Day 41, Cars Trailers and Trees

My new trees arrived from the tree farm exactly as scheduled, at 8:30am (I’m always impressed when a business is prompt). He placed the trees where I wanted them and was gone. Now I had to wait to see when the tree guys could come back and plant them.

With the High Desert Swap Meet beginning, I wanted to head on over and check it out. There is always a nice selection of cars at the car show and a ton of unique items and trinkets to look at. I was also hoping I might find a hub cap to go on the trailer, or at least find an 11” center cap so I could make sure that’s what I actually needed before I spent a ton of money.

1931 Model A pickup and a 1937 Pierce Arrow trailer.

I figured I would take a look at the car show first and see if there was anything that I thought would look good pulling the Traveleze. I was surprised to see that there were a lot of new cars there this year and the first thing that caught my eye was a 1931 Model A pickup pulling a 1937 Pierce Arrow trailer. The Model A was flawless and so was the Pierce Arrow. They were letting everyone step inside to view the trailer, so I had to take a look too - it was beautiful. The interior was rich wood that was painstakingly detailed and immaculate. Outside the trailer they had a board with photos showing the restoration of the trailer, including the rescue from its resting place in Toledo (or Milwaukee, I forget) Oregon. It had been in worse shape then mine, but not by much and it was 13 years older.

1954 Kaiser Manhattan, could look good pulling the Traveleze.

There were a lot of cars at the show and for some reason I was oddly impressed with a 1954 Keiser Manhattan 4 door sedan. It had a Chevy 350 and a Camaro front clip, but it looked completely stock. Now this car could pull the Traveleze with ease. It had a very rounded top which would look good with the curve of the canned ham, but it might be a bit too “Manhattan” for camping. There was also a fully restored 1954 Chevrolet 4 door Bel Air in light blue with a white top.  I have seen this car on Craigslist before and thought about calling several times. I have always wanted a 53 Chevy Bel Air 2 door Sport Coupe and figured I’d be settling if I bought a 4 door. Somehow though, the 4 door would fit the Traveleze.  I could just see a family going camping in their modest sedan pulling their tiny trailer, but would its 6 cylinder be strong enough to pull it? I wrote the number down just in case I decide I need to call him later.

There were several cars that would look good pulling the trailer, but it was now time to look at the swap meet and look for things I can’t live without. My father’s birthday is next month and I can usually find something unusual for him here. There were also a lot of hub caps and after a short look I found an 11” cap for a dollar. It wasn’t something I wanted, but I figured I would be able to tell if this was truly the size I needed.   I would later find out that it’s not, it was too big so at least now I know that  I need a 10 ½” which I can buy on line at Hub Cap Mikes.

Many of the vendors come back every year and sure enough I found a vendor, who I have bought stuff from every year. He has mostly antiques out of the Midwest, Nebraska and Iowa, and looking at his stuff is like looking in my grandparent’s home in Iowa. He had his usual farm signs, assorted vintage toys, old trunks, tools, lightening rods, etc and then I saw a long wood surveyors stick with the numbers on it. It was from 1929, was dark wood and had brass fittings; it would be perfect for my father. He has an old transit, but I don’t think he has the stick. I talked the guy down $15 from his price and  I was pleased with my purchase.  I ended up leaving the swap meet with the surveyors stick, a hub cap, and a old wooden folding chair that I got for $5 (it will perfect with the trailer), so all in all, it was good event.

Digging holes for trees.

I was back home by noon and it was time to let the chickens out. They were so happy to see me and bolted the coop like kids heading out to recess.

The weather was absolutely perfect, high 70’s and sunny. This would be an excellent day to plant to plant the trees and I started to wonder, how hard could it be plant 5 trees? I had assumed there would be massive roots to dig through, but I knew the soil was good, so I decided I would try to dig the hole.  If it got to difficult I would let the professionals do it.  They had called while I was at the swap meet and they planed to come on Tuesday to plant the trees.

I figure out where I wanted the first tree and started to dig.  Naturally the first thing I ran into was the sprinkler line, which I knew was close, but I hadn’t realized that close. No damage was done, so I moved a little closer to the house and I cut threw lots of roots fairly easily with the shovel, until I hit a root that was the size of my leg, I got out the axe and within 10 minutes I had it out. I kept digging and in about 20 minutes I had the first hole dug. It was just then, that my folks arrived to see the trees.  My Father was amazed at the huge hole dug  and the size of the root I chopped out. He was sure the roots would be backbreaking to dig around, so he was surprised when I said it wasn’t that bad.

My father helped me free a tree from its wire and plastic tub. We then had to break up the root ball using screw drivers and a pick.  After about 5 miuntes of loosening the roots, the tree was ready to be placed in the hole. I had filled the hole with water and let it soak in, we then rolled the tree in and with some visual guidence from my mom it was perfect. We then back filled the dirt and with lots more water the first tree was in place.

The deer coming to see what I'm doing.

My parents were going to run some errands in Bend and would be back in hour. My father said, if  I had the holes dug, he would help me place the trees.  This sounded like a good deal to me and I was excited to get any help that I could.

It took me exactly one hour to dig the next 4 holes and luckily I didn’t run into any more large roots that required the axe. It seemed like everyone wanted to see what was going on, the deer came into the yard, the ducks landed in the pond and of course the chickens were all over the fresh loose soil and the worms. Just as I finished digging the last hole my parents returned, it was perfect timing. 

Trees planted, and my Dad raking up.

We were able to plant the remaining 4 trees in about an hour. It was actually quite an effort, but we got them all in. I was very glad to have had my Dad there to help me and my mom kept bringing out cold glasses of water for us, which was greatly appreciated too. I love projects like this and I will never forget the time spent with my parents every time I look these trees.  This is what we would call a fun family project.  I also saved myself a boatload of cash by doing this and not paying to have them planted.

The trees look fantastic and within a few years they will provide lots of shade for the hot west side of the house just like the Aspen did.

I spent the rest of the day puttering in the yard with the chickens and I had dinner at my folk’s house. It had been a day of old cars, a vintage trailer, finding my father a unique gift and planting trees with my parents, it was in other words, the perfect day and one that I will not forget.