Summertime and the living is easy

Ah, the Gershwin tune. So beautiful and soothing.

I wish I could say our first night at the camp was as soothing as the song lyrics. And it was till about 2am when Diego woke up crying and wouldn't stop. So unusual for him which made me worry that he doesn't like camper living.

But I think I'll blame it on the full

moon. Causing havoc despite looking gorgeous coming up over the water.

After a couple really good burps, a few hundred repeats of "Summertime" (note to self: learn more of the lyrics) and about 20 murdered mosquitos, we all settled back into our bunks for the rest of the night.

Other than the harrowing half hour, things went pretty smoothly. Diego had lots of fun in his makeshift playpen between the beds. The twin beds can be converted to full size but we opted for keeping them separate so we could put him on the cushions on the floor. That meant when he went down at around 9pm we could stay up and not worry about him rolling off.

It's all these considerations that make me think of my parents and what they had to do to get Andrew and I packed up and to the camp when we were little. Clothes, toiletries,

cleaning supplies, entertainment (we need a radio!!! Or a docking station...), cleaning supplies, etc. It's a lot to remember. And still we forgot things. So when I saw the back of the truck packed with our supplies for just one day I had to laugh...and take a picture.

Having had more camp experience, I was prepared with a good book, while Kharim tried to watch a crappy download of The Big Lebowski on his iPhone. I think he'll know better next time.

I think we're also going to borrow some non-toxic mosquito-fighting equipment from Steve.

I'm not too keen on those spiral burning thingies with the baby in such a confined space.

Overall, it was a pretty low-key 24 hours. We cooked our first meals (vacation food: mac 'n' cheese and bacon 'n' eggs - yum) and realized we need a few more pots and some big utensils. We pilfered a few things out of the the camp (that's Kharim and D in the photo below getting ready to hunt for treasures) to help round out the camper kitchen.

It's amazing the difference a pot and big spoon can make to your cooking experience. And how, after cooking in a fully-stocked kitchen for years, you don't notice what you're missing till you need it. But it was fun getting used to a propane stove again.

Speaking of cooking needs, a cottage isn't a cottage without a barbecue. But seeing as we're still in start-up mode I didn't want to invest in a heavy-duty BBQ.

Enter the President's Choice mini grill!

This tiny, shiny grill was a steal for $29 at the Superstore. We haven't used it yet but I thought it fit the silver theme and would be great for a couple of burgers or steaks. I was even able to put it together myself. Shocking.

And it takes one of those little propane bottles so that makes it even easier. Especially if we ever take the Avion on a road trip (maybe next year!). Also, if you look at the photo closely you'll see a can of silver spray paint. I mark this under my "all-geeked-out" category because, at some point, I'm going to spray paint the new (white) propane tanks on the trailer so they match like the last ones.

So other than setting things up, it was generally a work-free stay, which was nice. We got over to the beach to walk in the ocean. I can see the results of just a few months of TLC so I'm feeling good about my plan. Would it be nice to tear down, landscape and rebuild right now? Hell, yeah. But the stars haven't aligned for that yet.

So to give you a little insight on my inspiration, here's a shot of the camp from Long Beach, the strip of beach separating the lake from the ocean. If you look closely you can see the trailer on the left, the boathouse in the middle and the camp on the right. Behind the stand of trees in the forefront, on the right, is where the lake opens up and earns its nickname Big Lake.

All geeked out

When my friend John told me about a trailer for sale that was one of those "silver ones" I immediately thought of the Airstream brand. Kharim has always coveted an Airstream and I couldn't believe I might be so lucky to find one.

When we drove up the hill on the MacLeod's property I couldn't believe my eyes. It looked exactly how I hoped. But upon closer inspection I noticed it was from the Avion Coach Corporation, a company I had never heard of.

But, thanks to Google, that didn't last long. There are lots of websites dedicated to the cult that is Avion, just like the Airstream following. I spent the next few days clicking through page after page of photos and information about the joys and challenges of owning an Avion.

I had so much fun that I told Kharim I had full plans to get "all geeked out" and send my photos and story in to the Silver Avion website if I was lucky enough to get the trailer.

True to my word, I emailed Avion Guy my stuff earlier in the week. Less than 24 hours later he sent me a link to my page (my page!). Yeah, it's geeky. But I love it!

In other news, we're getting closer to spending the night. The toilet/sinks/shower are all working and so is the propane stove. We just have a few city commitments (street party, Super Nanny's 97th birthday) to get through in the next couple of days and then we'll pack up for a sleepover.

Lofty ideas

One of my most vivid summertime memories is of my dad crawling underneath the camp to fix something, wearing a pair of brown and white plaid polyester pants. And it isn't just a one-time memory. He was always fixing something. Or trying to anyway. I couldn't understand why he couldn't just come swimming with us all the time.

Now I'm beginning to understand.

Yesterday was a fix-it day in Chezzetcook. Kharim did a great job putting the loft doors back on hinges. This past winter they blew off the boathouse. When I hired Sunset Enterprises to clear six big trees that had fallen on the property, Mary Anne offered to nail them back on till I could get some new hinges. Though I was grateful for the temporary fix, it was annoying to have those doors nailed shut.

So while I went into Porters Lake to check if Home Hardware sold a certain part for the trailer toilet, Kharim got 'em on lickety split--using the new ladder (it's amazing what I consider a fun toy these days). Great to have another thing checked off.

No luck with the toilet part yesterday but we called Adventure Sports RV this morning and they have what we need--a Thetford toilet valve. And apparently Costco is the place to go for new propane tanks.

Despite not being as handy as Kharim, I did contribute to the day. I got some more mowing done and I played a little game of "pick up sticks." All those fallen trees left behind hundreds of little sticks all over the property, making mowing a bit of an adventure.

I've also decided to turn my post-Hurricane Juan fire pit into a little garden. I bought six bags of dirt to get it started and it wasn't nearly enough. I'm just going to fill it with cuttings from my city garden and then in the fall put in a couple of little maple trees. More photos on that later.

Poo pipe and batcapades

The pump is hooked up and the poo pipe is connected to the septic system. We can now get water in and out of the trailer. Woo hoo!

Next up is a new set of propane tanks and then we're in business. I'm hoping we can stay at the camp sometime next week.

There was a nice breeze today while I was mowing the lawn. So when I finished I thought I'd do a little more work in the boat house. I hired someone last week to haul away a bunch of junk after Kharim did a kick-ass job of tidying it up. Now there's lots of room to move around in there. I did a quick sweep on the main level but then decided to tackle the loft.

It was a bazillion degrees up there so I only lasted long enough to take a couple of photos and sweep a bit. My cleaning spree came to an abrupt end when I took an old fishing coat off a hook and a little bat fell on the floor.

Yikes!

I probably woke it up so it took several seconds for it to start flying. It scared the crap out of me. I was very relieved when it flew down the ladder hole and out of the boathouse.

The bat was behind these old coats.

Barbie camper comes to life

When I was little, my cousin Leah and I were diehard Barbie players. So much so that we sort of became snobs about other friends' abilities to play. Each Christmas we'd get a new Barbie or Barbie accessory. It was probably sometime around 1978 that Santa brought us both the Barbie Travel Lodge Motor Coach RV. It was about three feet long, yellow with all the interior bunks and tables included. We played with those RVs a lot.

So last month, on my way home from the camp by way of Portland Street, my head almost swivelled off when I spied what looked like an avocado green version of the Barbie RV in the Forbes Used Car parking lot.

I couldn't get it out of my mind. The next day I went back to price the 1977 GMC Palm Beach. At $15,999, the dream of owning that camper died a quick death.

But it turns out the Palm Beach was a catalyst. For some reason I told my friend John Zareski the story about the camper I wasn't going to buy because of the price.

"Are you looking for a trailer?" he said. "Someone I met just yesterday asked me if I knew anyone looking for a trailer cheap."

When I asked what it looked like he told me it was one of those silver ones. We went to look at it that night and sealed the deal shortly after. The photo below is my first sighting of it.

John and Janice MacLeod lived in the Avion while building their home in Musquodoboit. Now that the home is finished, it was time to pass on the trailer. After playing the name game with John for a bit we figured out that he was my gym teacher in grade 7 at Caledonia Junior High.

They offered to sell the trailer and deliver it for what I would like to call the deal of a century.

I was so shocked and excited to find this trailer that I convinced myself that they would change their mind about selling it to me.

But they didn't. And now the Avion H-24 (for Holiday 24-foot) trailer is

mine and happily stationed on Big Lake.

Here are a couple of shots of the interior. Almost everything is original inside. The cushions were re-upholstered a few years ago and there are a couple of lights that are add-ons, but it's shocking how well-maintained it's been over the years.

The twin beds convert to a double, the dinette converts to a bed and the propane stove, according to Janice, "works like a dream."

I'm looking forward to cooking with it. I'm still in the process of getting new propane tanks and the water hooked up so we haven't spent the night yet. Though we have had a few lunches sitting at the dinette.

As Lindsay says, "Bird by bird."

Camp meet camper

This is my first post in what I hope is an ongoing account of my attempt to bring Laurieland II back to full-functioning status.

A bit of history:

Laurieland II, or the camp, as it's better known, is located in Lower East Chezzetcook, Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. It's on Meisner's Lake (aka Big Lake) and about 100 metres away is the sandbar that is Long Beach on the Atlantic Ocean.

The camp originally belonged to my Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary Patterson. When Aunt Mary died in 1996 it was willed to my father, the late, great Laurie R. Patterson. Dad re-christened it Laurieland II to signal his return to Chezzetcook. Growing up, I spent every summer at our family camp (the original Laurieland) in the Head of Chezzetcook, which my parents sold in the early '90s.

Dad was excited to be back but sadly only enjoyed a couple of years there. Cancer caught up with him in 1999.

Dad's death, a brother living out of the province, me going back to school and starting my career and 2003's Hurricane Juan all led to the camp being neglected and deteriorating to the point that it's uninhabitable.

But I have a plan. And that plan includes my new-to-me 1961 Avion camper.

Camp meet camper. Now let's have some fun.