Sept. 11th

A few miles east of this Sinclair station is where I learned to always have my camera. We drove by this old antique shop and pulled over to take a look. Inside the place was completely crammed with old junk and oddities, hardly navigable, exactly what an antique shop should be. There was a sweet old lady behind the counter who we chatted with for a bit about international motorcycle clubs. Upstairs in this old building was just the most beautiful interior, I wish I had my camera. Maybe a more accurate descriptions would be beautiful decay. Something you would see urban exploring except with out the legal risk of trespassing. Further down the road we found this old Sinclair station.

Interesting trusses

We sat and talked with the daughter of the station owner for awhile. She told us stories about the area and the history of the place. She asked if we had stopped by the antique shop further up the road. "Why yes, we did." She told us an old man and has wife ran the place for something like 30 years. But a few months ago the wife died and the man was left alone to care for the place. She said a few weeks ago a traveler came by and said she just stopped by the shop and there was the nicest old woman there (do you see where this is going?) she described the man's wife who had recently died. We just half-smiled and said "Oh my..."

This one's for Nancy

Love these art deco machines

An original Route 66 sign

Pan out, and this is the building it swings from

I have a thing for abandoned buildings and peeling paint if you haven't noticed

Further down the road, we found Red Oak II (a suggestion from the woman at the Sinclair station) It's hard to describe the place, it's kind of like traveling back in time. Check out this link for a bit of it's history. It's full of charming little buildings and art.

A gate made out of old gears and tractor parts

Some of the houses are privately owned. 

There were a few of these chairs scattered out in the lawn...they looked like they were grazing.

This sculpture was called "Plumber's Nightmare"

In the the little old church

Sept. 10, 2010 - We Embark

So we left home at 6pm on a Friday, to find ourselves in a traffic jam 30 minutes out of town. Great! We drove into the night, trying to get as far away from home as we could. 1:45am we stop for the night in a truckstop somewhere in Missouri for our first night on the road in the teardrop. It rains. Torrentially. We found our leak! And lucky for me it was on Ed's side. Actually we both tossed and turned all night just getting used to the idea of sleeping in a shoebox on a trailer in a truckstop in Missouri. So Ed's feet got a little wet but we patched up the leak in the morning. But not before being awaken by strangers talking about us just outside our window...

(read this in the thickest southern accent)

Mr: That's a tiny little camper right there, the back opens up and they got a kitchen and storage.

Mrs. A camper? You mean a trailer for camping supplies?"

Mr. No, no, that's a camper, you can sleep inside of it.

Mrs. No way, that is too tiny!

Mr. No it's not, I betcha they just got tired and pulled off to rest, I bet there's people sleeping in there right now.

And so it begins, seldom will we make a stop and not have an admirer or two. Literally not a day went by in our two weeks on the road that we didn't have someone strike up a conversation about our teardrop. "What is it? Where did you buy it? Do you really sleep in there?"

Sept. 11
After brushing teeth and cleaning up a bit at the truckstop, we finally hop on Route 66 at 9:30 am.
Here is our very first roadside oddity, you see we were quite excited.

In case you were wondering, this is the Route 66 Rocker.
Erected 4-1-08
Stands 42'4" tall
Weighs 27,500 lbs

We spotted the rock frog! Aunt Nancy, Americana expert and enthusiast, had given us a list of things to look out for. This was one of them, it was a like a scavenger hunt, looking for everything on her list and finding a ton of stuff in between.

Our very first neon stop, the Munger Moss Motel

Our first diner stop, the Bell Restaurant in Lebanon MO. We enjoyed a most satisfying breakfast at 11:30am. Love that ceiling!

Edit: I missed a page in our travel log! More to come from from our adventures on the 11th - I can't believe we did so much all in one day...part 2 of day 2 coming soon.

Teardrop pt. 3

Tada!

So here is our teardrop, It's not quite finished, but it is campable. We got the license plate in the mail just in time to head west for the maiden voyage.

And a finishing touch, by my Mom-in-law.

Notice the perfect colors, and how the zigzags match the outside?

Thank you so much to all of our parents for their help! Especially my Dad, this would have never materialized with out you!

Our Teardrop Build pt. deux

I stained the inside roof, and painted the walls a light blue.

 Ed and the Dad's putting the aluminum over the second layer of plywood.

 Tada!

 The back galley

 

Starting to put in the cabinets...we had no idea what we were doing.

 

 But we seemed to manage!

 The hatch

The hatch skinned



The galley

The hatch supports are semi-temporary, we're planning on making them more secure and wind-proof when we get around to skinning the inside of the hatch.

And here is the paint job so far! It's based on the retro shasta trailers, I'll be adding a silver line between the white and blue.

Our Teardrop Build

Ok, so here goes a "quick" recap of our teardrop build. 

My Dad acquired this old utility trailer last year. It used to be a pop up camper.

 

He ripped it apart...

 

And somehow managed to turn it into a perfect little 4x8 trailer!
 

Mom and Dad towed it up on Easter, so naturally we took a picture in our Sunday best.

Dad enjoys some beer and pizza after raising the walls.

Crossbars

5mm plywood

 

Insulation

 

Side view

 

The galley so far

 

More to come!