PA to South FLA in one day!

Well its that time of year. Time to head south for a little "fun in the sun."

We left Pittsburgh at 2 am heading south. The roads where dry and traffic was light. By 3 pm we made it to the FLA line, 800 miles away. Usually when we do this trip we would stop and spend the night; the kids wanted push on. I was getting tired so we stopped for dinner.

Then, we got back on the road.

Well, we did it. Made it to my parents' house in south FLA by 9 pm. I drove 1133 miles (with a few breaks) in 18 hours. Lisa is flying in christmas day. Then, we will be heading to Key's to camp for 9 days. The weather is great warm and sunny. We are very happy to get out of PA

I'll Fly, Drive, Walk! What Ever It take to Save a Scotty

I'll Fly, Drive, Walk! What Ever It takes to Save a Scotty.

My good Scotty friend Rose offered me some window parts and skin for my Scotty project.

She lives about 100 miles from my house. My plan was to fly there in my plane. I got the weather. The winds were calm and it was little cloudy. Here I am ready for take-off.

As I flow east passing over the Laurel Ridges at around 5000 ft. I had a smooth ride. After passing the ridges I started seeing a thicker deck of lower clouds. Well you may see were this is going. Well I ended up in the soup. I was fogged in. I was unable to land at my destination it was below minimums. Well all must of turned out OK. I'm blogging this. I had lots of fuel to get to another airport. I called ATC and requested a cleaence back to my airport. I climbed to 7000 ft and final broke out on the top of the clouds. Heading back west the fog broke up and I landed back home safe.


Well here is Rose. I ended up driving to Somerset PA to meet her.
We had lunch and talked vintage trailers for a good hour.
Thanks you Rose for the parts.

The Work Has Begun

I started working on my new Scotty. Its seen some hard times. I removed the lower skin. The side wall has come loose at the bottom. The side wall bottom is dry rotted.

I'm going to reinforce the floor and wall and reattached them.

In this photo you can see the ground from inside the trailer.

This is the bad area in the roof, See the roof seam. I have removed all the nails, stapeles and bad wood. I need to replace the roof supports. Then I can repair the ceiling.

This is the gauge of progress.

Yes My Feet Are Plant On The Ground In My Scotty

I guess if you work on vintage trailers.

Sooner or later you will find yourself inside a trailer standing on the ground.

Here I am standing in my new 1966 Scotty Hi-lander were the orig floor heater was.

My trailer buddy Steve said that it would make a good Ice fishing shed.

I was thinking I would make it a trap door.

This it my new Scotty A 1966 Hi-Lander

This wall is sanging and has come loose at the bottom. It is a very soild trailer.
I can put it back together



Loving the skylight



This is all the stuff I found cleaning out this trailer.
This is almost enough stuff to have a yard sale.



This trailer has been passed through 3 other owner with the intentions of fixing it up.
I was told that one of these people got as far as redoing this table.
That is about the last thing I would have done when doing this restortion.





Still diggin the skylight.






Don't worry I have a plan!
Stay tuned.

Another Busy week In My World

I had a busy week. The weather has been dry and warm for November so I've been able to work outside. I've been cutting dead timber from my woods. I drag it out of the wood and cut and split it. I don't heat my home with wood. I just like a warm fire on cold nights.

Money well spent this tree guy came over with his stump grinder.

He did 10 stumps in 2 hours for $300 cash

Yes there is a Scotty in the Port!! This trailer needed a new home and some love.

More about this trailer to come.

Winter is Coming

Hey All Winter is coming! That means that my work is slow. So I have more time to work on projects. I'm hoping to paint my Scotty Tonga and put back together a Honda mini trail I'm restoring. I spent sunday at the airport with my son Adam. We had a great time. It was sunny and warm. I gave Adam a flying lesson and then he help me wash the plane.

Adam is very much at home in the plane.

He has been flying in small planes is whole life

After we were done working at the hanger. We went for a ride. Here is Adam riding a 1970 Honda Trail 70. We take this bike camping with us. Its great for getting around campgrounds.

The View Out of My Office

I know, what a office view

I was working today. What I call work is flying a few sites and waiting for the phone to ring.

You can see the city of Pittsburgh in the background

This is Robert Morris University. They are great clients.

I have been photographing there expansion for many years

Poor Trailers and Vintage Bikes

I went to look at this 75 Argosy for sale at a campground. It was owned by a guy for many years. It was used as a summer camp and had not been towed for a very long time. It was all there but it needed everything. The frame was rusty the floor was bad. They said it was a 20 footer. That was the reason I went to look at it. It turned out to be a 26 footer. I passed on it. It is still for sale.

This is a Scotty that's for sale a few miles from my house. I have been driving by this trailer for years. It never moved. Today its up by the road for sale. I stopped and looked at it. It was in OK shape on the inside. The outside is pretty ruff.

Amanda hadn't ridden her little blue Honda for long time. I fixed a tire so I could ride it to the mail box. She saw me working on it and won't to ride it. Yes it's a vintage 1971 Hinda SL70. I taught her to ride it when she was nine.




Here is Amanda when she was nine washing her bike. She was so proud to have a bike.

Here's me showing my skilled riding ability

Check out the the Vintage Trailer Supply hat.

Today is my wife Lisa's Brithday

Today is my wife Lisa's Brithday. We have been married almost 20 yrs. I am so lucky to have her. She love me and we have a great life together. I love her more and more every day. MY BABE and ME

This song sould get you singing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3M9h6uf0PI&feature=related

This song makes me think of all the Chevy vans

I have owed.

And the great places we've been

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXhrmtbg6Co

Yes anyone can buy shelving from IKEA

Yes anyone can buy shelving from IKEA. Anyone other then me. In my world, I just get to work. Today I started with a empty bay in my shed. By the end of the day, I'm all moved in.

This is my lumber. This is rough cut pine I had milled.

Laying out shelving

This is looking pretty good!

All moved in.

Custom built selves for bins

Side shelving is 5 feet wide and 8 feet high

Not bad for one day's work!

Great Time Camping

Yes, After all the work I've been doing. I was ready for a break. We packed up our Scotty on Friday and headed south to a place called Chestnut Ridge Park in WV to met some of our Scotty friends. The weather was great. It was warm during the day and there was a cool breeze at night. We did have some rain, I wouldn't have wanted to be in a tent. But we were warm and dry in our Scotty.

We had a great time around the campfire. I ate way to much at the potluck dinner. The kids had fun hanging with there Scotty friendsa. I hardly saw them all weekend. We have one more fall camp out planned. We will take our Airstream east for a fall rally.

Scottyport Looking Good

My Scottyport is looking good. I have been working on it all week. I still need to hang gutters. I also have some more trim work to do. Today, I'm pack for a campout with our Scotty group in WV.

Money well spent!

Some people spend cash on things like lottery tickets, Starbucks coffee and other stuff I think is a waste. Some people may think I'm crazy to spend money on vintage magazine. Well did you every see anyone sell used coffee or tickets on ebay. I can re-sell my mag anytime I want.

Know when to walk away!

Yesterday I drove alot of miles to look at a Scotty for sale. All I can say is ebay photos lie and seller's sugar coat there info. The guy said it needs work. He should of said it's junk and that's why I'm not restoring it. The skin had so some much corrosion, I could of put my finger thur it! He said it had only one bad corner and the roof had water damage. He didn't say the sidewall and floor was shot. I said to the guy its to fare gone for me to save.

Sometime its hard to say no.

I'm glad I can walk away!!!!

Scottyport and Kids

Hey, been a little busy with life. I got my Scottyport done. I'm still planning on re-siding and putting a new door on it. I've been flying, cutting firewood and getting the kids ready to go back to school. The kid went back to school yesterday. That summer break went fast.