Heading Out on the Road Again

We're finally getting the Twink out on the road and heading off to Picacho Peak for the 4 Corners Unit's New Years Rally. We'll be heading out tomorrow afternoon and returning late Saturday as I need to work on Sunday. Really looking forward to seeing everyone again so stay tuned for some pictures. Its been toooo long.

New Regulator

Today I was finally able to pick up a new regulator and get it installed. Also had a leaky pigtail so I replaced that as well. Now the other one is leaking so off to the RV store again tomorrow. Sure was nice to sit in the trailer and fix a cup of coffee.

Regulator Issue

With a houseful of folks expected for Thanksgiving dinner and cooking a turkey and a ham, we needed to use a second oven. Never fear, the TradeWind to the rescue. The ham was precooked so we just needed a way to heat it up. After preheating the oven and the ham put in, I went out after about 20 minutes to check on it. Once I stepped inside the trailer, I heard a loud swoooooosh sound start up. I couldn't tell what it was. I thought maybe a water pipe broke. No, that wasn't it, no water anywhere and the pump would have come on. I went outside to check the propane pigtails and couldn't see anything out of place. I held my hand around different areas of the hoses and fitting and there it was. The regulator blew where the front and back are stamped together. Not anything you could see with the naked eye but it was really shooting out of there. This regulator is only 7 or so years old and I would expect one to last longer than this. Glad this happened when it did and I was around to find the problem. I'll need to replace as soon as I can.

A New Throne

It is an absolute must to have a comfortable and functioning throne while away from home. When the old one's plastic base broke, something needed to be done. After considerable research on porcelain toilets, I decided on the Low Profile Sealand Traveller. Since the commode sits atop the black tank, a regular height one would have been too tall. Now we can take care of business in style. Installation was easy, so easy, I wish everything was this easy. No, no pictures. Who wants to see pictures of a toilet anyway? Its kind of a personal thing.

Scout Truck in Miniature

Well, its finally done. The last bit of trim has been glued on and its finally complete. I still am devising the glass covered display/base so there is still a bit to do. Here are a few pictures but the display will remain a secret until its complete.

The top photo is a recreation of one of PeeWee's photos while he was on the African Caravan. Some of you will recognize the shot.

Just Too Hot

It's been awhile since I last posted. Not much going on here in central Arizona other than the temp's are up. Suppose to be 108 today and 112 by the weekend. The TradeWind is all set to head for cooler climates with a new Sealand Traveller LoProfile toilet and the faulty IntelliPower has been switched out with a Zantrax XADC 60 amp charger. The trout up north are calling but we just can't seem to get away right now. Its just to hot to go out in the early morning, sit in the trailer and enjoy a cup of coffee.

Smokin' BBQ Ribs Time

I can't take all of the credit for this as both Frank and Marcus have posted about their barbecue endeavors on their blogs in the past month. I just had to post mine although I'm not nearly as involved as they are. I DO have a few secret ingredients from the garden that I'll share though.


I created a rib rub of ingredients that included brown sugar, ground pepper, cinnamon, chili pepper, a few sprinkles of different seasonings and a little something from the garden that just set it off perfectly, gives it that little kick. We sun-dried some of our chili's from the garden, ground them up with a coffee grinder and then added this to the rib rub.


After these had set for about four hours in the fridge, I put filtered-water soaked apple chips above the burner on the small camp grill and set it to high. Once this was really smoking and starting to smell just right, I turned down the burner to low and added the ribs. These smoked and cooked for about an hour and a half and were turned every half hour.


Oh the sweet smell of smoking barbecue. I could hardly wait until they were done so I occupied myself with preparing the farmer's market sweet corn and the sourdough bread. A little melted butter was added to the sourdough and then lightly sprinkled with garlic powder and wrapped up in aluminum foil and put on the grill. The water for the corn was seasoned and brought to a boil. the two cobs were added and allowed to simmer.


We got so involved, we forgot to slice up some of today's bounty from the garden. We have been harvesting tomatoes like crazy this past week and this morning's were no different. We like to slice them and have them with mozzarella and balsamic vinegar. Guess we'll have them tomorrow with lunch.


Dinner was fantastic and I want to thank Marcus and Frank for spurring me on. After reading their posts about their BBQ earlier this week, I just had to give it a shot.

A Few More Pix

Got a bit more done on the Scout Truck and thought I would take it out in the sun for some more photos. Its really starting to come together.

Heading out to the Restoration Rally in Albuquerque this morning once Uwe arrives as he is my transport. Planning on taking the Scout Truck where it can make its public debut. Stay tuned as I will post pictures from the rally.

On edit: I'll post some rally pictures once I get my camera back from Uwe. I left it in his Suburban after the rally.

I Can't Keep a Secret

Well, I finally shared with PeeWee that I was building a scale model of his famous African caravan  scout truck for him. I just couldn't hold it any longer. Still some finishing touches to do and figure out what type of display case to make for it. The shell is made from aluminum flashing and the 'rivets' are actual brass brads. I modeled it from two or three photos that PeeWee had posted.

The story on the difference in wording on the big red and white banners on the side was that Wally was told the use of the word "Biblelands' may not go over so well once the caravan gets to northern Africa so he had a sign painter change it to 'Near East' somewhere down south probably near Johannesburg.

I'll post more pictures when it gets done.

PeeWee's Scout Truck Picture

Sugarfoot asked a question about the four hooks on the Bubble. I don't believe they were for hoisting the trailer onto a ship as this is the type of rigging used on PeeWee's African Caravan scout truck. Anyone have any ideas?

Photo courtesy of the estate of Helen Byam Schwamborn.

A Few More Pictures

Wally, ever the opportunist, had one of these AIRSTREAM plaques on each side of the trailer along with the standard one on each end as well as on the inside of the door so that any picture of this Bubble would show the Airstream name.

She's had a rough life but she's not ready for retirement just yet. A new chapter is about to unfold. Stay tuned...

Historic Pictures of the Bubble

These three pictures were collected from AirForums from the extensive collection of Helen Schwamborn, now in the hands of her son, Dale (PeeWee) Schwamborn. Helen was Wally's cousin and was intrumental in starting up and running the WBCCI. Thanks PeeWee. And yes its true, Wally used to tow this all around Europe with a Volkswagon convertible.

More Pictures

While researching all I can on this trailer, I found additional pictures on JR's Shutterfly website. Many of these show some of the interior features that I didn't get on my short visit. One shows the port-a-potty extended and explains the aluminum channeling in one of my earlier pictures. I'm thinking any of the interior wood that isn't the same light green paint as the walls is not original to the trailer. 

More Pictures of Wally's Bubble

Here's a few more of the famous Bubble. She's a real beauty and I hope to get to visit her another time or two. She has many more stories to share and I hope to hear most, if not all, of them.

Accompanying Paperwork

Under the front seating area I found a bundle of stapled papers. Of course I had to photograph the interesting ones. Also attached is a copy of the auction statement about Wally's trailer.

More Interior Shots

Wally's Bubble Interior Shots

As one could imagine of a trailer that has seen many miles and different owners and is in itself, 54 years old, the interior has held up quite well. Over time, it has had some modifications and has shown wear and tear but there is enough of it present to right the ship, so to speak, and put it back to original. Sam's plans are to do just that and I am really excited to see this take place. The green countertops and table top were additions along with a newer style fridge. Somewhere in the 70's, if I had to say. Around this same timeframe, the small bathroom was removed that was just inside the entrance door to the right. The two round lights that are above the front window and to the right were actually inside the partition wall that was for the bathroom. Part of the front window was in the bathroom. Directly under the front window along the bathroom partition wall is where I believe the original location of the fridge was placed. The current location of the fridge is where a vertical wardrobe closet was. A closer examination of the walls and possible rivet / screw holes would determine if this is correct. I hope to be able to view this trailer once more before it leaves town.

Wally's 1955 Bubble

This past Wednesday, I had the unique opportunity to photograph's Wally Byam's Bubble. Now I know if you're not an avid follower of vintage Airstreams, this may sound kinda strange, so bear with me.

A little history on this gem is in order here. Wally had the Airstream factory in Jackson Center, Ohio build this trailer to his exact specifications and had it shipped overseas to Europe. The Bubble was to be used by Wally and his wife Stella to scout out a course for the upcoming WBCCI European caravan. I'm a bit sketchy on its whereabouts after its European trip but I hear it went to Canada for some time. It ended up on Ebay where a gentleman from southern CA bought it. He had full intentions to return it to its glory days when it was in use by Wally but as things do, it just wasn't going to work out for him. It then went to auction where a gentleman from England named Sam bought her. This is where I come in. The auction took place here in Phoenix this past weekend and I found out about her after the auction took place. I contacted the auction company and asked if I could take pictures of it. In the end, I had a window of opportunity of around 30 minutes to look this glorious trailer over and snap some pictures. Here are some exterior shots.

You may wonder how the ghost images of the regional names of the destination the trailer has visited can be older than the trailer itself. Wally took the liberty to have these destinations painted on the trailer as the places he had visited outside of the US and not the trailer itself.

Pictures of the New Fridge Board Replacement

This replacement was straightforward with one small hitch. The old circuit board had nine tabs for electrical connections and the replacement had ten tabs. The extra one was for an additional ground so I needed to make the wire and put on both female tab ends. The instructions were spot on with informative diagrams and explanations. 

While it was out, I cleaned off all of the tubes, top and sides of the fridge from all of the accumulated dust. This should help it cool much better. Amazing how much there was.

The replacement board is a Dinosaur brand, model number Micro P-711 for a Dometic RM2607. The installation was much easier than I anticipated and judging from the quality of their product, the informative directions and how well the board was packaged, I'd say their product is first rate. Time will tell on the performance but I don't anticipate any problems.

Dinosaur Electronics Inc.

Lincoln City, OR

541.994.4344