Return of the King...

Okay, so I'm no JRR Tolkein, Peter Jackson or - heck - even a dependable blogger. What I am, however, is the part-owner of something that is starting to vaguely look like a travel trailer...

Because it's been so long, let's do a little recap of the drama. First, in May of 2009 there was a heap of aluminum and rotted wood we named Gilbert...

On the outside (and in the photos posted on ebay), he looked pretty good - relatively free of the rust and rot so many older trailers are cursed with. Inside, however...

It was clear upon closer inspection that something wasn't quite right, or more correctly, it wasn't quite square. So, we started to look a little closer...

And the more we looked, the worse things got. It was clear that this was NOT going to be just the "clean up and go" operation we were hoping for.

An impact to one of the corners combined with some slipshod alterations had compromised the seals - and once that happened, that most dreaded of agents was allowed into the walls: moisture. Enough moisture to rot wood and insulation, and enough to encourage the grass to grow inside the walls.
True to form, Gary decided that the job was not worth doing if it wasn't worth doing well. And that meant a complete gut-pluck-and-reconstruct. We had no clue the kind of odyssey we'd embarked upon.

First, we had to strip the siding inside and out, remove the cabinets and fixtures, then begin re-framing the walls where needed (which was about 60%). The result was a work of modern art in my backyard - fascinating but hardly useful as shelter.

Once we stabilized the walls so that we didn't feel like we could be crushed by a light rain, we added new insulation to keep Gary from getting cold in the evil outdoors. Shiny. At least the material doubles as a backpacking toy!

Monsoon season set in, threatening to further destabilize the operation, hence the trailer mu-mu. Even in a fetching green!

Upgraded digs...for the trailer anyhow. I know it doesn't look much like it, but this is progress.

Ah, yes, the crime of painting the trailer with latex house paint - one Gary could not endure. That man stripped every scrap of paint from this hide. Yup. That took a while.

Replaced a bunch of the rotted wood paneling with shiny new skins. Of course, that made the remaining wood look pretty rough.

Been upgraded from a work of modern art to a tool shed. Something told me we were heading down a dangerous road with this one.

Skin back on, stripped of the offending latex, Masonite windows (classy). But now what? How do you clothe a king? Hmm...that'll take some time. Like from April 2010 to...

...February 2011. No king has ever had a finer primer coat. It was time, however, to let our boy go for a ride. He'd need a professional to get that fine coat of paint to match that beauty primer.

He's back, he's painted, and now the restoration team is working on finishing touches, like...

Windows...and

a floor, and a fresh coat of finish on that old paneling...

Looking pretty spry for an old dog - maybe he'll even be ready for his first trip out to Glacier next month. Stay tuned - it could get VERY interesting!