The Avion!

We needed another "mode of travel"! We have air travel covered with the airplane, water travel covered with the sailboat....that leaves land travel.

Duane's parents had gotten a travel trailer many years ago thinking that they would do some retirement camping. But, the trailer never got used....that's where we come in! An agreement was reached and we now have ourselves a nice project!

For the record, it's a 1973 Avion LaGrande 23. Nicely appointed for it's time - air conditioning, heater, full kitchen, "double bed", full bathroom, water and holding tanks.


These will be the official "before" photos!

As it sat beside their driveway.

Note the little tree that had grown up around the front of the trailer.  Yeah, it sat there for that long!   No worries - Cordy's tree trimmer took care of it easily.

Much maneuvering was accomplished on a beautiful February Sunday before we could hook it up to our pickup.

Granny supervised from the top of the hill. (She's recovering from recent shoulder surgery).

Finally, with a little "push" from Cordy and his tractor, the Avion was loosened from it's recent home.

With some temporary lights and air in the tires, we were (very carefully) on our way.  Duane was concerned about the old tires, but thought we could probably make it 4 hrs to home.  We stopped at each rest area to do a "walk around" just to make sure all was OK.  We made it down Old Fort Mountain just fine (in 3rd gear to make sure we didn't go too fast!).

But around Morganton, we hear a loud "pop" - like a gunshot.  Duane quickly pulled over on the exit ramp (lucky timing!).  He got busy changing a chewed-up tire with the only spare we had.  Morganton is a nice place - we had at least 10 folks stop and ask if we needed assistance!

With the spare in place, we pulled up the exit ramp and into a BP station.  Keep in mind, it's 6pm on SuperBowl Sunday!   No chance that we could get new tires put on.   I asked the lady at the counter if we could leave the trailer there.  She looked out at it and gave me a really funny look....no doubt thinking that we wanted to ditch the moldy old trailer on her property!  (She might not see the potential!)  But, since we really didn't have any options, she told us to back it over to the side and it would be OK.  We really appreciate the favor and of course, we filled up with fuel and bought snacks there as a partial "payment"!

What an adventure!  Life if full of them, I suppose!  All good fun - got a comfy room at the Comfort Inn and had dinner.   Early the next morning, I started making calls to find some tires.  Duane wanted to make sure we got the heavy load rated tires - so I was skeptical that my search would be fruitful.  Amazingly - there was a White Tire Service location about 1/2 mile from the BP station!  And even more amazingly, they had exactly the tires we were looking for!   

Within 2 hours, we had all four tires replaced (and the spare too!) and were on our way Monday morning.  I don't think we could have asked for a better "breakdown".  

Duane had hoped to wait until after the "refurbishment" to put the new tires on....but the trailer will be sitting in the hangar and won't be subject to much damaging sunlight.   Uneventful few hours driving and we were home mid-day!

I snapped a few photos of the interior too.  The upholstery was re-done very nicely which Pat & Cordy purchased it.  Unfortunately, there must have been a leak over the years - although you can't see it - the floor will have to be replaced.  That is likely to be a major undertaking - I'm sure you'll see it here, haha!

The mirrors give a weird effect looking back into the trailer.  The cabinetry in in good shape but moldy.  Looks like it will clean up nicely.

This is the "double" bed advertised on the sales brochure.    It's 48" wide - which appears to be called a 3/4 mattress. 

Nice kitchen.  I'm thinking some granite (or lightweight replacement) might be in the cards!

Pulled up to the hangar - it will need a lot of TLC.  The windows and trim will need some attention and we'll have to figure out what "systems" are still functional.  Electrical, water, propane, batteries.  Should be interesting!

We dove in an spent a few hours washing. It's a satiny finish - so it won't be "polished" like you see some.

Parked in the hangar where it may be for quite a while!  Let the fun begin!!