Working on the Packard

With Labor Day behind us and a beautiful summer coming to a close, I decided it was time for an update.  The Traveleze has made several more adventures, and the more time I spend with her, the more I fall in love.  The little trailer is so much fun and it makes me smile from the inside out.  The little appliances perform amazingly well.  I've cooked full dinners in the Dixie oven and I have invited neighboring trailer-ites over to enjoy hot meals.  We've cooked meatloaf's, pork loin, cookies, cinnamon rolls, peach pie and much more in this tiny kitchen.  Everyone seems to be surprised I use the oven, but that's what it is there for and if I'm hauling

it around it's going to get used.  There is something wonderful about preparing food in the trailer.  It fills the tiny space with amazing aromas of delicious food and evokes all kinds of memories.  I can't help but remember how my grandmothers kitchen smelled when she would pull fresh hot cinnamon rolls of the oven.  

I can't help but feel at home in the little trailer.  Bring friends with me to share the experience and meeting new friends along the way, is all about the fun.  The warm amber glow of the birch walls, create a cozy inviting space, that transports me back in time.  I wake up in the back bed and look over the tiny space (which seems much larger when laying down) and I can't help but feel I am safe in familiar surroundings.

The 53 Packard, needed some help, and last May I took her in to start a frame off restoration.  The goal was to have her done by August 5, but that didn't materialize.   She is currently off her frame, getting rust repair performed and minor body work.  With a little new paint, rubber, chrome, wiring and a handful of miscellaneous pieces and parts....she should be good to go and most importantly be ready to pull the Traveleze around Central Oregon.

As we enter into September the weather levels out into perfect days and cools nights, ideal for taking the trailer out camping.  The big South Beach rally is coming up and I'm eager to pull the trailer to the coast again. There are over 50 vintage trailers signed up and I'm eager to meet up with new found friends from the last trailer rally in Seaview Washington. 

When I look back over the restoration process and the ridiculous expense involved, I no longer have heart palpitations.  The Traveleze is pure joy and I enjoy every minute I can spend with friends and the Traveleze.

 

Day 893, The Traveleze safely stored under cover for the winter

Newport, Oregon

Well, here it is several months after my last post.  The Traveleze went on a big adventure to Newport and along the Oregon coast in September.  My good friends Tracy and Christian went with me and we had a lot of fun.  I even managed to take them past our old cabin on the coast in Waldport and show them where I spent my summers and weekends as a kid.

Hwy 101, Oregon Coast

Right now the Traveleze is safe undercover and is plugged in and is being heated through the winter.  The low temperature the other night was ZERO and we have had snow on the ground almost since Christmas.

1942 Packard 120 Convertible in the snow, Christmas 2012

My friends at Flyte Camp have done several TV programs and they keep finding vintage treasure after treasure to restore.

I did manage to snap a few pictures of the Packard in the snow.  I backed the car out of the garage about 11:30 at night.  The temperature was around 19 degrees and with the camera set on a night setting on a tripod I was able to get some pretty neat shots. I really wanted to back the trailer out of it's resting place but I figured it might be a bit difficult to get back in with the snow.

Packard in the snow, Christmas 2012

Winter has a firm grip on Central Oregon and the days of camping with the trailer are a long ways off.  I'm already signed up for two vintage rallies this summer and I'm sure there will be a few more opportunities that will show up.

Day 751, The Terrebonne Cruz-In.

Once again, I was up early and ready to head to Terrebonne at 7 am.  I had left the Packard hooked up to the Traveleze in the back driveway and I had put a cover over it to protect in during the night.  I uncovered the car, secured the trailer and pulled it down the driveway where I could get a good picture of it in the morning light.  It looked awesome and I was ready for the 10 mile trip to Terrebonne.

The Packard and Traveleze together at last.

I got there about 7:30 am and got parked in an "okay" spot, nothing special and no shade, but it was easy in and out.  The show registration started at 8 am and people really started arriving by 9 am.  It was a really big car show with over 270 cars in attendance and lots of spectators.  Everyone enjoyed the car and Traveleze and I had the door open so people could look in side and check it out.  There were lots of questions about the restoration and I had Flyte Camp's cards and a few flyers on their work.  I must have handed out 15 cards and all of the flyers.

2nd Place, or first looser as my friends say.

Around 10 am, Christian and his daughter Stella showed up to check out the show and we walked around and looked at all the cars.  We had a great time looking at all the cars and voting for the many categories.  At 3 pm they had the Awards ceremony and I didn't have a note on my car, so I assumed I didn't win anything.  They had all most all of the cars gathered in the winners circle, when I was asked why I wasn't bringing my car up.  I said I didn't win anything and was told I had, so I went back to the car and sure enough there was note.  I back the car and Traveleze up and joined the others.  I won 2nd place in the Orphan Class, (the parent company is no longer alive).

After a long day in the sun, Christian and Stella came back to my house and we barbequed some burgers.  Stella fed the horses and let the chicken out and it was a nice summer evening.

Day 751, The Packard is ready to be picked up.

Hitch and stinger in place - ready to tow.

The Packard is ready to be picked up and my parents picked me up at my house at 5pm to take me to Prineville.  Rick hooked up the wiring for trailer lights and mounted a hitch to the car.  He was also able to fix a few other things like a sizable vacuum leak, a sticky throttle linkage and more.  He said I should be able to notice a significant difference and on the way home I really could.

I was so excited to see if I could hook up the car to the trailer and to see how it does pulling it.  I needed a new stinger for the car and had to go to three places before I could find anyone open at 7pm on a Friday night.  Fred Meyer's was open and had what I was looking for.  I rushed back home backed the car up and hooked everything up.  I had to do a minor wiring change with Rick on the phone and all was ready.

With the car hooked to the trailer and all the lights working.  I pulled the Traveleze around the block (about a 2 mile loop). The Packard pulled it with easy and I was surprised how well it did.  I did however discover that the extra strain on the car made it flex a little bit more than usual and the drivers side door flew open when I went around a corner.  Obviously there is a bit of body flex that was enough to let the door swing open.

I needed to wash the car and get it ready for tomorrows car show in Terrebonne.  

Day 750, First frost of Fall

Frost on the roof, August 23, 2012.

I don't know what it is about frost and August 23rd, but you can always bet there there will be frost on August 23rd, just enough to damage your garden and then it will warm back up.  Sure enough I woke up to a very cold house with all the windows open and there was frost on the roof.  The temperature was 34 degrees and it was cold.  the high for the day is expected to be 81.  I had to snap a picture of the roof and send it to my friends in Oklahoma, where it has not dropped below 70 for months.

Day 749, Wednesday Concert

This is concert day, so we put up the big tent up at 10:30 am.  The concert starts at 6 pm and goes until 7:30 pm.  The vendors arrive at 5 pm and the die-hard concert goers are there by 5:15 pm.  It's always a fun night and we have lucked out every concert night so far, so we are counting out blessings.

My mom and I at the concert

My parents have attended most of the concerts and they were here for this one.  My mom really like the band, "the Noteables" who played swing and big band music.  It was definitely an older audience but the park was packed. 

By the time the concert is over and we have everything unloaded back at the office I get home around 8:45 pm., so it's a long day.

Day 748, Tuesday up early.

I was up early and had the Traveleze hooked and was ready to go by 7:10 am.  They were only going to need the trailer for a day and could pick it up tomorrow.  I got there before anyone else, and I quickly unhitched and headed to work.

It was a pretty uneventful day and the office was starting to look a little more respectable after the giant mess we had created the week before.

At 5 pm I headed home and my parents were going to follow me to Prineville, so I could drop the 53 Packard off at Rick's and he was going to put a hitch on the car so I can pull the Traveleze.  He was supper busy this week, but  he wanted to get me in so I could be able to pull the trailer to the car show this weekend in Terrebone.  A trip to Rick's is always fun, and my parents get a kick out seeing his amazing collection of cars and automobilia.


Rick said the car would most likely be ready on Thursday.