Unfortunately my best buddy and partner is out of the picture for awhile due to a surprise and sudden case of sciatica - she is a tremendous help and great fun so I miss having her with me on the project... Hopefully she'll be swingin her hammer again soon!

I've been getting quite an education in this project; some tidbits I've learned so far;

• Buy the best blades for your saw that you can possibly get!  I bought some Bosch Jigsaw blades for my ancient Craftsman Sabre saw and man what a difference! 
• When you get hungry stop and eat....may seem like a no brainer but being a guy I don't have the best sense all the time, you will avoid stupid mistakes doing this though!
• You cannot ever take too many pictures during the dis-assembly of any project, you can avoid much head scratching with the right photo!  

 More later...

The monsoon season is upon us here in Washington....oh well at least it gets dark earlier! LOL -  I covered Katrina in plastic in the event that the rain blows in while I have the tarp removed to work on her.  I included a photo of what it looks like after dark... lucky I have a miner's cap type flashlight!

Our friends Debbie and Jim have been so kind to let us use a covered space to work on her; good friends are truly one of life's blessings!  They are also letting me use some shop space for storage and the woodwork... wow!

I worked solo over this past weekend and was able to get a bit more done on the front interior. Cutting the radius curves was challenging for me; such an amateur! I am thinking I should pick up a "How to" book on woodworking.

Anyhow here are the latest pictures

I wish this were a camp site photo of us camping in the trailer but alas.....

Same photo with flash...man it gets dark up here Jimmie!

Here is the door frame, I've reinforced it with additional vertical and horizontal framing.

Another shot - this is the area that incurred the most water damage and rot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside shot, here you see the trim I fabricated from 2x10 poplar for the door jamb leaning against the wall waiting to be installed

The first piece I radius cut for the street side top front corner - wadda pain for us rookie wood workers!

Another view after several hours of fitting and trimming - I'll be using 1/4 round trim instead of the plastic Gimping that was originally used - so the minor gap will disappear

Here is a shot after installation of the 2nd piece of Birch in the ceiling - a tough job with only 2 hands - but it fits perfectly after careful measuring and cutting

A reminder of what was....

A closer view...

Same area now! Fitting the puzzle together one piece at a time...

Man I love that new wood!  It looks amazing...can't wait to put a finish on it

Closer to camping still...just the door jamb left to rebuild on this side!

This side was a bear to make fit - the trim will cover the "Rookiness" of the fit to the ceiling - hey I'm doin the best I can!

If you look closely you can see the area I sanded material off of to taper the original framing so that I can fit the Birch into the notch in the bulkhead - the dimensions of the old and new lumber don't match perfectly...give me the old lumber any day!

Another view and my trusty belt sander....ya can't have too many tools that is for sure!

Remember this?  It is the storage shelf with mirrors located above the dinette in the front...

Here is the bottom of the shelf prefabricated and ready to go in...

Opposite side view...

Here is the old one...Yah Lori can swing a hammer and wrecking bar!

One side fitted but not yet attached...

And the other...I won't attach this until I build and fit all the piece parts that make up the shelf

This is it for today ....it's nearly 9:00 PM... 12 hours without much of a break...yah I am determined to get her finished quickly!

 Well that's it for now...next I hope to have the door framing and the front storage shelf completed...but it all takes at least twice as long as one can expect!