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bdlWidget · 11-07-2008, 04:21 PM

Hi there everyone!

I'm thrilled to be here, I just purchased a well-loved 1990 29-foot Excella. It was lovingly restored by a man who unfortunately passed from this Earth a couple of years ago, and his widow was kind enough to trust me with continuing the legacy. Many thanks to my new friends, his family, for that.

I'll be towing it with a truck I just bought a few weeks ago, an '01 Dodge diesel pickup. It gets great mileage, and it should make for an efficient tow.

See a pattern here?

Tomorrow I go to the Missouri DMV with my signed title. If all goes well I'll pick up my plates, and on Sunday I'll take it out for my first voyage, from the farm where I found it to a storage unit closer to my home. I live in St Louis city, and I have yet to find where to keep it within a reasonable distance of my house. It's no matter, though. I am looking at my purchase as the first step toward the rest of my life. Lurking in my mind is the idea that I might sell my house and take to the Airstream full time. I might leave a few storage units scattered around the country, and I have some remote property in the Rockies; with any luck I can make a living with my laptop and an interet connection.

Although I've towed trailers before, I'm new to the travel trailer world. I used to have a 1-ton Dodge camper van, a legacy of my father, which I drove all over the country, and I even lived in it for a few weeks here and there, in addition to camping. My dogs loved it, they thought of it as a rolling doghouse. I can't wait to introduce them to the 'Stream.

Although I'll have some work to do to finish the restoration and to remodel a few things to my taste (twin beds? what are those for?), my main interest is in off-grid living, which I see referred to as 'boondocking' on this fine site. I'll be saving my pennies for a wind generator, solar panels, an external power storage station (i.e., a bunch of big batteries in an enclosure on my mountain retreat), a septic tank, water supply, etc. The 'Stream will be the heart of it. Basically, I'd like to put together the minimalist parking pad for year-round living. I'm thinking of an isulated shed for winter parking, a sort of extension of the 'Stream that makes it into a house worthy of standing up to alpine winters.

I look forward to many hours on this site. Thanks for all the fine posts I've read thus far.

Mike

**azflycaster** · 11-07-2008, 05:09 PM

Mike - Welcome to the forums. Sounds like you have bought a great trailer. Post some pictures, we love pictures!

mandolindave · 11-07-2008, 06:00 PM

It sounds to me that the previous owner would be happy that you
are taking over for him. I wonder where mine will go.

Your mention of an insulated shed, sparked my interest, as I have
thought about how I would design a trailer shelter/basecamp. One obstacle to address is how to vent all of the propane appliances.( it might
even be legal use them indoors ) Anyway, I think you have a great plan.
Maybe your second trailer

could be a smaller one for traveling.

willyd · 11-07-2008, 06:04 PM

Again, welcome to the forum - you will enjoy reading the answers to all the questions that you may ask. You will have a great time learning about the Airstream.

**moosetags** · 11-07-2008, 06:15 PM

Welcome to the Forums, Mike. We're glad to have you with us.

Congrats on your new baby. We need to see pictures; that is the cost of membership to the forums.

There is a lot of really good Airstream information here.

Brian

bdlWidget · 11-10-2008, 11:22 AM

I haven't taken any decent photos yet, but here are the photos from the ad posting. As you can see from the road-side view the exterior finish is in the process of being redone, or it was when the previous owner was no longer able to work on it.

Mike