I used a glass jam jar and a strip of white LEDs that run off of 12V DC and wired it into the galley area… way brighter than the two small bulbs that where original.

I finished up the curtains. It was an easy project, but to be able to keep the morning sun to a low roar in the spring will allow us that extra 1/2 hour we will need to sleep in.

The foldable shelves I saw on someone’s post on line and I thought … I can build those!

The most expensive thing was going to be the hinges, but I am a pack rat…. I got those in my extra junk box!

I think these photos came out better for the curtains and shelf.

A few more pictures of the inside of the camper:

New items I have been working on in the teardrop camper.

Penny Counter

I have finished the epoxy pour and let it cure over night, this afternoon I cleaned it up and shaved the resin where it has dripped or pushed into the bowl area.

It is level and will be nice to clean quickly by the sink.

Other counter area

Mode Pog (Sealing glue) the map on the rest of the regular counter. It will dry by tomorrow I hope, as I want to get the faucet installed and run the hoses.

Solar Electronics

It is really nice to have the metal box for storage in the front of the trailer. i have found an access hole and a rubber grommet to run the solar array wires through and crewed in the solar controller box on the tom of the lid so no water can get to it.

I will run all the wires next time I work on the project and verify I can charge a battery with the panel mounted.

I am using a sun saver 6 morning star 6amp charge, 10 amp draw for loads and is 12 Volt battery charge algorithm. These are used in the oil and gas fields and are very easy to use and will be very reliable.

Curtain rods with holders

My glow in the dark curtain rod holders are put in. i need to finish sewing my curtains but wanted to make sure of the exact length before cutting them.

I put them on each door.

Reflectors

When I was visiting my mom, we went to True Valley hardware store and bought some reflectors. I know I could have bought them for cheap on line but I wanted to give them business while I was there and to my surprise they had the big red round ones I was looking for.

I drilled a very small screw and used the adhesive backing but wanted a screw to hold the on as well.

I will be adding a few more reflectors but need the others to be yellow.

Reading Lamp fixed

It was interesting that the only lights that did not work were the reading lamps that are adjustable for each person under the shelf by the front of the camper.

Like the ones on airplanes they move around and will be nice when reading before bed.

The issue was that the power wire was not hooked up at all. So I wired a fuse in-line and will hook it directly to the battery so that will be the only light on the inside that can be turned all any time. As, I’m putting a kill switch on the battery, so when I am not using the camper it will turn off the power to everything.

More work on the Scad-A-Bout putting in a dog bowl sink that will be used to wash hands, silver ware, dishes, etc. Not for drinking water, but in an emergency you could because I plan on using clean drinking water for the supply.

I also replaced the hinges for the left door with some heavy duty chrome door hinges.

I also took some measurements on the inside window to make some curtains. I made the curtain rod holders for a 10mm wood rod , on my 3D printer (link here https://www.tinkercad.com/things/1kNPvbI5BZ5 ).

https://www.tinkercad.com/embed/1kNPvbI5BZ5?editbtn=1

I also got my back hatch locking, but will need to strengthen the screw holes with toothpicks and wood glue. I am also going to put a pad lock on the hatch to prevent a break in using a pry bar. This is only if we need to leave it in a camp site for the day while we take the truck into town or site seeing it won’t be so tempting to pop the back hatch and grab my teardrop chow and hooch!

This makes it so the rods then turning the handle guide the ends into the side wall metal holes. The are 3D printed plastic, so not to be relied on for major security.

I started the penny top counter after painting the surface black and then sealing the wood so the epoxy doesn’t drain out of a small hole somewhere.

Started on the tear out of the galley.

Getting some ideas for a sink and rearranged the drawers.

Big one on bottom. two small above going to make a door for the side cupboard.

Today I started on my 1961 Tear Drop Trailer project. Below is the Original art and Emblem!

Since i just got the trailer I needed to do some major inspectiona nd verify that there wasn’t a fire hazard, as I am planning to add a solar panel and some other electronics. First was to I disconnected the battery and look for shorts. Next attached a 12 volt power supply and slowly started to turn things on… and to my surprise all my lights, water pump and CD Radio all worked! It was great, and after looking at all the connections, fuses and wiring, who ever did the work before did a great job on the rewire and really did take their time to add fuses and switches that are newer and still in really good working order/condition.

Above picture is of the Water pump under the galley.

Next I wanted to bring the original Native American Indian silhouette back to life, and used a black paint pin to trace over the original decal image. It turned out nice and some of it wasn’t remaining so I used my artist liberty and put what I thought would have been the feathers and back of the decal. It took a lot of cleaning as the old owner had placed about 50 stickers all over this poor tear drop. (all of them were removed the first day I brought it home.

My final finished silhouette…

I then opened up the galley area and started to clean and remove items, drawers, trim to see if there was any hidden concerns… a few rusty screws near the trim, and so I replaced the screws after removing the trim, cleaning and filling each hole with wood glue and a tooth pick. the new screws sunk in nice and firm and I used a strong tap under the trim to seal the metal outside to the wood inside thus trying to reduce/mitigate water from entering that area again in the future and causing more rot and rust.

I measured the cabinets, and so other items so I can stew on what I would like to do in the galley working area.

I will continue to add more photos as I go and do more work. Next time I will also add more photos of the inside cabin area… right now i put a bowl full of baking soda to try and absorb the old smells … I might even get a spray bottle of frebreeze to see if that might help the inside.

Adrienne and I were very happy to hear that Old Tucson would bring back the 30 year running Nightfall halloween event. But this year was a nice twist… the actors were now apart of an interactive show. The outer areas of the town were the haunted scary mazes and the town square was a small town people worried about the new mayor elect taking over the 1872 mining town with the prospect of water and electricity being brought into their homes and businesses.

Every interaction with the actors could bring more clues to the missing folks of the small town. Going into each building, saloon, school house, town hall, you can find clues and try to solve little puzzles to direct you to who might be behind the missing people. I was very happy to see how well all of the interactive stuff, actors and event shows, turned the night into a very fun and scary event.

We rode the carousel, the train, we made it too all of the haunted buildings except for the chapel which first required you to go on a very long line ride, then to a very long nightmare walk (because it is soo long of a walk in the dirt, at night, with a guide, so you don’t get lost, turning it into a real nightmare), to get to the chapel… to hear a sermon about an evil spirit taking over the town of Nightfall.

I did however become one of the few who talked with the talented Less Blue, she asked if I was any good at poker after our conversation switched to the deck of playing cards in her hand. She took me to a private room for a hand of poker… which was surely stacked in her favor, as she told us… “I have nver lossed a hand”, only to give me the side eye after i turned in only 1 card as I kept an Ace, two 3’s and a 5 which looked very close to a 3 card, in the dimly lit poker room… a cheat catching me cheating.

As we bet, the cards were turned over… I proudly stated 3, threes with an ace high… Adrienne had two 6 cards and an Ace, our friend had two 8 cars and an Ace and of course our dealer the famous Less Blue had two 10s with an Ace… surely she had to inspect my cards closure… only to find I had tried to pass a 5 as a three… she forgave me quickly as she raked in the chips she had so cleverly won. Upon leaving the the room, she handed me a chip as a souvenir, but i thought to myself, there might be more to this chip. Could I trade or buy something to help in our search for information to help find and solve the matters that were afoot in this small desert town.

I must have had my intuition in high gear because I thought one of the shows was an “electrocution” but i had misread in the dark night “election” as the two main characters, the current major and major elect were battling it out to see who would become the next major of Nightfall… the evil major did in fact get Electrocuted! Only to find out that the evil powers he possessed he was able to turn back time and bring us back to the start of the election … with the curtain closed we all knew leaving this small town of Nightfall that no one was safe anymore, and that nothing could be done to save IT or the unaware kind people of this town.

A few fun photos of our night.

Above is the map of the event locations and attractions.

We will go to nightfall again next year and the year after for as long as they keep this event going. They did a great job changing up the interactive level and really they did an excellent job. The shoot outs, the fighting scenes, the scary haunts and the plot twist made for a very enjoyable evening. Thanks Old Tucson and if you are ever in Tucson during October, you should mosey on over to the little town of Nightfall.

Well another month went by and I got out to work on the shed for the 10th day.

I am getting closer to finishing as now I have just the back wall to stucco and then paint the entire shed. I will use the house paint that I have left over from when we had the house painted.

This build day I got stuff organized in the shed. Hung up wall brackets, painted the floor… the pink paint was stuff I was just trying to use up and I figured I would put another coat of free paint that needs to be used up. The pink sure is bright though!

The gutter was hung up and my rain barrel spout installed. I had made a bracket out of a 2by4 to prop up one side of the gutter so I could mount the other side. I will order a rain barrel soon so I can catch the monsoon rain for the garden plants.

I went and put in the old nail my mom gave me for putting in my shed. 22 for the year that I built the shed 2022! Bit of history: Each nail that was hammered in a railroad tie was numbered with the year so the railroad workers would know when the ties were placed. 

With Fall almost here I wanted to get more work done on the shed… today I capped the roof with concrete to seal the peak of the roof.

I spent a few hours in the afternoon now that the shade is in that area to put the caps on the roof tiles.

Stuffing the metal mess with concrete I hope that the caps will stick to the tiles and the metal mesh with out cracking or worse falling off.

I had to do it all at once so the concrete would make a solid one piece topper with out breaks in the joints.

Stucco and paint must be the last items as I have been putting off doing stucco! Can i build a shed in ten days!?