[VAL] Re: VAL Digest V2 #115

[Marie Deatherage <omaried@xxxxxxx>]

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to say that we finally got some photos of our 1964 
Tradewind land yacht up on Tom Patterson's photo gallery page (and may 
I add that he must be a very generous and remarkable person to offer up 
all this coordination and assistance for those of us without our own 
website...kudos and much thanks to you Tom!)

We are real neophytes in the vintage Airstream world.  It all began one 
Friday afternoon last April just before 5 p.m. when Ric called me at 
work.  "How ya doin?" he asked, a little too loudly.  "Uh, fine," I 
replied cautiously, "just getting ready to come home."  "I'm in Oregon 
City!" he responded cheerily.  "What are you doing in Oregon City?" I 
wanted to know.

"I just bought an Airstream!" he chortled.  And the rest, they say, is 
history.  This little silver bullet has taken every single bit of our 
time and money over these past few months.  But what a labor of love.  
Ric did all the structural, mechanical, herkin type work, I did the 
decorating.  (As my hairdresser said one day, "You do realize Ric has a 
mistress now and he's buying her jewelry."  I sat in silence for a 
moment, then replied, "Yeah, but you know what the really sick thing 
is?  I'm buying her lingerie!!"

You'll see that we did not go down the authentic restoration path.  
Rather than try to make everything like it was in the beginning, we 
decided to make it exactly like we want it rather than the way it used 
to be.  I guess mostly because we wanted it to be a place we want to 
spend time (which meant the stove and refrigerator and other appliances 
would work as well as possible and the decor would be pleasant to be 
around).  There was a small swatch of what I assume was the original 
fabric and it was just hideously ugly in our opinion...  the color 
scheme is lime green and hot pink and black, colors that kind of remind 
me of the sixties era.  We redid the floor in black speckled marmoleum. 
  We had an upholsterer do the bed and front bench seating, and I made 
all the pillows, curtains, etc.

Hope you enjoy the photos...  they are at
http://www.tompatterson.com/gallery/ToasterMoon

Toaster Moon is the name we gave our beloved Airstream (long story), 
which inspired my husband to write a song about her that I announced on 
the list a while back (http://www.ricseaberg.com/music.html).

Thank you and good night,
Marie Deatherage and Ric Seaberg
Portland, Oregon