#aviontrailer

[thebreakawayblog]

Introducing . . . Avi Edna!

This 1960 T20 Avion Travel Trailer is our camp’s newest member. She’s in great shape and - we’re happy to report - can easily make it across the country.

Her name comes from a combination of Avion + Edna Mode, a favorite character of ours. She’s petite, tough and has LOTS of personality.

More updates to come!

xoxo KP

[sullivanstinylife-blog]

Here’s a peek inside our trailer and few things we quickly learned about RV living. One thing we loved about our trailer is that it has 5 cedar lined closets! Many newer RVs aren’t that spacious with closet space. The boys have 6 drawers each plus their own little closets. I was afraid there wouldn’t be enough space for their school uniforms (they stayed at their charter school instead of me homeschooling) but no worries there.

Our fridge holds a lot of food but we found out you can’t stock it full of stuff like a normal fridge. The air can’t circulate inside and it won’t cool. That means you go shopping more often. Like every other day. In the summer we keep ice packs in there to keep it cool. In the winter everything seems to freeze (I’ve never seen ranch dressing squeeze out like a big tube until now. ha!)

One thing we knew is it’s not ideal to have your big fluffy towels in an RV. They just won’t dry. And after awhile they smell mildewy. I absolutely cannot stand microfiber towels and neither can Don so we found another RV couple who used Glidden waffle weave towels. They’re expensive but AWESOME. They’re lightweight, the more you wash them the softer they get and they dry fast. And most of all, they don’t smell! So we have 4 towels total, one for each of us.

Everything is minimal in an RV if you don’t want to look at a cluttered place every day. We have one place setting for each of us. The oven is used as storage. In the summer it’s way too hot to turn on your stovetop. We use our little Weber grill for everything and a butane burner for the percolator. No counter space for our Keurig. 

After the first week, we discovered that you blow through those little green propane canisters when you’re doing all your cooking on the grill. Back onto the internet for other options. We bought an extension hose to connect our grill to a larger 20lb propane canister. Much cheaper and you don’t worry about running out of propane in the middle of your chicken grilling. Also Tractor Supply has the best deals for us for filling propane.

One thing I’d eventually like to get for the boys is Beddy zip up bedding. So easy and less mess. Future goals.

[tincantouristsofficial]

Social Distance Welcome Packet pickup for a TCT gathering - our 1957 Avion #vintagetrailer #vintagecamperrestoration #aviontrailer #tincantourists (at Port Crescent St Pk-Camping Area) https://www.instagram.com/p/CC_bywgJgTS/?igshid=uvjp9z3y0vfh

[picturesponiesandpronouns]

My kitchen kinda looks like a kitchen now! #Avion #aviontrailer #airstream #airstreamrenovation #airstreamlife #thow #tinyhouse #tinyhome #tinyhouseonwheels #travel #adventure #wanderlust #camping #roadtrip

[irishtattooer]

Thank you little shop, you've been good to us. You gave us refuge when we came from Florida. You allowed us to get our babies @gabrielvalentinemorgan and @zdude666 @zachbmorgan raised and grown into the spectacular men they've become. You allowed us to support ourselves and allowed us to meet a lot of great people, many of whom will be lifelong friends I'm sure. Here's to new adventures, upward onwards. Thank you little shop #saintsandscholars #bastrop #tattooshop #tattooshops #texastattoo #texastattooshop #texastattooshops #upwardonward #nextstopdublin #ireland2017 Thank you little Avion trailer too for being one of the happiest homes I've had for myself and my family #avion #aviontrailer (at Saints and Scholars)

[ditchingsuburbia-blog]

Repost @ericscottjohnson ・・・ This trip is by far the most time @teresarosejohnson and I have ever spent in constant proximity together over 11 years. I think if we had try to do this earlier in life we would have failed for lack of maturity... Yet somehow now, even with three young kids, it's proving to be an incredible and rewarding journey. So much of the credit for this goes to her. I'm amazed by the grace and patience with which she diffuses the chaos of our family everyday. We've had our conflicts (and still do), but there is no one I'd rather work shit out with than her. #damnlucky #johnsonavionadventure #airstreamlife #runaway #digitalbolex #ditchingsuburbia #motherhoodunplugged #wifematerial #aviontrailer #california #californiaadventure

[beautifulmadhouse]

The trailer is finally parked in the Catskills. Thanks @6xthefun for getting it up there. Can't wait to get our posse of kids camping. #aviontrailer

[sullivanstinylife-blog]

No we’re not in San Diego. But I can pretend we are. I am a licensed artist so I can work from home. That translates to the option of sleeping in, taking the time to make a yummy bacon and egg breakfast and easing into my morning. Love it. 

At least until we have to tackle the nuances of our new-to-us home. Here’s the thing... I’d love to say we just pulled in, set up and are relaxing by the pool, living a daily vacation that never ends. Um. Nope. You can watch all the YouTube videos and read all the articles you want about RV life. None of it applies until you have to deal with the unexpected plumbing leaks, the hot water heater that sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t, the awning that won’t roll up and feels like the whole trailer is going to blow away, the fridge that won’t keep cool during 105+ temps, tackling the black (and GREY) water tank smell (Oy).... and that was all during the first 2 weeks!!!

So you quickly learn to become DIYers especially after you blew $3000+ trying to get your rig serviced to AVOID said issues. And you learn to rely on your neighbors. Funny, in all the years we owned a home we knew our neighbors but everyone pretty much kept to themselves. At an RV park, it’s amazing the people who offered to help. Our next door neighbor helped us fix our leaks. Same neighbor gave us tips on keeping ice packs in the fridge (which really did work). Another neighbor tried to help with the awning and we discovered the metal arms had bent (we’re guessing during a windy day). Still don’t know what’s up with the hot water heater and no money to have a pro check it out.

At least the KOA has showers. With decent water pressure to boot.

[sullivanstinylife-blog]

Demo Day! Don had ripped up most of the carpet so I took out the rest and the ridiculous amount of carpet staples (I loathe carpet staples). Jax helped me clean for a bit until he got tired and needed to run around outside. There was so much caked on dirt under that nasty carpet. Krud Kutter was my best friend for a few days.

Unfortunately Don had his 2nd surgery before he could remove the heavy gaucho sofa and dinette. You know, it’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to something. I’m not very good at waiting around for help. So I picked up the drill and took out one screw from the dinette. Well that was nothing. And it was fun. So I took out another. And before you know it, I had the whole thing disassembled and out the door. Then I looked at the sofa which was bolted to the floor. I didn’t have a rachet tool but I had a monkey wrench. So I unscrewed one bolt (which meant I had to become a contortionist to get to it). Then I figured if I got one out, I might as well try the next one. After the 3rd bolt was out, I thought, “Well, there’s only one more so I might as well finish it.” Ha! Done and done. 

Then I wondered how I was going to get that thing out the door. I’d seen a YouTube video where a couple guys opened out the sofa and carried it out the door. I got the sofa opened out but obviously there was no way I could carry it out. So I pushed it. Out the door. Ha ha. Then I thought, “Well, I managed to get it out so I wonder if I can drag it to the truck.” That was an interesting sight. 5 foot 2 inch me trying to drag this awkward sofa across gravel without it folding up on me! But I got it to the truck, leaned one side onto the truck bed and pushed it on in. Then I just stared at it, grinning and thinking, man, I could really go for a hamburger. 

[sullivanstinylife-blog]

August in Arizona. Hot, muggy, stagnant. Don came home from the hospital the first week and I had a lot of goals to accomplish. Like scrubbing the inside of the RV and putting in a new floor. Only thing is I had a short window of time. The trailer was sitting in a storage facility and I had no generator. So every morning for a couple of weeks, I’d drop the boys off at school, head over to the trailer and scrub the walls, rip up carpet until the sweat was non-stop running into my eyes and I couldn’t see. Lovely. A few days in and I finally got smart and bought a sweatband! I could only tackle a couple hours at a time before the heat started to get to me. Part of me didn’t mind sweating off a few pounds. I like the satisfaction of hard work and seeing results.

Above are the “before” pics of our trailer. It was in really great condition for its 28 years but the 28 yr old carpet HAD to GO. And the mauve. And the powder blue furniture. We wanted a new sofa bed, and another alternative instead of the dinette to open the trailer up. With no slides, and only 8 ft wide, every inch matters. We envisioned vinyl wood plank floors, new blinds, new countertops, new light fixtures...whatever we could do to make it more modern.... and less ruffle-ly. 

[sullivanstinylife-blog]

Still August. Still hot and muggy. Except for one glorious couple of days when a storm blew through and cooled things down. I hightailed it to the trailer and knocked out a huge section of the floor. Don helped me figure out how to lay it and cut some of the trickier sections. We chose Nucore vinyl plank flooring with a cork back from Floor & Decor. It was pretty easy to lay down. Just took a great deal of thought process on how to make multiple cuts. Like the curved part of the Avion and staggered cuts around the cabinetry. The bathroom was the last section and by then I was tired and done with it all. I had to take out the toilet to put it in but that wasn’t a big deal. The bathroom was more angled than the rest of the trailer..not a perfect square. But after several mornings, it was finally done and we loved the look of it!

Jax found better things to do with the flooring boxes. He was showing off his virtual reality headset!

[thebreakawayblog]

Setting up Avi-Edna.

On the road we had time to decide where Avi-Edna would live once we arrived on The Yand in PA. We set her up next to the Green Shed and extended the porch between them. She came with cone stabilizers that did a perfect job.

This porch is where Luna and I have spent every summer day so far. I’ll plop down a 6′ folding table and we have an instant studio/playspace! It’s tucked under big trees, keeping the area beautifully cool and shaded. And there’s a glorious view of the garden and land from there, too.

xoxo KP

[picturesponiesandpronouns]

It's starting to feel like home 💕🏡 #Avion #aviontrailer #airstream #airstreamrenovation #airstreamlife #thow #tinyhouse #tinyhome #tinyhouseonwheels #travel #adventure #wanderlust #camping #roadtrip

[picturesponiesandpronouns]

Just a few more touches and the kitchen is done 💕✨ #Avion #aviontrailer #airstream #airstreamrenovation #airstreamlife #thow #tinyhouse #tinyhome #tinyhouseonwheels #travel #adventure #wanderlust #camping #roadtrip

[picturesponiesandpronouns]

Inspired by @avionawhim 's "feet and flooring" picture, I present you, my Uggs and Gunstock update from the tiniest of homes 💕#Avion #aviontrailer #airstream #airstreamrenovation #airstreamlife #thow #tinyhouse #tinyhome #tinyhouseonwheels #travel #adventure #wanderlust #camping #roadtrip

[picturesponiesandpronouns]

Cookies, counter and cooktop are done! Just the backsplash and spruce remain to be finished!! Day 8 of renovations: completed ✅ #Avion #aviontrailer #airstream #airstreamrenovation #airstreamlife #thow #tinyhouse #tinyhome #tinyhouseonwheels #travel #adventure #wanderlust #camping #roadtrip