Getting my own account!

[Alumatube]

Hi everyone!

I have been sharing hubby Brad's account for the last few days and have quickly realized I just needed to go ahead and get my own. We are the folks who just drove back from GA with our new-to-us 1984 310 motor home. We also have a 1974 31' Excella trailer that we were going to renovate, but when we got inside it to look at it it was totally trashed out (it was used as a deer camp for seven years, bleah). So we decided to make it into a car hauler for two of our vintage racers (Triumph Spitfire and TR3). PeyoteBill, a friend of ours, has done the same thing with another trailer, except ours will be almost solely for the cars where he has built living quarters into his and we plan to clamshell the back door to maintain the look of the back end. His (AKA Nero) is awesome!!

Below is a pic I just took of Big Al parked down by the shop. Brad has been puttering with stuff like the generator, water heater and dash blower fan today. There is a bunch of stuff to be done, but his engine and running gear are very sound. We are thrilled!!! I have also attached an interior pic of the Excella after Brad pulled out the big stuff (I can't find the original pics of it right now). It was NASTY. I don't believe there was one interior piece that could have been salvaged except for a few light fixtures. But we'll beef it up and put a nice floor in it and enjoy the heck out of it. I love the thought of a car hauler with a doorbell!

Susan

[Fyrzowt]

Well, I don't know whether to welcome you or not, at least as a new member since you've apparently been here for a while. Welcome anyway.
Thanks for the pics, looks like you have some fun ahead of you!
Dave

[Alumatube]

I have only been here for a few days and I don't think Brad posted in the new members section, so just wanted to say hi!

[Fyrzowt]

Very good, welcome! I re-read my last post, and I'm not sure my humor came out the way it was supposed to.
Sorry, no offense was meant, hopefully none taken!
It is always nice to see new members come on board.
Dave

[3Ms75Argosy]

Welcome "officially"!

Love the MH - looks great! It'll be a great tow car for the racecar.

On a sadder note - I'm sorry to hear about your dog - our pets are like our children to us.

Take care!
Marc

[Alumatube]

No problem, Dave--none taken! Thanks for the welcome!

And thanks, Marc--it has been very hard on us this week. He was the dog that got me to really like dogs (I have always been a cat person). He was Brad's shop buddy and my exercise partner and a goofy, fun boy and we miss him a lot. Here's a pic of him.

Susan

[Silvertwinkie]

It just crushing to lose a loved pet.....my heart goes out to you....

[Alumatube]

Thanks, Silvertwinkie!

It looks like the part about him in my post got deleted somehow--it was poison and the vet misdiagnosed it and treated him for a bacterial infection. It was a shock to us since we thought he'd be around another few years. Poisoning is the most common cause of death for dogs in the US, so please, everyone with dogs do some research and become familiar with the symptoms! It is treatable if you catch it in time.

Susan

[Silvertwinkie]

Not to rehash old wounds, but what happened? Yer pooch looked fairly young, compared to my AARP pooch (16 year old Shep mix), whom I love dearly.

[ALANSD]

I love Triumphs and had a few over the years ..especially like the Tr3.

[CanoeStream]

Hello Susan -- Welcome to the Forums! I can vouch for Fyrzowt and his level headed approach, fun sense of humor ... . He can't say the same about me after I began talking like a pirate last night -- a clear sign that he's from a different place than most men.

I definitely recall the pics of PeyoteBill's project. Bet it's a hit wherever it goes. Brad? Brad? We have a number of Brad usernames but none from Arkansas. Help out an old scallywag here -- what is your hubby's ASForums username?

[Alumatube]

Silvertwinkie, there was a lot of logging going on right up the road (we are on 10 acres in the country in a piney woods mostly owned by International Paper) and apparently there was a colony of rats that fled the logging that some of our neighbors put out rat poison for. Buster had always been a free-range dog (he was a drop dog with heartworm that showed up on our property shortly after we moved in)--before anyone criticizes, we tried to keep him on the property by different means and he would have pined away and died in a short time if we had kept him contained (a couple examples: he clawed his paws bloody and gnawed through a wire fence during his heartworm treatment, and later would not eat for days when we tried to keep him penned)--but was around the house almost all of the time. We are guessing he got into poison at a neighbor's place, or possibly ate a rat that had already been poisoned. Either way, if the vet had given him the correct treatment promptly, he probably would still be with us. We are guessing he was 8-12 years old--his muzzle started going silver in the past year. He is sorely missed.

Susan

[Alumatube]

Hi Alan! We are Triumph nuts--at one point we had about 15 of them, most in "need of full resto" condition. Brad's racecar is a TR3, and my dad has owned two TR3's. They sure are neat cars! I am glad you share the enjoyment!

And Bob (AKA scallywag ), Brad's username is bkahler. He has mostly been posting on the Classic MH forum. And why is a pirate's computer so easy for him to use? It only has one key: R !!!!

[Auretrvr]

Susan,

I was always a cat person (still am) but they have taken a back seat to B. I was afraid of dogs most of my life until I got to know my husband's mom's dog, then some neighbors...they were all wonderful. A friend gave me B when she retired from the obedience ring (UDX, no less). So I got an amazing girl who is my shadow. She is 13 and strong and frisky. I hope she stays that way to the end...just like what I want. Your dog was so lucky to have had such wonderful people who understood a free spirit!

[Alumatube]

Auretrvr, that is wonderful about your sweet dog! If raised right and treated right by humans, dogs can be absolutely incredible. Our closest city has a lot of drug activity and such, so a lot of the dogs that get dropped off around us are unrehab-able (dealers and related people use them for guarding and ferocity). It's really sad. But B sounds awesome, and I know she is thrilled to be with such a loving person!

Susan

[airstreamers]

you sound like you must be a hoot! your new motorhome is beautiful and the trailer,though now is a shambles, is going to be great! i know it will take a lot of work, but i think it would be a blast working on it. please post pictures and maybe someday if i can find one that needs restored i will work up the nerve to give it a try. have a great time and know that someday you will look back on the whole experience and probably want to do it all over again.

[Alumatube]

Awww, airstreamers, thank you! Is that your beautiful baby in your avatar pic? How long have you had it? We LOVE ours!

Have you seen PeyoteBill's topic about his trailer, Nero? He totally gutted a triple-axle trailer and made a posh car-hauler with living quarters. Here's the topic: Nero and you can link to his site with the cool pictures from there. He's a friend of ours, and we decided to work on our trailers about the same time, but he started and finished way before we have even had a chance to start! Main point is: you can make whatever you like out of a trailer--the sky's the limit!

Have a great evening!
Susan

[airstreamers]

hi alumatube. i hope this is the right way to do a reply, i'm still new at this and am trying to learn by doing. anyway, we just got our new baby last week and the truth of it is, i haven't even seen it yet! we bought it online and my husband drove to tennessee to buy it. luckily we have family down there so it is parked at his mom's house until we can get down next week. i have almost worn out the pictures of it on my computer. we are both so excited as we have wanted one for a long time. and, after just a few days on this forum site, i am also excited about meeting other airstream lovers like ourselves. everyone is so nice and helpful and i just know they will be even more so in person and on the road! happy airstreaming! ps, now we have the fever and are going to keep our eyes open for a vintage airstream trailer to fix up and love! this must be some sort of airstream fever and i've caught it already!!!

[Alumatube]

How funny! That is EXACTLY what we did, including wearing out the pics on the computer! We drove 800+ miles to coastal Georgia to get ours.

I know you are thrilled and I hope you have a GREAT time in it going home! Be careful! And better watch out--your face will hurt from smiling so much!

Susan

[airstreamers]

thanks susan, it already does, (face hurt from smiling too much) although i have such eyestrain from computer picture ogling, not to mention the steady stream of drool running down my chin. maybe we will meet someday at a rally and share our great adventures in person! it's kinda scary how attached i am to something i haven't even actually touched or seen. i think my husband is getting jealous! oh well, he'll get over it, but will i? never!!!