New Owners - '67 Sovereign

[m.nolte]

Thanks Rolland! We are really close. A couple odds and ends to finish but almost.


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[Rolland]

We are headed to Daytona for the Florida chapters annual meeting tomorrow-Can't really afford to go or take the weekend off, but am thinking, if not now, when? We are going to take our dog and cat along this time, first time for them traveling, and first time for us taking pets. Should be interesting. Only about 150 miles from home. Am trying to leave the Airstream loaded with everything but food and clothes, makes it a lot easier to just go. Missy is slowly coming around to the idea. I took all the dishes and utensils out of our boat and put them in the trailer, boat hasn't been in the water for 7 years anyway.


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[m.nolte]

Rolland, that sounds like our boat. We finally sold it after using it once in a three year period. My husband grew up in a farm family so vacations are not something he is very familiar with. Trying to get him to leave home is like prying a barnacle off a post. So our trips will probably be limited to 3-4 relatively short ones each year. But I have hope he will love it so much we will eventually take longer ones. Until then I plan to enjoy Slim short range and live vicariously through all the forum folks who take the long trips.

If you wind up passing through the Fairhope, AL area give me a shout, you are welcome to park in our yard.

[m.nolte]

Well, we made it. We are ready for our inaugural trip tomorrow, mostly.
We spent the last two nights finishing the plumbing. I tried to go cheap and reuse the old water pump. It leaked, everywhere. And while I believe that it just needs new gaskets, there was no time to find out. So we made an emergency run to the local RV parts house and bought a new water pump. Installed it and... it wouldn't shut off. After some panicked reading of the directions we adjusted the pressure switch and bypass and it works like a champ. We now have sinks, shower, toilet and hot water on city water or tank.
We have interior lights and power, minus the reading lamps which I haven't finished converting.
We have new beds, lets hope the mattresses fit.
New bath vanity and toilet. And a new sectional/couch/pull out bed in the front. No cushions but whose counting.
We will be reusing the kitchen cabinets for now but that's alright.
After work I have to go home and give Slim a bath and pack. Thank the Lord we are only a few miles from home because I am definitely going to forget something. Probably several somethings.

[Rolland]

Just bring money, wal mart has anything you forgot-Congratulations, Go!


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[m.nolte]

Thanks Rolland!

[m.nolte]

Some pictures from our first trip. It was a little chilly but the camper did great!


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[m.nolte]

Aerial from the rally we attended, the Rileigh and Raylee Angel Ride. It is a motorcycle rally/ride, concert and three day campout to benefit families of children with disabilities. We had a good time with good friends and listened to bands like Mustang Sally, The Tip Tops, Wet Willie and Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was a great first outing close to home so we could figure out what else we need to do. We were the only silver trailer in residence and boy did we get a lot of looks and tour requests. I probably should have put out the doilies and dinner mints.

[TouringDan]

Looks like you had a great time.

Reminds me of the music festivals that I enjoy going to. I really like the freedom and independance of just camping in a field. As long as you point your trailer north, you can make your own shade and also get the warmth of the morning sun to enjoy that cup of coffee.

Dan

[m.nolte]

Thanks Dan! It was a lot of fun and the open camping was great. We would definitely do it again.


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[Landshark]

Originally Posted by m.nolte

We were the only silver trailer in residence and boy did we get a lot of looks and tour requests. I probably should have put out the doilies and dinner mints.

WHAT??!! You DIDN'T put out the doilies and mints?? I'm ashamed of your lack of Southern Hospitality necessities!

Seriously though, isn't it fun being a silver trailer owner in a mostly SOB gathering? And huge congrats on saving your lovely Sovereign. You have done a stellar job on Slim, and I'm impressed all to pieces about all the work you did your-very-own-self. I'm going to have to quit using the helpless-female excuse and just dive in to one of ours, **sigh**. The wood is beautiful, one of the nicest things about the 50s-60s trailers.

Congratulations again--I just finished reading your whole thread, and it's great.

Vivian

[m.nolte]

Thanks Vivian! I know, the lack of doilies and dinner mints was a definite dereliction of my southern hospitality training. My only excuse is that it was our first camping trip and that wasn't the only thing I forgot.
It was great fun being the only silver trailer in the SOB gathering. We spent a lot of time watching people watching us. My favorite was the head whip, as they turned to see if they saw what they thought they saw.

I have learned a whole lot working on Slim and will definitely continue to work on him. It has become my hobby. Throw those girly gloves out the window. You can do it! In all fairness, I have been fortunate to have talented friends/family who can show me the ropes and assist when things just aren't working (like the sink that would NOT come out). Not to mention all the great folks here on the forums. And there are some things I know are best left to the pros. Welding (I confess, that is just scary stuff). Cabinet building (me and saws, not a good combo, ever). So I can't take full credit, but thank you for reading the thread and for the kind words. More Slim work to come, stay tuned!

[m.nolte]

Back at it. Working on some light duty interior items I never got around to. Polishing interior window sills and frames. Wiping down the old wood with Howard's Restor-a-finish and feed and wax. And sewing my daughters stack of bunk foam into an actual mattress with cover.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!


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[m.nolte]

Well we made it to our second trip, ever. First rally. We attended Canopener and really enjoyed it. Great people there.

We were late getting down there, (typical for the Nolte crew), and it was a little chilly that first night. But a few beverages and a campfire and everything worked out great. Slim did great, pulled well, set up was easy, a space heater kept us plenty warm and despite my paranoia nothing flew off on the trip down or back.
Of course, after seeing all the campers and modifications people had made I came back with a list to add to my existing list of things to do on the camper.
We have already started on some of those items, adding closet shelving (cedar of course), building my accent lights (pictures to come), adding trim around the fridge and rebuilding the table. The things I definitely want to do: polish - its going to be a ton of work but those polished trailers were gorgeous. cushions and curtains - the trailers with redone upholstery and curtains just seemed so well pulled together. replace my dome lights - I visited with an owner who had changed his lights to the LED's from VTS and they were awesome. Definitely on my list. Awning - there is just something cool about those striped awnings and I need one. Baby moons, beauty rings and white walls, Oh my! - not sure if I need all of these but definitely need to spiff up my wheels.
Most of these things were on my list, just down towards the bottom with the maybe I'll get to it eventually stuff. But after Canopener, I think I need them now.

[Panama Red]

Did y'all JUST come back from Canopener???

-Red, jealous as heck...

[m.nolte]

LOL! I WISH we just came back. Instead I am just now catching up.

Melissa - wishing retirement wasn't 30 YEARS away

[Landshark]

What are "beauty rings"??

Vivian

[Panama Red]

Back in the seventies and eighties, instead of hub caps, they put a shiny chrome ring around the outer edge of a black steel rim, and a chrome center cap. They popped off like hubcaps... Not sure exactly when they started, or if they've stopped. I don't have them on any of my cars today, but I did have them from the factory on my '76 Celica I had in high school...

-Red, chrome ring blinging...

[m.nolte]

Hubs and I worked on Slim today. Made some progress, trimmed out the fridge and replaced the ledge behind the sofa and the table ledge. I need to take some more pics but here's one of the fridge and our assistant.


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[m.nolte]

A little more progress and a sneak peek


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