Category:

Airstream

What happened to the lights?!

As a homeowner, when the lights go out, it’s probably due to a thunderstorm or you forgot (refuse?) to pay the light bill. But, in a house on wheels, you’ve likely got bigger problems. Problems you can’t figure out! You flip the breakers, check the fuses, check the campground pedestal, the power cord, the genny – what can it be?!

A quick google search will bring you to 9,456,765,475 possibilities and you’ve got to narrow it down…

After some quick, er, LONG, minutes searching for a solution to our problem, I decided it must be the CONVERTER. We had 12v power and the lights were working but we had no charge and the 110v appliances and outlets weren’t working.

The old Parallax converter.

Apparently, the converter in the Airstream is a 1 stage charging system and I soon discovered that this is NOT THE WAY. So, I upgraded our converter to a 3 stage charging system by Progressive Dynamics. I got the direct drop in replacement from Amazon. The PD4655V. I read about this new converter on CurrentlyWandering’s blog.

I like to be organized.

HOWEVER! This ‘upgrade’ didn’t solve our problems. Judging by the little green light on the converter, it was on and working but we still had no 110v power.

FINE!, I said. It must be the power cord! So, off we go to the nearest Camping World and get another Furrion RV cord, which is ridiculously priced BTW!

On the way home, I suddenly remembered reading something about a transfer switch and decided to do a bit of research while we were stuck in traffic. Hrm…I’m reading this, and realized we probably didn’t need a new converter, nor a new power cord and I should just bypass this switch….FRICK!

Which wire goes where?!

We got back home (to the trailer…) and bypassed the switch from some directions I found on AirForums and bam! Power back on.

My advice to myself and anyone else, DO SOME SERIOUS GOOGLING before throwing money at your problem…

Our problem was solved and now we have an upgraded charging system and a new $$$ power cord…

May 12, 2016

There’s Something to Learn Everyday in this New Airstream Life

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

Yesterday we packed up the Airstream and hit the road for Las Cruces, NM. Well, that is where we both thought we were going to go. I think. In all honesty, we left Marfa with no real plan. Our friends and family keep asking, “what is your route?” “where are you going to stop?” “what places are you going to visit?” and to answer those questions, we don’t really know. The point of this journey is to just go with the flow and hit some of the main places along the way from Austin, TX to southern California (our first main destination). We had originally planned on staying in Marfa a few days and then head to Big Bend buttttt I really was tired of the windy dessert and I could tell Mr. TCP was getting antsy so we decided to move on. Big Bend, we will be back for you.

Mr. TCP had a state park in mind for us to camp at last night while we pass through New Mexico. Well, apparently state parks in New Mexico shut down before sundown so when we arrived, around 7PM, it was closed. I couldn’t help but laugh because this was a half ass plan on our part. In reality, we should have called ahead that morning to make sure there was space and receive directions on what to do when you arrive. But we didn’t. I can’t fault Mr. TCP because it was a lovely state park on a lake and it was cheap. You’ll learn that Mr. TCP loves affordability, I mean, who doesn’t.

*I should note that we didn’t have any water on board or we would have just boondocked somewhere.

Once we realized we were going to have to find an RV park to stay in we headed back into town, Las Cruces that is, and we found one of those swanky overpriced concrete filled places off of I-10. Vomit. Since it was after hours, the “RV Resorts” voice message says to just pick a spot. Easy enough. It was dark, Mr. TCP was hungry, and we were both tired of being the in the car so we pulled into the first spot we found. Ha! Well we should have learned at this point, most “pull through” spots are usually more expensive than their “back in” friends. After unhooking and setting up, Mr. TCP went to the front to see about, actually I am not quite sure why he went to the front, but he quickly learned the spot we pulled into is a whopping $50 USD per night. What the hell! At this point, we were a bit annoyed with each other, I mean the situation, so we weren’t going to pack everything back up, hook up and find a new spot. So we are just going to eat the $50 and call it a day.

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I think we both learned a valuable lesson from this, we need to plan at least 24 hours in advance.

Oh, and the dogs are driving us insane. 🙂

April 28, 2016

Boondocking on the Llano River

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

Yesterday was our first day out on the wide open road as we make our way to southern California. We have agreed that we won’t drive more than a few hours at a time which means we needed to find a stopping point between Waco (our launching point) and Marfa (our destination). My dad (who you will see be referred to as “The Don”) mentioned Junction as a great stopping point. He hasn’t steered me wrong at this point in my life so I took his advice and we headed out with Junction as our destination.

Our view for the night.

Google maps said it would take around 3 and 1/2 hours to get there which seemed reasonable. In reality it took us more like four hours to get there which wasn’t too bad. When we arrived we noticed there was a carnival happening at the city park near the campsites. Some people would be deterred. We were not! What a fun way to start this journey. I grew up in small town America so when I can get back to place that reminds me of home I embrace it.

The carnival right outside our campsite.

Mr. TCP is dead set on more boondocking. I can’t say that I am 100% on board because that means my showers are limited to just a few minutes and I can’t just turn on the coffee pot. Apparently the grinding feature requires more power than our solar panels provide.

I can say that I love the fact that we can just pull over wherever we please and spend the night or a few days without being married to specific RV parks. Our Airstream is fully contained with solar panels which provide a good amount of power so as long as we have enough water on board we are set.

April 25, 2016

See You Later Austin Texas

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

As you already know, we are currently living in the Airstream full time. However, you may not know that we got to camp out at the infamous Pecan Grove RV Park on Barton Springs in Austin. It’s a legend. They say Matthew McConaughey lived there at some point.

Anyway, I have had this “dream” of living there at some point. The Don had even offered to buy an RV and let me live in it after graduation. I called this place to see if they had an open spot and I got an abrupt response: “The owners sold out to developers.” There we had it. This iconic Austin legend was going to soon become a condo. Who the hell purchases these ridiculous condos anyway? That is another story. Anyway, that dream was shattered.

After leaving Lauren’s house, we moved onto to Pecan Grove RV Park and had the pleasure of staying there for a few nights. It was great! I was able to walk to yuppie Whole Foods, run around the trail, and meet Mr. TCP for some snacks at local bars. And visit our favorite haunt, Barton Springs Saloon one last time.

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We packed up the Airstream on Thursday morning, April 21st, and hit the road to Waco where Mr. TCP would drop me off at The Don’s for a few days. This isn’t a goodbye Austin but rather a see you later. But while we are at it, Austin, you should really fix your TERRIBLE traffic problem while we are gone. No biggie.

April 22, 2016

Trial and Error: Getting Started

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

As of Friday, the 15th, we are officially “homeless” but in a fun way. Not a sleep under the bridge, just yet, kind of way. We hustled until the wee hours of the night on Thursday to finish up what we thought would be a few things. Every time I turned around, it seemed like something new would pop up. Just another reason to love the “minimalist” lifestyle we are embarking on.

Our first night in the Airstream was a bit, um, cramped I guess would be the word. We literally just threw the things we were taking with us into the Airstream and said we’d deal with it over the weekend, which we have since done. Over the last couple of days we have learned what we need, what we don’t, and what we may have forgotten.

One thing I realized is our comforter was a bit too big. If it’s too hot for a full comforter then we push it on the floor, which I don’t love. We are going to pack our comforter and use a blanket we purchased instead. I think this will be good for when it’s cool but not hot.

We realized that we aren’t going to be able to ride around with a smelly generator in the back of the Tahoe so we purchased a Thule Cargo Basket for the top of the truck. The fun part is going to be getting the generator from the ground to the top of the Tahoe. We plan to park to close enough to the Airstream to hook up so we don’t have to take it off very often. Wish us luck.

Thursday night, while we were playing musical Airstreams, Mr. TCP may have dented the bumper of the Tahoe. It was dark, we were both on edge with all the things that still needed to be done, and he left the front cargo door open. As he was backing the new Airstream into the driveway he cut it real sharp, while the cargo door was still open, as a result the bumper now has a new ding. And the front cargo door has a bit of damage, nothing too serious. Lesson learned, everything must be closed when backing up.

For now, we are parked at a good friend’s home. She was kind enough to let us post up for the weekend, which has been quite nice. We have been cheating by taking showers in the house with amazing water pressure. Tomorrow we will be moving to a fun RV park right in the heart of downtown Austin.

Oh, and I haven’t combed my hair in about three days. Things are already looking up!

April 13, 2016

What Are You Doing with the Dogs?

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

When we tell people what we are doing our friends and family always ask, “Well, what are you doing with the dogs?” We are bringing them with us. All FOUR of them. Not only are we crazy for opting to live in less than 200SQFT of space with no dishwasher, laundry room, or dog door, we are doing it with four dogs.

We’ve had our parents offer to take a couple off our hands which, in reality, would be nice but it’s not fair. It’s not fair to do that our parents, they aren’t the one married to a crazy lady who keeps bringing dogs home, and it’s not fair to the dogs.

Let me introduce our four legged kids.

Lucy is eight going on eighty. She enjoys lounging on the couch, sunbathing, and eating any food that falls on the floor. Mr. TinCanPlan inherited Lucy when we started dating so there wasn’t really any convincing with her. She’s a doll.

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George is our spunky adventure loving kid. We got him as a wee pup, from what I say was a meth lab, about 30 miles east of Austin, also known as Bastrop. I had told Mr. TCP that we were going to “look” at a puppy and before he could object we were headed home with a puppy. He’s our most sociable kid with a big personality and he draws a crowd everywhere he goes.

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Serendipity is our seven or eight year old boxer we foster failed with through Austin Boxer Rescue. They posted something on their facebook page about how they desperately needed fosters so I convinced (or tricked depending on who you ask) Mr. TCP to go with me to meet the boxers that need fosters. When we met Serendipity we knew she would fit right in. We had her for six months before anyone was interested in her and at that point she was already a part of our family.

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Penelope comes to us from the Austin Animal Center. She was surrendered by her owners because, well, they suck. I saw that there was a French Bulldog at the AAC and that the rescues wouldn’t take her because she was aggressive. I thought, what the hell, I love a good challenge so I left work and headed over just to see what all the fuss was about. When I arrived I was ushered to a back room to meet her and goodness gracious she was so sweet. I knew she had to come home with me. I sent a very convincing (sense a theme yet?) text to Mr. TCP alerting him of the possibility of a new family member. He rarely says no, so next thing I know Penelope and I are headed to her new home.

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Each dog has their own issues which I don’t feel comfortable off loading on an un-expecting grandpuparent which is why we will be hitting the road with four furry kids.

Stay tuned to see if we ship one back to Texas.

April 13, 2016

Making the Move

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

As we near the final days before we have to move out of our house we’ve really kicked it into gear. As you saw, we picked up our new home a few days ago and since then we’ve spent countless hours cleaning, organizing and figuring out how everything works.

I spent about eight hours yesterday pairing things down, packing, and moving. It made me realize there are a few things I am going to miss dearly.

I am a HUGE home body. I love nothing more than sitting on our amazing couch and watching endless hours of Netflix. Judge away. I am not ashamed. I searched high and low for a DEEP couch. It had to be leather so my options were limited to one store, Restoration Hardware. I am just ridiculous enough to purchase a couch from such a store but not ridiculous enough to pay full price, so we bought it at the outlet. The point of these ramblings is, I love to sit on the couch.

My mixer. I used it for the last time last night and made some chocolate chip cookies. There is something soothing about whipping up a batch of homemade cookies. See you later, mixer.

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The washer and dryer. I workout a lot which results in a lot of sweaty clothes which need to be washed, often. I am also a bit obsessive about washing our sheets. I probably change them every three days. I understand this isn’t going to be an option while living in the Airstream, so I just purchased more sheets than necessary. I am going to miss doing laundry, as crazy as that sounds.

The dishwasher. Lordy. I HATE DOING DISHES. I hate it. But it makes it significantly easier when you can just plop them in the dishwasher and press start. We have significantly decreased the number of kitchen items we are bringing with us so hopefully this won’t be such a daunting task.

The dog door. This is something near and dear to us. As you will learn, we have a few dogs. They LOVE their dog door. It gives them the freedom to go in and out of the house at their leisure. But I think we love it even more. It makes being a dog parent much more effortless. They use the bathroom whenever they want. Now we are going to have to go back to leashing up for potty breaks. Oh the joy.

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Showers. I shower at least twice a day. If it’s a particularly active day it can be three times. I am not sure how well this is going to work in our limited water supply Airstream so I am going to have to learn how to get in and out quickly. I am not one to take long showers to begin with so this will be a challenge to reduce my time in shower even more. Challenge accepted!

Of all the things we will be giving up, I hope this journey will teach us those things aren’t as necessary as we believe. Here is to learning!

April 10, 2016

We Welcomed a New Family Member

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

When we first decided how we were going to travel up the west coast we determined our current Airstream was just too old, I mean small. It is 19ft of Vintage awesomeness that we decided we would leave back in Texas.

We started our search for a 25′ newish Airstream and quickly realized these things are flying off the market, kind of like houses in Austin. And the kicker, they were getting scooped up by all the folks out in California. Urgh. Anyway, we searched and searched and searched, finally Mr. TCP suggested we look at other travel trailers. Not going to happen. There isn’t a travel trailer or RV on the market that compares to the quality and craftsmanship of an Airstream. And WE ARE AIRSTREAM PEOPLE. So the search continued.

The other kicker was were going to have to drive cross country to purchase some of the Airstreams we found which wasn’t sounding too appealing. Finally, we found one in our hometown, Austin. We went to see it and decided it would be the one, if we could agree on a purchase price.

After some back and forth, we were able to agree on a purchase price and we started the process of bringing her home. Mr. TCP had the honor of getting to pull her on the inaugural drive to our stick build house.

After searching, I came to the conclusion that we couldn’t buy an Airstream that had a corner bed. Why you may ask? Well, because I am certain I’d be the one crammed in the corner and that just doesn’t sound like any fun.

And now we have a “walk” around bed.

I also wanted to have panoramic windows on the front and back which is something you get when you don’t have the corner bed. I am sure there is a specific model or name that those Airstreams are called, but I just can’t think of it off the top of my head.

I wanted to post pictures of what it looked like before we weighed it down with all of our crap so these pictures were taken from the listing.

Stay tuned for more “lived” in pictures.

April 8, 2016

Airstream Love

written by Mr TinCanPlan

I’ll admit, I do LOVE Airstreams. I love ’em new, love ’em old and definitely love ’em shiny! I can’t say that I’ve always had a love for Airstreams. This love only started a few years ago. In fact, before living in Austin, I can’t recall seeing an Airstream, though I knew what they were the first time I saw one. Perhaps I had repressed memories of the RV and Boat Show my parents would take us too. We went to many and WE NEVER EVEN OWNED A RV OR BOAT. Hell, I had never even been inside a trailer or on a boat outside of the shows until I was a grown up! What’s up with that?! Ah well, fantasies, I suppose.

Now, back to me. Back before we were married, my wife and I had this BRILLIANT idea to get one of those shiny trailers and make it a photobooth. We were already filming weddings as videographers and everyone seemed to have a photobooth. Add that with the fact that this is Austin, and you can find tacos, nachos, pizza, hamburgers, haircuts, hell, maybe even a dentist, operating out of an Airstream, and we thought, GOLD! In fact, you’ll find Airstreams in food parks, food courts, farmers’ markets, flea markets; you name it, if it’s an outside event, there’ll be an Airstream or two. So, why not make one a photobooth and rent it out for weddings! We thought we were geniuses! It took quite a while to find THE ONE, but when we did, we found she was not shiny, she was not pretty, and suddenly this did not feel like such a brilliant idea. She was a 1963 Bambi. Only the most coveted Airstream of all time.

The 1963 Airstream Bambi

Now, if you know ANYTHING about Airstreams, you know the Bambi is what you could call a white buffalo. She’s rare, she’s beautiful and if you find her, you better keep her happy, and protected. (Wait, I’m not sure a white buffalo is even a real thing, I’ll have to look that up.) Regardless, I restored her and turned her into a photobooth. Once I started booking weddings, we were contacted to do a story about the Bambi Booth as we called her, and that is when we recognized there were not one, not two, but THREE freaking Airstream photobooths operating in Austin. I kept up the business for a while then finally let her go. She is still out there, under a different name, and has had some modifications that make me very sad, but she’s being put to good use so I guess that’s a plus. Here’s the last photo I took of her.

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The Bambi Booth (I miss you girl!)

I let this Bambi go, but you bet your big fat freakin’ left toe if I find another, I will snatch her up and never let her go! I will admit, I searched for another Airstream for a few years before I found my next one. Read my next post to find out about The 1966 Airstream Globetrotter.

April 1, 2016

It’s the biggest camping danger cliche ever: A bear!

written by Mr TinCanPlan

That moment when you’re driving your Tin Can up a steep incline and something darts across the road. Was it a dog? No. A cat? Um, that would be a big cat. Could it be? No… That’s a yes, it was a freakin’ bear! We haven’t quite set out on our Tin Can Plan yet so this is a throwback post to when we did take a short two-week road trip around the Southeastern United States in our old Airstream Globetrotter.

The bear sighting happened in a North Carolina RV park/campground that is one of the most beautiful places we have camped. If you ever find yourself near Goldview Knob, you should definitely check out Campfire Lodgings. It is about ten minutes north of Asheville, North Carolina. With 100 acres of woods and numerous trails, Campfire Lodgings offers a variety of mountain lodging possibilities, from RV and Tent sites, to fully furnished Yurts, Cabins, and a Cliff House.

The home of the bear.

Now, back to this bear. We saw the bear as we were doing the climb up the hill to the campground. It (or they…) darted across the roadway, on the hunt! To be honest, it was probably for a stash of grilled cheese or those little cheese filled hotdogs we seem to encounter at every campground but by the speed of his dash, he must have been hungry!

We moved slowly and parked the Airstream, hopped out and this is what we saw.

The view from above.

Of course, the first thing you should do is NOT GO FOR A FREAKIN’ WALK. But, not two minutes after we saw the bear, here we were, just strolling through his living room. Hey, I’ve got a pocket knife here, I’ll be fine… Right?

For the fact checkers, here are common causes of attacks while hiking:

Not making sufficient noise.
Approaching or surprising an animal at close range.
Getting close to a carcass or other food source.
Startling a female bear with cubs.
Hiking off trail or at night.

OK, so I guess I shouldn’t have grabbed that piece of deer gut, played with it and dropped on myself while hiking at night and moving very slowly and quietly up to the super cute bear cub? I mean, really, come on, have you ever seen a bear cub? SO CUTE.

A cute bear whose Mom will probably eat your face.

Luckily, we never saw that bear again or even cubs, and we camped here for a few days. There were a few signs warning you of their presence and the trashcans are bear-proofed so if you do get to this area, follow the rules above. This is a beautiful campground and we hope to make it back. Sans bear.

The 1966 Airstream Globetrotter parked in bear country.

March 31, 2016

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