Merry Ch......WAIT - NO - Happy Halloween from Luna!

Luna goes on a Welding Trip

Dobby and Grampa John got the frame pieces all ready to weld while we were at the ocean.  Today, Luna got to hit the road to go across town to Dobby and Meme's house to get all welded together!  The boys and I followed in the chase vehicle - and she seemed to tow well.  Her windows rattled all over the place - so NOTE TO SELF - order the window fixings!!

Photo of Luna traveling - taken by Johnny the photog.

Backed up at Dobby's garage so the welding machine can get close enough.

Pulled Teddy out of bed WAY TOO EARLY to help!  He can't help it - he's almost 13, growing every minute, and his belly is never full and he never gets enough sleep.  Poor Teddy.  Johnny is ready with the hose in case Dobby catches himself on fire.

Grinding the paint away before the welding.

Grampa John, Johnny, and Teddy supervising the welding as Dobby hides inside Luna by himself.

Trying some polish to see what happens to Luna's skin.  Shined up a bit.  Dobby is resisting the idea of a mirror finish.  He's got to warm up to it - Luna will be so cute and shiny!!!!

The welding!  We don't think she will fall apart now - nice and strong and sturdy!

Rear welds.

Ellie helps paint the welds.

Grampa John finishes the paint job.

Teddy helps Dobby take Luna out of the yard and back to our house.

When it was time to pull the ball out from under Luna's hitch...guess who got a very quick lesson in the truck??!!  Figured out the break and the shifter.  He wanted to try the gas - but only got to take his foot off the break for 1/2 second to pull forward 5 inches. He was thrilled though!!

Other Summer Adventures besides Luna

Took the Big Camper to Old Orchard Beach for a week!  It was an incredible week!  Lots of sun, heat, and plenty of waves!

Pudgie loved the waves!

Spotted this very cute teardrop at the campground!  Later we saw the cool hotrod that pulls it!  The couple was very nice and gave Johnny, Ellie and I the 'tour!"  It's been across the US 3 times!  It had a great little kitchen with beautiful cabinets, an air conditioner, and a flat TV.  It's interior had hotrod/flames motif!

Meme and Dobby sent us this photo via email.....we thought Luna might be coming to Maine...but alas...it was just a trick!  Luna sent Meme and Dobby alone but vowed to be ready for Summer of '12!

Waves were great!

Meme and Dobby came for a day - we hit the beach, the pool, hot tub, got some lobsters and had a feast!  Saw sun, clouds, and rain, but a great day!

Two tired campers!

While we were gone...Dobby made Teddy his first wooden bat for Fall Ball league.  It's a beautiful curly maple bat: 32 inches long and 29 ounces.  During batting practice on the day after we got back, Teddy hit 2 homeruns into the tennis courts with it!  Since Master Craftsman Dobby can never make just one rifle, decoy, model airplane, banjo, painting, or photograph - we are guessing this is just the start of production of the "Gramp Bats."  Great bat and what a keepsake for our baseball boy!

Luna ends up in a commercial (maybe)....

Working on Luna one day, Dobby took some pieces home to work on.  Well, Meme had her production crew there filming for her Northern Pass commercial.  (Northern Pass is a proposed project that will bring green energy and jobs to our community!)  The producers loved the All-American idea of the Airstream fix-up project - so they drove over to include Luna in some shots for the commercial.

Smile Pretty, Luna!!!

Meme and Dobby had the kids join them too!

She's a classic!

Catch Up Time...

Summer is going by FAST!  Going to start updating some of Luna's latest progress.

Bracing on the bumper to it's new frame pieces.

Lining it up.

Painting and sealing the frame.

Drilling the hole to bolt the bumper into place.  Was hard work drilling through the steel brace.

Day 2 - New Hitch/tongue IN!

Dobby and Grampa John came through again!  Arrived bright and early on Thursday morning with a brand new, STRONG, painted tongue!  We got it braced into place and got the jack stand put on.  (Dobby fixed the old hydraulic one and it works great.  After having crank ones on both other campers - this one has an automatic retraction - very cool!)  The new tongue looks great - and I feel loads better about the strength of it.  Now - onto the fixing the bumper area.  Still stressing about the bathroom.

Looks great!

Bringing into Luna to get it braced up.

New jack stand :)

All set - after bumper is done - it will head over to Dobby's to get welded to old frame parts.

Heat wave here in NH - so we headed to the cool caves of Lost River.

Loved the natural air conditioning!

Also enjoyed a couple of letterboxes and swimming in the frozen water of the Pemi River Basin.

Day 1 - new tongue/hitch

We attached the new hitch onto the tongue steel today.  Got it braced up for its ride to get welded and painted.  Dobby and Grampa John got it all set up!  Looks so good!

Bolting the hitch.

Welding a brace to try and keep angle for ride across town.

Pieces down out of Luna.

Heading to Dobby's house for welding and painting.  No pictures of all that - we've been working so much on Luna - I needed to take a part of one day to catch up on laundry, dishes, cleaning cars, etc....  But what a surprise I had the next morning....until next post!

Men of Bending Steel!

After we got the steel pieces tacked together - we clamped them into place so we could bend them to get the hitch on.  With lots and lots of gas from the torch, chains hooked to 2 trucks, steamy heat of a summer day, and the muscle of men from 3 different generations - we were able to get the steel bent and the hitch clamped into place.  Welding tomorrow!!!  Thank you Rob, Dobby, and Grampa John!

New tongue pieces balanced into place.

Clamping the tongue pieces and their braces.  Nuts and bolts could not be handed over fast enough to Dobby - Grampa John and I were just trying to keep up!  Dobby spends A LOT of time thinking about things - so when its time to actually do it - it gets done FAST!  Helpers have to be ready and its good to be able to anticipate!  Grampa John and I have been well trained for years.

Here comes the heat.  Dobby, Grampa John, and Rob.

Heating up the steel - Dobby's Dad supervises.

Rob was pushing the whole trailer - needed to find a way to stabilize it against Rob's power.

Hooked the truck up to the steel with a chain to provide counter pressure to Rob's sheer brute force.

Toyota was able to do the job.

Bend is looking good.

Now for the next one.  Rob's GMC truck was hooked up to that side.

Both sides bent and the hitch fits over the steel!  Lucky Luna has a new, strong tongue!

Pondering the Bathroom

Tongue/frame progress is going so well - I need to start thinking about the bathroom.  I am going to have a toilet and some sort of shower.  Starting to think about it all.  Here is the space I have to work with:

The old water heater (in green) is coming out and will be replaced by an on-demand water heater.  I have all that space from the water heater towards the back wall and to the back/left curbside.  The toilet was in that back left hand corner and the right hand side was a closet.  Will be pondering all the possibilities...