A change in the breezes

When we purchased our Airstream it came with the 50 amp upgrade option.  This means it has an extra Air Conditioner (making 2) for the bedroom.  We have never had that before so it is kind of odd.  If you are hooked up to a 30 amp connection you can only run one air conditioner.  Previously that was not a problem in our old trailer as there was only one A/C.  Hence the need for a 50 amp connection.  You need 50 amps to run both A/C’s at the same time.

This has been kind of nice in the hotter locations where we really needed to run them.  There are two drawbacks.  The first is the power cord.  To handle the potential higher amperage the wires need to be really thick so they don’t overheat.  This was very evident the very first night.  It was cold and that power cord was like a stiff Anaconda!  Now I don’t hook up the 50 amp cord unless I think I will need both A/C’s.

The second drawback is what this post is about.  When a second A/C was added, it was placed in the location where the second Fantastic Fan (FF) would be located.  Two Fantastic Fans are great as they will create great airflow when used together.  I really miss that.  There is a FF in the front but now none in the rear.  What to do?  Put one in!  Where?

I looked at the exhaust fan in the bathroom.  Our old trailer had a round one that you would pop up and the turn on.  It would sometimes squeal like a banshee!  This version is a square one with a teeny little fan that doesn’t look like it could move any amount of air:

Vent01 Vent02

 

The FF that Airstream put in the front only exhausted the air.  The other, higher-end, FF’s will push air both directions.  I purchased an extra FF to put in the front and had plans to replace the anemic bathroom fan with the original FF.

The first thing to do was to remove the old fan and its’ old caulking:

Vent03Vent04Vent05Vent06

Vent07

 

One of the hardest things was getting off the old caulking.  My fingernail worked really good but that would take forever.  I turned to AirForums to see what there might be for a solution.  I found one:

Vent12

 

Cow hooves.  A treat for dogs.  I tried the hoof part but the edge was not quite sharp enough.  When I tried the edge where they cut it off it worked wonderfully.  It took off about 98% of the old caulking in about 20 minutes.  Perfect.  I did a test fit on the new vent and it fit without any modifications! I was then ready to put in the new/old vent (while I was running out of light):

Vent08Vent09Vent10Vent11

 

I got it all functional but still needed to put in the trim piece inside and mount the vent cover.

The interior hole needed quite a bit of trimming of the aluminum around the hole but steady work got it to fit.  I finally did get it all complete and here it is:

Vent13Vent14Vent15

 

We now have two fans to pull air through the trailer.  This is great for cooling off the interior once we get to a site.  An additional benefit is that we can exhaust any odors from the bathroom quickly!

Three updates

It has been a while to post but three events had taken place so I will lump them together.

One.

Our daughter Hannah has been going to school (Academy of Art) to get her Bachelor’s degree (she is the first one to do so in the immediate family).  She has finally achieved it!  Her graduation was on May 22 which happens to be one month to the day after Roxie had her back fusion surgery.  You think Roxie, or I, would miss that?  No way!

We decided to take the trailer as Aaron, his girlfriend and Paige (granddaughter) were going to be there for the weekend also so an RV park made more sense than a hotel.

We left a day early and stayed at WalMart in Los Banos:

Los Banos

This time I chose to stay at the Trailer Villa in Redwood City.  A bit far from the city but cheaper and not too bad in the back.  It backs up to the Redwood Slough (so get one if the back in spots, we will next time):

Slough

 

We attended Hannah’s graduation as very proud parents.  The ceremony was in the Cow Palace and we saw her on the Jumbotron!

Hannah

It was a good weekend of family times:

Family

 

One added note.  Roxie did an amazing job only one month post surgery and having a temporary Handicapped parking placard is amazing!

Two.

I had a Snugtop shell on my truck for a year and a half.  For almost all that time I have had problems with the shell fitting close enough to the cab.  It was very frustrating.  I worked with my local dealer and they were wonderful.  The issue was with Snugtop itself.  I created a website about it:  http://snugtop.casarodante.org  They did not decide to work with me to get it fitting.  I even offered to drive to Long Beach so they could do it.  Eventually, after more emails, a negative Yelp review, a negative Facebook post, Snugtop gave up and gave me a full refund.  Thanks for that but no thanks for not even trying!

I took that refund and immediately purchased a Leer top.  Although I had to wait 6 weeks again for a shell, here it is:

Shell

I really like the Windoors that have a screen also.  I am overall happy with it but I will let you in on a secret, the Snugtop is higher quality than the Lear.

Three.

One other trip to mention.  Father’s Day.  Aaron wanted to do a Father’s day thing so it was decided to head to the Dodger’s game on Saturday.  With Roxie still on the mend we opted to spend a couple of nights in Valencia which is not too far from Dodger stadium.  Five of us went to the Dodger game, me, Aaron, Paige (granddaughter), Rachel (Aaron’s girlfriend) and David (Rachel’s Dad).  Roxie and Julie (David’s wife) hung out together are Julie’s house.

It was a fun time except the fact the Dodgers’ lost.  Here are some shots from the stadium:

Chavez Ravine Dodgers

There you go!  Three in one!