SilverGate's Safari is Home at Last!

[SilverGate]

Larry added a magnetic catch to keep the swing-out leg bases from being inadvertently moved by a passing dog or moving foot. We don’t want the leaf to drop during dinner!

The magnetic catch is ¾" x 3", holds 2 magnets and is attached to the underside of the leaf by 2 screws.

Two steel 1" square plates are attached to the swing-out leg base with 1 screw each.

[SilverGate]

The center-base storage area has two shelves, convenient for napkins, tablecloths, runners, etc.

This center base is ½" plywood with an oak style veneer and measures:
7 ¾" x 20" x 28"(H) (excluding the table top center 10" wide panel).

[SilverGate]

A table runner and settings complete the look.

The table can seat 2 very comfortably. But 4 could also dine here if needed…

or 6 munchkins!

[SilverGate]

Now we’re ready for that Holiday Dinner come rain or shine!

And thanks GT1963 for asking the question!

Holiday Cheers!

SilverGate

[05ModPod]

WOW DOUBLE WOW Bill and Larry you guys are just amazing - a simple question of measurement and poof - FIRST CLASS ALL THE WAY

Thanks so so so much for taking the time to do all this - and what a fab idea - as I am sure one members question (little ole me) is on the minds of many others who may have seen this table at some point. - It took me as long to find the table in the right model

Once again guys - HUGE karma to you both......

[05ModPod]

Oh Poo I have to find someone else worth of Karma first before i can give you more!!! The only downfall to this process but - I guess we can live with it....but boy someone else has big shoes to fill to match your above posts - to answer a little question of measurements of the roll out table....(via PM) if anyon is wondering....

[SilverGate]

Originally Posted by SilverGate

SilverGate’s Safari arrived home, the first time, 9 months ago…
And thus began our journey of improvements and adventures…
That many of you have followed here since the beginning.

I hope it has been entertaining as well as informative for you.
I hope that you have had as much fun viewing, as I have had in doing this thread.

Thank you for viewing this thread.
Thank you to those who took a moment to say they liked or learned something here…
And were inspired to camp, cook, explore and/or make improvements with their trailer.
Thank you TBRich, denellen, Foiled, and GT1963 for your recent comments.

I have much to be thankful for this year as Thanksgiving approaches…
I am thankful that family and I are in good health and have a great Airstream, which helps us to enjoy our retirement.

I am thankful that we have these wonderful Airstream Knowledge Sharing Forums, with its wealth of information contributed by a diverse community whose members are rich in knowledge, experience, perspectives, opinions, problems & solutions, and who take the time to share with others in a positive way for our mutual benefit.

I am also thankful for the high quality and caliber of the discussions here and for the wonderful guidance and oversight done by our monitors, who help ensure that these forums function well in an environment that is positive and supportive.

So on the occasion of this thread hitting over 10,000 views…

Thank You All!

Happy and Safe Holidays!

And of course,

Cheers!

SilverGate and Diego Flamingo… and Family

And I am thankful this California evening that the Santa Ana winds…
Sometimes called the Devil winds, have died down... for the moment.

And that we may be at the turning point of this firestorm…
Resulting in the largest evacuation in California’s history.

Not surprising considering it hasn’t been this dry in 130 years!

So tonight we are thankful that pets and we are safe…
And house & trailer are still here…
With only a light dusting of ash.

Now where’s that bucket and mop?!

SilverGate

[janetb]

Thanks so much for letting us know that you, Larry, pets, Diego Fllamingo and your lovely Airstream have survived intact. What a hellish nightmare. We're all thinking of you, and would like to offer ash-free digs about 6 hrs. north if you want to go somewhere to breathe clean air and get your bearings. Corgi accompaniment a requirment, of course.

[mistral blue]

I remember those winds all too well when I lived in Del Mar back in the 80s. I'm glad to hear that you may have finally turned the corner on this one.

[SilverGate]

As the sun rose this morning we could see that the fires were still burning…

And they continue to burn, but not as badly.

We have turned the corner on this one as the Santa Ana winds die down,

And the cooler, moister sea breezes are now starting to move in.

Thanks janetb and mistral blue for your well wishes!

SilverGate

[SilverCabin]

Glad to hear you guys are okay. I'm just getting caught-up on my threads after being away for 33 days.

I like your ideas on the battery compartment lock and magnetic catch on the table. We almost folded ours up by mistake with it set. I think I'll add that next week when we get Daisy home for cleaning. It's been raining here non-stop from the tropical storm south of us. Looks like it's turning away now though.

Randy

[SilverGate]

Our Safari is celebrating its 1st Anniversary this week.
The factory-build order was made official on the day before last Thanksgiving…
Thanksgiving now takes on an additional significance for us.

We are also celebrating the beginning of our wonderful winter desert camping season.
So we returned to our Anza-Borrego Desert in Southern California.

And again we chose a beautiful and quiet boondocking location…
Even the use of generators is prohibited at this specific site (thankfully)!

The trailer curbside image (below) has Ghost Mountain as a backdrop.
The trailer street-side image has the Laguna Mountains as the backdrop.

[SilverGate]

During our last outing, I visited Marshal South’s gravesite in Julian, CA.
See: http://www.airforums.com/forums/460728-post312.html

I continue to be fascinated by the remarkable story of Marshal South and family’s experiment in desert living from 1930 to 1947 on Ghost Mountain. Their story is told in the book, "Marshal South and the Ghost Mountain Chronicles – An Experiment in Primitive Living", Sunbelt Publications, 2005, edited by Diana Lindsay, and available at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Marshal-South-Ghost-Mountain-Chronicles/dp/0932653669

And brought to life in the DVD, "Ghost Mountain – An Experiment in Primitive Living", available at desertUSA: http://www.desertusa.com/web_cart/db/pages/3014.html

Additional information is at: http://www.ghostmountainmovie.com/
After visiting Marshal South’s gravesite, I have since learned that the symbols on his gravestone of the cactus, eagle (thunderbird) and sun represent his House of the Sun and philosophy: Through Fellowship, Peace and Brotherhood souls pass from the thorny bitterness of earth to the higher realms of light.

[SilverGate]

On the second day of our desert outing I slowly drove the three-mile bumpy, narrow, dirt road (occasionally scraping the truck’s sides with cactus thorns) through Blair Valley, passed a dry lakebed, and reached the trailhead to Marshal South’s former home called Yaquitepec.

[SilverGate]

It was now mid-afternoon and the sun was setting much earlier so I scrambled up the one-mile rocky trail up Ghost Mountain to take pictures.

Part way up I realized that I had left my water bottle in the truck, but I felt that I needed to continue up to take pictures before the sun set. So I ignored the sensation of a drying mouth and reached the top of the ridge and took pictures of Vallecito and Mason Valley below.

[SilverGate]

The trail continued a short way further horizontally on the ridge and then, after a few more steps upward, I arrived at the skeletal remains of Yaquitepec: a large rusted bed frame, adobe walls and oven base slowly dissolving, cement and barrel cisterns… all being reclaimed by nature.

A stone and steel sundial still remains there, stubbornly resisting the wear and tear of time.

[SilverGate]

It is wonderfully silent up here… (And also at our campsite, except for an occasional passing aircraft or motor vehicle).

I reflected on poet-author Marshal South’s words, "A silence holds the desert… Few individuals understand the tangible quality of silence, for silence has been all but banished from the modern world. In its place has come a muffled medley of ten thousand jarring undertones which beat so ceaselessly upon dulled nerves that they are accepted as quietude… Silence is a real thing, a fundamental and healing thing."
(Page 252, "Marshal South and the Ghost Mountain Chronicles – An Experiment in Primitive Living", Edited by Diana Lindsay, Sunbelt Productions)

The view from Yaquitepec is spectacular: Badlands to the east, Sawtooth Mountains to the south.

[SilverGate]

Sunset had already come to the valley below, so I alerted Larry via the 2-way radio that I was now about to descend and expected to be back at camp in 45 minutes. I had forgotten that the trail went along the ridge a short way before actually descending. I just took what at first looked like a trail down but soon I realized that it was not. I did eventually intersect the switchback trail and made it back ok without being bitten by rattlesnakes or scorpions or dying from dehydration (and joining the other ghosts on Ghost Mountain).

I made it back to camp just in time to chop firewood kindling as Larry cooked steak on the hibachi in the dark.

[SilverGate]

I slept well and felt quite mellow after yesterday’s adventures. I got up early to take some more pictures and enjoy the early morning ambience of golden sunrays in and about the trailer. Larry is usually up before me and enjoys taking the dogs out on early morning walks.

I savored fresh brewed coffee as I listened to a PBS-FM radio station (turned down low) while gazing out of the windows, while the turkey, nutcracker and flamingos looked on in amusement.

[SilverGate]

By mid-morning I visited the historic (and haunted) Vallecito Stage Station.

Around 1925 Marshal South and his wife Tanya began taking desert camping trips, exploring sites in the area and often stayed at the Vallecito Stage Station until the night when Tanya saw the Ghost of the White Horse. (Page 19, "Marshal South and the Ghost Mountain Chronicles")

Also see: http://www.desertusa.com/magoct97/octmore/oct_haunted.html

Water from nearby mountains has created an oasis here.
See more pictures and history at: http://www.homeofourfathers.com/lisbeth/journal23apr2006.htm