Meet Bernice!

We are now the proud owners of a 59' Shasta! There is a TON of work on her to be done, but she is really not in any worse wear than Ruth was when we got her. Although Bernice is sitting in a farmyard and hasn't had tabs since 1999! She has a flat tire that you can't see to good due to sitting in weeds up to my knees! She will be coming home maybe tomorrow or Thursday. Son in law is on vacation this week and has offered to lend a hand in getting her home. Hopefully he knows what he is getting into! Here are some pics of Bernice where she is parked now...Inside pics have a shadow due to taking pics through the windows!

Isn't she lovely!!! Her cost?? $225.oo!!!
Joel & Deb

Is this a Sickness?

Well what do most people do on Memorial Day? Picnic? Visit Relatives? Go Camping?? Not us!! Well the relative part...ya, we did visit. BUT...there was a mission behind it! We are driving around yesterday on all the back country roads. Went out of town to visit a few past relatives. We come to an old "farm", a good old junk farm, to be exact...and I yell...TRAILER!! Hubby yells SHASTA!! In the driveway we go.. Knock on the door and no one is home, we don't want to go snooping around without permission. Well..no one home, lets take a look! We looked in the window and I told Joel that "Bernice" has got to come home with us! Bernice is older than Ruth by about 2-3 years. She is in about the same shape as Ruth was when we got her. So we hung around for a bit waiting to see if anyone came home...nope..so we left. Today we headed North looking for trailers. Stopped at one that hubby thought was a Shasta out in the field, but ended up being a Forester and not for sale. Its a hunting trailer...and yes it looks like one on the inside. So since we couldn't get Bernice out of our head..we headed south, hoping someone would be around to ask about her. Again no one was home. My uncle use to be a rural postman so drove over to their house, no one home. Then drove by my cousins and they were outside, asked them if they knew who lived there, they didn't but the farm is considered by town folk..the "funny farm". Not good! Not good at all. Then we went over to my other cousins house to visit for awhile, and their son was watching tv...he came out to join us and I asked him if he knew who lived there by chance, He SURE DID!! he tried to get ahold of them but still no one home. So after we visited for a while, off we went, just driving by to see if anyone was home and lo and behold...there was a car there, well there is several cars there! But not in driving condition. So we walk up to the door, knock and explain to the kid about looking for a trailer and is it for sale, ya, we're moving and it is for sale. Asking price?? OMG can't beat it!! So just have to get ahold of his dad and figure out when we can haul it away. She might have to go out on a flat bed, we're not real sure yet. One flat tire. It has most everything original but a lot of water damage.  She looks like Ruth but with no bunk above the dining room table.
Wanna see a pic of her??? She is a doll!!! We are guessing the year to be about 58' or 59'. She has the wooden screen door. We'll keep you posted on if she is going to be haulable! LOL
Joel & Deb

Ruth's First Road Trip

Well the "ouie" healed, but took months! During the winter small things were done on the inside. Did a lot of searching for cushions and a couch for the back. Ended up with a klick klack sofa/bed, which is working out fine for now. So last weekend we took Ruth out for her first time. She handled like a dream. We only went about 50 miles from home, close enough where we could call the Son In Law to come get us if we needed him! Here are some pics of Ruth.

All the comforts of home, and even more!

Fall and an OUIE

Well its cold and poor Ruth is sitting in the backyard with a window out with a blue tarp wrapped around her. It will be awhile before Ruth gets her window in or gets anything done to her! Joel was cutting a board on the table saw when the board kicked back. Well 17 stitches later, possible broken hand (won't show you any pics cuz its totally gross!) and of course its his right hand. SOOOO...Ruth sits in limbo! All he needed was a piece of plywood on the side above the bunk. Ruth is costing us a little bit more than we had anticipated! I will keep you updated on Ruth's progress as the hand heals!
We'll be back!
Joel n' Deb

Ruth's new Derriere!

Well here is her new backend! Not bad looking! We did run into a problem with the bottom board being to wide and exceeding the edge of the frame. So off that board comes with some modifications. Still have to cut out the window and insulate. I think that's how it goes!

Meet Ruth-Our 61' Shasta Trailer!

After looking for a retro trailer for over a year we finally found one close to home. We bought this beauty...now named "Ruth" on August 31, 2010. We found her on Craig's List. So happy the search was over. We couldn't go anywhere without driving the back roads looking for the trailer in some wooded area, a corn field or a little town. We had no idea what we were going to look at. All we knew it was a Shasta 61 travel trailer! We drove up and it was LOVE at first sight! After the one hour check list we had, another hour of negotiating, the check wrote, Ruth was ours! We have a topper on our Ford Edge and was a little worried about hooking her up and not having the overhead of the trailer and the topper touch. It cleared by about 7 inches! Tires were good, Ruth was ready to roll on to her new home. One stop..Fleet Farm to get the lights hook-up...Hubby forgot it at home. So after some honking and yelling we had no tail lights..pulled into Fleet Farm and bought the hook-up and off we went on our 50 mile ride home! Pulled like a dream! Ruth sat in the driveway for two days and then hubby moved it to our small back yard. Ruth needs some TLC! The back end went off and new 1/4 inch Birch was installed yesterday. Ruth will be as close to original as we can get her without going broke! New wiring in, new wood for bed frame. New floor in the storage compartment under the bed. I'm not to good with all the "guy" stuff, but lend a heave or a ho when needed. This is going to be a fun journey$

If anyone knows the type of trailer Ruth is..would be appreciated if you would let us know. I'm guessing there aren't many out there, can't find one on the net. Ruth does not have the bathroom! Hope your retro travels come true like ours did!

Thanks for stopping by to start our journey with Ruth!

Joel & Deb

Ruth needs a makeover