The Great American Road Trip: Getting Started

For years, my wife has waxed poetic about one day wishing to take a road trip down Route 66. I've humored her, but honestly didn't think it would happen until after we retired. She posited several months back that next summer would be her last free summer for probably the next 20 years. She has 2 years of clinicals for vet school, followed by 10-15 years of hard work building a practice.

She was right. In a flurry of frenzied planning, she decided that we could camp up and down the historic western road for several weeks on just a few grand. I got on board, but wasn't too excited about the prospect of tent camping for weeks on end.

But then she talked to her dad! Her dad has a glorious treasure-trove that only a true scavenger can appreciate. The family joke us that if you need it, give him a week, and my Father-in-law can find it among his stuff. She remembered that they had a pop-up camper when she was a child.

Long story short, he still had it, and didn't mind passing it on to her.

My son spent a week with him recently, to enjoy the last remnant of his summer, and when I went to pick him up, Father-in-law met me halfway with this beauty:

He did a few things to get it road-worthy. He put new tires on it, and scabbed together the wiring, and knocked the rust off the tongue, and touched up and freshened the paint. But the best thing he did? He stored it properly. You know, put it up reasonably clean, and put it under cover.

As such, it's really in pretty great shape. The cabinet tops and doors need replacing and painting, the propane regulator needs replacing, it may need a new A/C unit, it needs a new matress, and the cushions on the built-in either need replacing or maybe just a good cleaning.

I put on new tow-chains, and re-wired the brake lights today, and bought a piece of plywood to replace the countertops.

Basically, for a few hundred dollars, I'll have this thing in good shape. Hopefully, I can take it on a few trial runs this fall.

Updates will continue.