this area. (Havnet located a campsite yet, suggestions welcomed)

Jan 3rd - Depart WSM and head out for Carlsbad Caverns for a two night stay. (Mixed feelings on where to stay here, lots of bad reviews for this area)

Jan 5th- Depart Carlsbad Caverns and head to Big Bend National Park for a 5 night stay at the Rio Grande Village Campground. If we can make it that long in boondock mode, will be a first for us.

Jan 10th- Begin our long journey back east to the piney woods of Texas.
Should arrive home around the 11th or 12th.

So this is our planned trip, roughly charted at 2,650 mile round trip. Hope The Stream can handle this long of a trip. He should be fine, If he fails along the way the only person to blame is myself, Im the one that done all the work on him to prep him for such a trip.....

Any suggestions, stop offs, must see, or so ons, feel free to jump in and give us a shout.

[bike_addict]

Sounds like a great trip. Have fun. I'm sure he'll hold up fine. Can't wait for us to have the chance to have a big trip like that.

[Mr & Mrs S]

Originally Posted by bike_addict

Sounds like a great trip. Have fun. I'm sure he'll hold up fine. Can't wait for us to have the chance to have a big trip like that.

Well com'on and go with us! Nothing like traveling in a convoy of silver!

We are always looking for silver along the way!

[bike_addict]

I wish I could.

[Mr & Mrs S]

Originally Posted by bike_addict

I wish I could.

Nothing like having to pull the entire bathroom out two nights before our trip. Yep, I am currently watching Mr.S fix a water leak on the hot water heater. I would have opted for a cold shower before I dug into this rats nest! Oh well, at least he's fixing it
Ps. We almost didn't even make the trip due to a 4 hour search for the airstream keys and every other important key we need. Turns out, they were on the ROOF of the airstream! Don't ask people. Sigh...what a day.

[noreen&sal]

I gotta ask. Sal.

[bike_addict]

Originally Posted by Mr & Mrs S

Nothing like having to pull the entire bathroom out two nights before our trip. Yep, I am currently watching Mr.S fix a water leak on the hot water heater. I would have opted for a cold shower before I dug into this rats nest! Oh well, at least he's fixing it
Ps. We almost didn't even make the trip due to a 4 hour search for the airstream keys and every other important key we need. Turns out, they were on the ROOF of the airstream! Don't ask people. Sigh...what a day.

Ok. That's hilarious (the key part at least). I can honestly say that if I lost my airstream keys, I would absolutely never check the roof of it. I can imagine the frustration but I can't help but find a great deal of humor in that.

Now the hot water leak on the other hand, not funny. The timing on that is bad. Good luck getting it fixed and back together. Hope you guys enjoy your trip. I'm pretty envious.

[L.C.]

camp richard has best rates in arkansas and comes with 2 boats and hook ups. frenchy

[Mr & Mrs S]

Well I see Mrs. S has been on here posting our troubles...

Now the rest of the story......

Well I know Ive been pretty quiet on here for several weeks now. I had to come home early from Viet Nam for a death in the family which always puts a dampner on the Xmas holidays. Ive lost both of my Grandfathers just before the Xmas holidays (different years).
While we were morning over that, at the same time we were trying to get ready for our big trip. We were dragging our feet big time do to everything else going on. Then I discovered the leak on our hot water heater and spent one whole night tearing out the bathroom walls and counters to get to the water heater. That was a huge ordeal! But I got her fixed. Mrs. S kept saying " Ill take a cold shower" Well I WONT!

Ok the keys, Im sure everyone is wondering about the keys and how they got on the roof.
I was sealing up the vent on the cook top stove early that day and after I filled our fresh water tank the ladder was still there so I climb up to take a look at my seal job to make sure it was dry and for some reason I set the keys on the roof on the awning. Dont ask me why, I guess I just had to much on my mind. Hours and hours later and a full blown search party and I finally found them. On the roof

Anyhoo, now for some good things, Santa was good to us, he brought us to shiny new Zip Dee chairs, two Airstream mugs, and a LED upgrade kit for the Airstream. I installed the LED's and man they look great and WOW at the difference.

Last night we departed our home town and we just boondocked outside my sisters house in Tyler, Texas. There going on the ski trip with us.
So now Im craving my first cup of coffee and trying to get the folks moving so we can get on the road. We got many miles to make today.
Hopefully we will at least get into New Mexico.

I better get them moving....Hope everyone had a Merry Chirstmas.
Ill be in touch soon.

Mr. S

[Lance M]

Sorry for your family's loss Mr. S. Glad you got your leaks fixed and are on the road. Have a fun trip!

[desertair27]

Love the bicycle and your thread. You might try lowering the nose of the saddle,should be more comfy.just my opinion.

[Mr & Mrs S]

Ok everyone we made it to Red River New Mexico! I ended up driving straight through from Tyler Texas, so that explains why I didn't post yesterday, I was dead to the world most of the day.
So Santa forgot to get me my IPad for Xmas. But my loving Mrs. S picked me one up along the way so that's what I'm using now.
Pretty Netto!
I know I'm slacking in the picture department lately, I promise to do better.

Guess I better get some breakfast, today's the big day for the slopes!

To be continued.......

[Mr & Mrs S]

Originally Posted by Top

Sorry for your family's loss Mr. S. Glad you got your leaks fixed and are on the road. Have a fun trip!

Thanks Top, he will be missed always.

[Mr & Mrs S]

Originally Posted by desertair27

Love the bicycle and your thread. You might try lowering the nose of the saddle,should be more comfy.just my opinion.

Glad you enjoy our thread & thanks for the tip on my cruiser I'll give it a try!