[SilverStreak] new SS owners

[Michael Young <miyoung@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Fellow Campers,

Please allow this to be our introduction.

As new Silver Streak owners, it has been a wild week.  We've basically
put the cart before the horse.  My wife and I will have an "empty nest"
next spring as our last child graduates from high school in 2005.  We
began looking for trailers thinking that we might stumble across
something we like in the coming year.  We fell in love with the second
trailer we looked at.  We are the new owners of a 1972 Silver Streak
Continental Deluxe Rocket, Model 28.  It is 27' from back to front or
30' including the hitch.  I don't know which is the official
measurement.

My wife and I are both educators in our mid 40's. For the last ten
years, we have lived in and remodeled/redecorated our home that was
built in 1924.  Among other things, we love shopping for antiques for
our home.  My wife stays in mostly and is a wonderful decorator.  I stay
out mostly in the vegetable garden, the flower gardens, the shop, or
tending my two ornamental ponds.  Naturally, when we came across the
"retro" SS, my wife wanted to hook on and drive it home.  I was afraid
to pull it with my 1/2 ton Suburban, so the owner volunteered to deliver
it to our home.  I rushed home and spent the weekend spreading a gravel
pad in my back yard to park it on.  It is now home, and we love it!

Having grown up with parents who always owned a travel trailer, though
never a SS, I know the joys of owning a trailer.  Having spent the past
ten years restoring a home, with no end in sight, I also have become a
jack-of-all-trades.  My wife has never camped, but is very excited to
begin.  She is also very excited about the near original condition of
the trailer.  She can't wait to begin fixing it up.  Except for common
wear and tear over the years, inside and out, the condition is
excellent. I only see three major changes.  One, the original flooring
has been removed and/or covered over with carpet that looks to have been
pieced together.  Next, the original Coleman central heat unit from
under the stove has been removed.  Finally, the table is no longer in
the trailer.  It looks like a previous owner took it down to hang a
replacement wall heater.  Otherwise, it is in good shape. It has many of
the problems the message board tells me must be common to this age of
trailer.  Some of the Silver Streak red lettering is busted off, the
Continental decals have long since come off, the rivets on the door
hinges are loose or broken, and so on.  Just needs some care.

I am so excited to have found this group of owners and interested
parties.  I can only imagine the kind of assistance this will be.  I've
already answered many of my questions by reading the archived messages.
I have new questions every day.  I haven't figured out how to keep up
with the most current postings, but will.

We had an exciting first week.  Our first problem after plugging in at
home was with our dog.  Over the first couple of days, we noticed him
yelping a couple of times.  We thought a wasp was biting him. After
being bitten myself a couple of days later, I found out it wasn't a
wasp.  I had been working setting fence posts.  It was the end of a hot
Oklahoma day and I was drenched in sweat.  I sat in the shade of the
trailer and was "bitten" myself.  I had my answer...electricity NOT
wasps.  I have the original owners manual and thought I had an easy
answer, just turn the plug over.  To make a long story short, that
didn't work.  The electrician says I have a grounding problem in my
garage.  I have a temporary fix and have moved ahead.

So our adventure has begun.  I look forward to any assistance or advice
you can give us.

Sincerely,
Michael and Kim Young
Perry, Oklahoma

P.S.  Thanks Mr. Patterson