High Cliff State Park, Wisconsin

Our last road trip of the summer took us a few hours north of Kenosha.  We were ready for our annual BBZ Family camping trip.  We are the first B (Burleson).  Our wonderful family friends the Bakala's are the second B, and the Z is for our friends the Zingleman's.  We've now had this annual trip for six summers.  When we all started, we were in tents and our kids were much smaller.  Now, the other two families have moved up to pop up campers.  We camped for the first time, with these friends, in our teardrop.  Our kids camped in the small tent that my friend and I took to Iceland and lived in for nearly three weeks.

The campgrounds were large and very nice.  We joined everyone there on a Saturday.  Our first night was incredibly different than the second.  The first night, the campground was packed with young families and lots of kids.  The second night was nearly silent; save for us.

We went on a couple of very nice hikes and explored what was called the Niagra Escarpment.  It was essentially a large rock face that dropped off about one hundred feet.  Beyond the rock face was this large lake, Winnebago.  The view above was from the forty foot observation tower that we climbed on our hike.  

Our friends liked our teardrop, but weren't sure they would be able to sleep in it.  I was again pleasantly surprised at how well we slept in it.  The cool breeze coming in through my side window helps me sleep more soundly than at homes it seemed.  The only problem was that sometimes the sound of the fan drowns out any outside sounds.  I was on the side that looked out at the kid's tent and I could at least see them clearly through my window.  It helps that they were less than ten feet away!  

The Carpe Diem at the entrance to the High Cliff State Park.

Just a few notes on the performance of the teardrop.  The bed area was perfect.  Again, the Fantastic Vent pulled cool air into the cabin through the windows.  When Erica closed hers, I got even more and loved it!  We are still having some trouble with my side's door latch.  There seems to be something wrong with the alignment of the lock and the slam plate.  There are a few other small problems.  The hatch started having trouble unlatching.  I'm not sure if I accidentally moved the latch on the bumper when I trimmed up the metal or if there is something wrong with the actual handle.  I'm going to have to put Jack in the cooler tray again and have him help me diagnose the problem.  Both of these issues need to be remedied before the next trip.  

We are hoping that we will get at least one more family trip in before it gets too cold out.  I'm shooting for Kettle Moraine's northern unit.  The topography there is really unique and would be fun to see in the fall.  I would really like to see how the teardrop does in the late fall.  I'm hoping I can get one of my kids to come with me!

First Father/Son Trip

Just returned from my first road trip with my son.  We ventured to Starved Rock State Park in Utica, IL. 

We were lucky.  The campground is set up so that one half of it, the wooded area, is able to be reserved.  This is nice if you are coming from far away and want to ensure that you have a place to stay for several days.  The other part of the campground is non-reservable and is first come/first served.  Luckily, we found the very last site in the wooded area and were able to lock it in for one night.  We quickly set up our camp and enjoyed some lunch.

Jack airing out his feet after our hike.

After munching, we decided to head to the visitor's center and orient ourselves.  We had heard about the canyons here and were excited to see them.  Jack was anxious to see a canyon and maybe a waterfall for the first time that he remembered.

 This is the first canyon we hiked.  It is called French Canyon.  

French Canyon had lots of water in it, but none coming down the falls area.  We found a little pool at the bottom of the falls that had some fairly large, young fish in it.  Not sure how they've survived or how they will as the summer lingers.  There was a nice person at the canyon who took our photo for us.

Jack scrambled up into one of the many caves in St. Louis Canyon.

This is St. Louis Canyon.  It is the only one in the park that still has water coming down from it at this point in the summer.

We had a good day yesterday.  We relaxed and I learned how to play the card game called:  Magic The Gathering.  My son is really into it and he was very excited to share it with me.  It's a lot like what I remember of Dungeon's and Dragons.  I wasn't a big player, but I got the concept.  He and his buddies are huge players in it.  It was fun to be able to share that with him.

We wished we had brought our shelter with us at about 7 a.m. this morning.  We heard a thunderstorm roll into the park.  It sounded worse than it really was due to the trees and all the leaves that held and dropped the rain.  It was enough that everything we had left out was quite wet, but that's when we were very happy to have been in the teardrop.  We were warm and dry inside.  

However, everything was slippery and wet in the park, so we opted to head home and unpack.  It was a short trip, but a really nice one.

Finally Sealed Up Properly?

It's the eve of my next trip; a journey to Starved Rock State Park with my son. I think I've finally gotten the teardrop sealed up the way it should be. First, I let all the caulk we applied in Ohio dry. Then I tested it with a jet of water directed at the entire under side of the teardrop. I found two small areas where water was sneaking in. I re-sealed those areas again with more caulk and then applied another layer over the entire area where the gap was. Finally, today, I applied a rubber membrane (aka inner tube) to the edges.

I applied more adhesive to the rubber to 'seal' it in and then lastly I put the linoleum in place. The rubber, when the adhesive fully cures, will keep the moisture from penetrating the seam. We are planning on pulling out pretty early in the morning and then a full day of hiking and exploring tomorrow at the park. I'm excited!

Visual Journal: From Beginning to End and a Meditation on Window Making

I finally had the chance to complete a visual journal of the entire process of the restoration and renovation of the Carpe Diem.  What amazes me is that the whole process, from purchase to 'completion' took about six months.  However, of those six months, we only 'had' the Carpe Diem for three.  I drove to Tennessee to pick it up during spring break at the end of March and immediately began restoration.  I took hundreds of photos of the process and it was tough  weeding through those to find just the right ones.

 

The passenger side window before.

Driver side window before.

As is typical on most projects like this, I would take a step forward and three back.  For example, one of the projects I began after cleaning and sealing up the inside, was to rebuild the screen windows.

After cleaning and installing new hinge.

Inside of door.

The remains of the original screen portion of the window.

Cobbled together to make a template.

Replica above; original below.

Dry fit: inside.

Dry fit: outside.

Completed frames ready for screens.

After more than two days replicating the originals, decided to use these sliding windows.  In my defense, I hadn't been able to find a suitable window until I came across a window on, of all places, Pintrest!  A few days later, they were here and installed.  

With that, I give you the before, during and after video of my work on the Carpe Diem:

Carpe Diem Before and After from Todd Burleson on Vimeo.

I'm Back in the Game!

Two weeks ago today I had my second Carpal Tunnel surgery.  I met with my doctor yesterday to have my stitches removed.  All looks good and I'm already feeling the relief.

 Stitches out.  

It's amazing to think that a small probe was inserted in the incision and basically they hollowed out the tunnel that the nerves move through; the purple dots are the farthest point that the 'probe' was extended into my hand.  I have so much empathy for people who have had intense surgery.  Mine was incredibly minor and it took a lot out of me.  The biggest thing I missed: showering with both hands!  When I washed my hair and shaved today it was wonderful to use both hands. 

The teardrop sat under our pop up cover for the past two weeks.  I was able to get in and check to see that the caulk had set up properly and that everything was dry.  I used a jet nozzle on the hose to try to pinpoint the leak in the cabin.  It ended up being a tiny spot under the bulkhead and one of the screw holes.  Now that it is all dried out again, I'll be able to touch up those tiny spots.  I'm going to, just for good measure, caulk underneath as well.  I'm going to use some caulk that is designed for roofing applications.  It's black and will blend in well with the frame.  Once we are sure all is sealed up, I can put the linoleum and mattress back in place.

I will need to wait for the rock guard to dry.  Of course, we had the pop up in place for two weeks; no rain.  Take it down; rain.  I didn't get the aluminum strip glued in place yet; hopefully a dry evening will allow the rock guard to dry.  Then, a few minor fixes in the interior and we will be ready for our next road trip.  We are planning a family get away to Starved Rock State Park soon.  We've heard a lot about it, but never made it there.  This will be our first time with the kids too!

Re-Thinking Plans and Inspiration

When my wife and I decided to purchase and renovate the 1947 Tourette, my mind shifted immediately into 'trip mode.'  I started thinking about being able to travel, but sadly I sort of thought of those trips as being just 'two people' trips.  By that I mean that the teardrop really only fits 'two' people.  Of course, we 'could' always bring a tent along and the kids could sleep in there, but not having to set up and, more importantly, wait for it to dry before putting it away, was one of the big draws for us to buy the teardrop.  I started to dream and plan a trip for next summer with my daughter.  I was excited to think of having that time with her as she will only be around a few more summers before college.  I was hoping to make some substantial memories.

It was quite early into that planning that my wife voiced something that I had been knocking around in my head a lot; why is only Grace getting to have this awesome trip?  Shouldn't we 'all' get to have this incredible experience?

The answer, of course, is an emphatic yes!

With this in mind, I started to think differently.

I am a huge fan of family home movies.  I don't have any of these movies of my own youth, but I've found the Prelinger Archives to be full of family movies that kind of fill that gap for me.  It was one such exploration of the archives, a free resource of all sorts of historic and archival movies, books, and much more, that lead me to the two films you see below.  The two films tell of the Barstow Family of Connecticut.  They set out over three summers to visit every state in the United States (48 at the time).  The film must have been a huge undertaking when it was created given the technological challenges.  The original 8mm film was converted to VHS and the VHS tape was then edited and titles and a voice over by the father many years after the trip was added.

I found the films to be mesmerizing in a very interesting way.  The family 'hams' it up for the camera from the very beginning.  They are such terrific sports, from the initial scenes where they come out to the station wagon with their 'sacks' in which they brought their books, games, and puzzles, to the cheesy posed segments in front of the landmarks that help identify many of the states on their quest.  Their road trips across the country lasted nearly a month.  They

My favorite part of the film is actually seeing how they evolved as a 'camping' family.  They started out in one big and pretty elaborate tent.  The next summer, the parents slept in a much simpler (and quicker set up) pop up tent.  The kids, and this is the brilliant part to me, slept in the station wagon.  If you watch the video, you can see that the father created a platform for the back of their station wagon.  It had three compartments for each of the children's suitcases and when the seat was put down, it became a platform on which the two oldest children were able to put their inflatable mattress.  The youngest child was comfy and cozy on the front bench seat.  The father created all sorts of little customizations from the screen he used when the station wagon's windows were open to the chuck wagon box and the ingenious single wheel trailer with the rotating wheel.  This got me thinking.

Obviously my wife and are sleeping in the teardrop, but what about the kids?  I'm thinking that we might be able to do something similar to the Barstow Family.  For those camping times and locations where time is critical might allow us to simply fold the seats in our CRV down and inflate a mattress for the kids.  I could see this option being ideal if it were raining too.  We purchased a EZ Up to give us an area of shelter in which to cook, etc.  This could be put over the CRV's hatch back as well and give shelter the kids from bad rain, etc.  When there is more time and or space, we could easily set up one of our smaller tents for the kids.  And that settles it.  Now we can start planning and mapping our route.  If  you have some time, you would probably really enjoy watching this family's journeys, I know I sure did.

Two Week Hiatus

We arrived home on Wednesday evening.  Thursday was a day of catching up and taking care of the yard and other projects that needed tending to.  Friday morning I was scheduled for surgery.  This would be my second Carpal Tunnel surgery (I had my right wrist done a couple of years ago.)  I knew what I was getting myself into and was stocked up on books, movies and the like.  The long road trip certainly proved that I needed the surgery; my arm would fall asleep while driving after only a minute or two.  That and being woken up several times in the night with the throbbing pain let me know the time was here for the second surgery.

Me coming to from the anesthesia.

My son giving me a hug post-surgery.

My 'orange' arm in the elevated position.

The joke with my family was that my surgeon dipped my arm in Cheetos after the surgery.  Of course it really was the iodine that they use to make sure everything is sterile, but it's a fun joke.  

I've now had almost a week of recovery.  My biggest 'problem' is itching under the bandages.  A chopstick works darn well for that purpose.  I'm typing quite well I must say; once again I'm thrilled that I learned to type 'properly' in high school because my fingers intuitively know where the keys are and I don't even have to think about it.

The teardrop has had nearly a week of hot, dry weather.  It's still quite humid, but there has been no rain since we've returned.  We've been able to have the doors open to allow plenty of air to circulate inside.  I checked yesterday on the caulk.  It appears to have completely 'cured.'  Unfortunately, I am not sure how to 'check' to see if the leak(s) have been fixed without hitching up the trailer and driving it through a rainstorm.  

Before we do that, we are planning to take further precautions.  I plan to caulk the 'gap' from underneath as well.   I am going to use the spray on rubberized coating called "Leak Stop" to  give me some assurance of a seal.  Additionally, I plan to add a rubber membrane (probably another inner tube section over the area that has been caulked.  Lastly, I'll use the same Leak Stop product underneath and along the gap on the teardrop.  I don't think there is anything else I can do.  The thing that stinks is that I won't 'know' for sure if it is fixed until I pull it through a bad storm.