A Dream Deferred

                                                         

     Five years ago decided I wanted to build a teardrop camper trailer.  It seemed like it would be a fun project, would be a great addition to the family camping experience, and I just really love that classic teardrop look.  Given my experience as a cabinetmaker, I felt confident that I could handle the basic construction because it really is just a big, funny-shaped cabinet on wheels,  but I was less sure about making the thing water-tight, weather resistant, and roadworthy.  As I poked around on the internet, I came across a company called Big Woody Campers.  I liked the basic look and construction of their camper, so I bought a set of their plans which would serve as a loose guide for my build.  I began drawing plans, making lists, and buying stuff.  

     The foundation of the camper is a Tractor Supply Co. 4'x8' Carry-on utility trailer.  I went out, bought mine, brought it home, under coated and installed the deck, flashed the wheel wells, and coated all the exposed metal with roll-on truck bed liner.  Then I came to the part in my trusty instruction manual that goes like this,"There is no 'set' wiring diagram.  Your needs and creativity will determine the type of power and locations of that power inside your camper. However, if you are unfamiliar with electrical circuits, we recommend that you enlist the aid of someone who is." To say that I am "unfamiliar with electrical circuits", is a bit like saying that my dog doesn't quite understand long division, and I can honestly say that this was one area I felt no need for creativity. This was one of the points on which I had hoped my little book of advice would be be fairly explicit.  I had hoped for exhaustive instruction on wiring choices "A, B, and C" that a small child, a relatively slow one, could easily follow.  It was not to be.  

     I continued to puzzle over the electrical conundrum for awhile, trying to find some way of making a plan without understanding what it was I was trying to do.  Eventually, I got, you might say, distracted by something that seemed to me much easier to wrap my head around; a treehouse.  This is how the dream of building my own camper took a back seat to the dream of building my own treehouse.  Since the treehouse was the reason for such a big detour, I think this is probably a good place for the 50 cent tour.

The large triple-trunk oak in the back yard had the rotting remnants of an old tree fort in it when we  moved in. It was obviously a tree that needed a house.  This is the completed deck that the new treehouse would sit on.

                                               

                                                                   Trial fitting the framed and sheathed walls.

The walls were pre-fabbed in the shop to avoid having to do any siding, trimming,  window installation, or painting once the house was in the tree.

Here you can see the platform on which the house will sit,  the roof panels on the ground, and the rope going up to a pully high in the tree and down to the truck which will provide the muscle for hoisting the wall and roof sections.

One at a time the panels are hoisted and screwed into place.

This is a shot of the treehouse raising crew in the more or less finished house.

Deck railings and stairs would have to wait til Spring.

The treehouse in a particularly sticky snow

Deck railing detail

The treehouse is currently in frequent use as Kat's  painting studio.

     After the treehouse was more or less finished,  there were, of course,  plenty of other things that kept the trailer project from becoming a priority.  The thing that truly brought me back around to it was the simple passage of time.  Kat and I have always talked about taking the girls on a cross country road trip.The idea of exposing our children to the vastness and variety that our country contains is one that means a lot to Kat and me.  Kat has worked with a shocking number of kids who know nothing beyond the borders of their own neighborhoods; who have no concept of city, state, and country, let alone continent.  In my childhood, I was fortunate to be exposed to lots of places and cultures, but it wasn't until I drove cross country with my good friend, Laura, in the summer after my junior year in college, that I felt for the first time, the size and scope  of my country.  Kat and I hope to be able to give our girls the widest view of their world that we possibly can. With Zoe turning 11 in May and Kinsey turning 7 in March it occurred to us that our window of opportunity is narrow.  We have decided that 11 years old is pushing it for the age of a child who would be willing to spend their entire summer traveling with their parents, and that 7 is the age we remember Zoe becoming a pleasant and reasonable human being, so , by extension, we hope Kinsey might, at the same age, be tolerable in close quarters for six weeks.  At any rate, the summer of 2015 seemed to be the best opportunity to make it happen.  All of this amounts to a deadline, which may be just what a  dream needs in order to become a reality.  Now that the backstory is filled in,  I can get to making some sawdust in the next post.