classic shot and a great gig

I've been looking forward to posting the "classic" Airstream renovation picture and finally...here it is! Man standing on the ground in the back of his trailer. It doesn't get any better than this. Of course I will say the same thing when the Safari is roadworthy. Time to order some Por-15 from VTS and an axle from Colin Hyde's Trailer Restorations.

Sunday night, me and my great friend Charlie Lacy got to open up from blues singer Shemekia Copeland. She is the daughter of the late, great Johnny "Clyde" Copeland, a blues guitar legend. What made the gig great was that Charlie's daughter Molly and my son Louie both played the gig with us. The kids are 16 and they got to play in front of a couple thousand people on a big stage. We played a 45 minute set and had a stone-cold gas!

Here's a shot of our band "wiggleFoot" before the gig. Front row is Molly and Louie. Back row left to right is me, Rick Miller (harmonica), Charlie, and Geoff Mattson (sax). Rick's dad died early Sunday morning in his sleep, but Rick told me that his dad would've wanted him to play the gig. A very emotional day for all, but music has a healing power and we know that Rick's dad, Bob, was watching from the best seat in the house as his kid poured his heart and soul into his amplified blues harp.

My manchild hanging out backstage with Shemekia Copeland. Her guitar player joked that she better "watch her hands, he's not old enough for you" and she didn't miss a beat and said "he will be someday!"

Shemekia took us all to Church with her singing. Please visit her website, buy her music, see her in concert. In fact, go see as much live music as you possibly can no matter what style you like. It's all good....peace! http://www.shemekiacopeland.com/

one black tank and two black eyes

The original Thetford valve mounted on the previously "repaired" black tank which is on its way out!
Another shot of the fun...you can see the black tank's old insulation honeycomb.

Looking aft from the curbside.

One used '66 blacktank. The valve is actually in good shape if anybody needs one, let me know.

The tank and its former support box after what must have been a few years of leaking (yuck).

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I'd like to officially enter this picture as my VAP black tank story in hopes of winning the $25 booty toward a Vintage Trailer Supply purchase.

And finally the two black eyes. This is what can happen when a hockey puck hits you in the nose and your nose is big enough and strong enough to pass the shock on to your face. Yeah, the chicks really dig a guy that looks like a raccoon. This happened to me last Wednesday night at my regular skate. I gigged the next three nights (Ames, Iowa...Mankato, Mn...and LaCrosse Wisconsin) and got a lot of sideways looks and had to spend more time than usual explaining my face.
I was thinking of calling this post "SHIT HAPPENS," but I didn't want any links to my blog spouting profanity.

level headed thinking

She's level and off the ground. I'm using two tall jack stands behind the axle on the frame rail (one on each side), two shorter jack stands to help out on the A-frame in front, and a couple Airstream issued stabilizers on the frame rail just in front of the bumper to help out.
Here's a look underneath at the frame rail, crossmember, outrigger, axle plate, axle, shock, etc. From all that I've read and heard, this is a great place to put the jack stand. Stable as a mofo.

Here's my genuine one-of-a-kind story stick made from leftover hardwood. It is amazing how fast a colored pencil dulls when drawing on an old subfloor. I used a couple different colors to help sort out the confusion of lines. After I remove the section of subfloor, whatever parts of the curve don't survive can be recreated by putting the story stick back in its tracing and adding the wall thickness.

Nothing conveys satisfaction like a Vintage Trailer Supply t-shirt with rolled up sleeves! The deeper I get into my project, the more confidence I am gaining. I know I have miles to go, but I also am starting to see the distance behind me. Next step is to crawl under and remove the elevator bolts that hold down my old subfloor. My plan is to remove the back two sections first, wirebrush, Por 15, figure out a new black and gray tank, and replace the subfloor. Sounds like a hoot! Any advice is always welcome.