Curtis Wright trailers are special because there is a significance in their association with Airstreams. After World War II, Curtis Wright moved to Los Angeles and hired Wally Byam to work in his new manufacturing plant to build travel trailers. Their partnership was short lived and after they parted ways, Wally began building trailers under his own brand famously named as Airstreams and Curtis eventually became Silver Streak trailers.

This Curtis Wright was meticulously rebuilt with the original design as more of an inspiration.

Much of the original 1940s look and feel was kept with obviously new wooden cabinets and panels built to be a close approximation of the original.

Although not a 100% faithful refurb, it definitely takes you back in time when you are standing in this beautiful mid-century trailer.

Who’s in for a quick game of cribbage? Or maybe watch me shoot the moon in hearts?

The sink, counter top and stove are all brand new and would make this trailer a great weekender.

I bet that twill upholstery on the convertible bed isn’t too bad to sleep on either. I wonder if the owners will mind if I borrowed her for a few days….

over and out,
dan

This trailer Timeless brought to the show is one they built for a customer completely from an empty shell purchased from the Airstream factory.

Timeless Travel Trailers is known as one of the best customizers in the industry and they will work on new trailers like this one as well as a complete faithful reconstruction of a vintage model.

We have been thinking about some ways to make our trailer more suitable for a family of 5 so seeing them here was quite a happy coincidence.

One this custom trailer, it is clear that the owner is planning on doing some serious boondocking. A 5,000 watt diesel generator has been permanently mounted to the front where the battery tray and LP tanks use to reside. This baby is ready to travel.

The interior of the trailer is equally impressive.

The owner of this trailer wanted a large cooking area and a slide out dining table that doubles as a work space when in its stowed position.

If you like what you see, you can have one built exactly to your liking. That is, you have deep pockets and can stomach the jaw dropping price.

A trailer like this, starts at around $100,000. Yeah, that is 5 zeroes. That is definitely a jaw dropping price but if you consider the MSRP of a new similarly equipped Airstream from the factory stickers at $75,000, it suddenly doesn’t sound too outrageous to have a truly one-of-a-kind travel trailer design just for you.

I asked about a price range on what it might costs to put a couple of bunk beds in the Mish, they quoted me relatively bargain basement cost of 12,000 to 15,000 bucks. Ouch. I think the kids will be fine where they are for awhile….

over and out,
dan

We pumped ourselves full of Mexican breakfast food in the morning before heading to the show but not without a photo op of Mila with the restaurant’s mascot. I have no idea how to explain this one. It just felt right to post it.

The show was on its second day on Sunday and it ran from 9am to 1pm. This year’s show was put together by R&B Events who is also responsible for the wildly popular Alumapalooza hosted annually at the Airstream factory in Jackson Center, OH as well as the upcoming, inaugural west coast version of the show named Alumafandango in Denver, CO that we can not wait to attend this upcoming August.

Rich and Brett (the R and the B from R&B Events) are doing this Vintage Trailer event for the second and final time. It is not because the show is not successful but because they need to focus more on their rally-style events. As a matter of fact, this year was a smashing success. They had nearly 2,000 people come through each trailer in the short 2 half days. That is more than double the attendance from last year. There are also more trailers this year and at a much more accessible location right in downtown Palm Springs.

We felt a bit overwhelmed as we we walked through the entrance tent at the attendance and all of the great trailers. Since we didn’t really know where to start so we just did a quick walk around and found our friend Kristiana at her Silver Trailer booth.

If you still haven’t heard of her, shame on you. She always brings one of her awesome vintage Airstreams to the event as well as some of her amazing vintage trailer themed jewelry.

She instantly became Ava and Mila’s new BFF when she presented these awesome Airstream charms to them as gifts. These girls love jewelry. Especially ones that look like Airstreams.

And she knocked it out of the park when she gave Marlene this Airstream onesie for baby brother in-utero. I think this might be his first gift ever.

Well, I guess I need to get to showing the trailers at some point. Just as last year, rather than trying to cram them all into one post, I will just give a quick run down of some of the notables here and get into more detail with them in subsequent posts.

One of the trailers on display here is not vintage at all. As a matter of fact, it is a brand spanking new Christopher Deam designed prototype from Airstream called the Airstream Sterling 27. It has been catching a fair amount of buzz around the Web and we got to see it in person for the first time here. It has a Front Bedroom floor plan much like the Mali Mish with the new updated Sterling trim.

Here is a very unique vintage pop-up trailer that has been completely restored by hand. Look for it featured in its one post coming soon.

The most eye catching of all of the trailers was probably this one of a kind creation called the ‘Deco Liner’ created by master craftsman Randy Grubb. That’s right, it is a car grafted on top of a vintage GMC RV. It is not just cosmetic either, the convertible cockpit on top is a fully working flybridge that you can drive the vehicle from.

This little camper here is paired with a matching BMW 2002 converted to a pick up truck as its tow vehicle. The camper comes complete with matching BMW trim on the hub caps and else where.

Not trying to tease you or anything but this Airstream was awarded Best of Show. Sure it looks like any other polished Airstreams from the outside, but just wait to see a full post coming up complete with more detail photos of the amazing work that was done to the interior.

And last but not least, this 1954 Silver Streak Clipper has been stripped completely down to its bones and rebuilt with some of the most amazing custom work I have ever seen in a trailer. Yeah, you are gonna have to wait to see more of this baby too in another post. Trust me, it will be worth it.

over and out,
dan

Even though we have been at the Lake Cahuilla campground for a few days, we haven’t really done much around here. I suppose that is par for the course for our type of traveling. We don’t do a whole lot of sitting around the campfire. We can do that in our backyard at home.

Let’s go Mila, put the fishing pole down, there is a poolside lounger calling my name.

Instead of eating in the dining room of the Ace Hotel Diner, we opted to eat pool side. The menu is exactly the same and we get to eat from those comically large enamel bowls again.

The girls know the drill about putting on sunblock before getting in the sun. But as far as not swimming for a half hour after eating? Forget about it. Keeping these girls out of the water is next to impossible.

It didn’t take long before they started a jumping contest. Here is Mila doing the superman.

How about holding hands and jumping together? Sure, they can do that.

And of course there is the usual jumping and screaming. Check-o-slovakia.

A lot of people ask us about the Stearns Puddle Jumper floaties the girls wear when swimming. They are now pretty popular and can be found in a lot of places on the Internet and locally. They are absolutely the best life jackets for kids aged 2-6 bar none. We’ve tried the traditional style life vests but they never worked as advertised. They are bulky and cumbersome which takes a lot of the fun out of playing in the water. These are smaller but retains most if not all of the flotation capabilities while giving the girls a lot more mobility and control. The fact that they are a coast guard approved product, as oppose to the inflatable slip on variety, lets you know that its been put through its life saving paces. For only 20 bucks, they are well worth the money.

So here is the twist in our trip that was hinted in the title of this post. The original plan was to spend the week here prior to the vintage trailer show just hanging out and visiting some of our favorite Palm Springs attractions. It has been working beautifully so far. But unfortunately, we were alerted by Marlene’s parents that one of her extended family members who has been ill for several months is no longer with us. We need to make it back for the funeral that is scheduled for the day before the show. Instead skipping the vintage trailer show, we decided to take a couple of days from our trip to head back to be with them.  We will leave the Mali Mish here in the desert and rendez-vous back with her in a couple of days.

Before the long drive home, we let the girls lose at the playground to burn off that last bit of energy so they can sleep all the way back.

It always feels kind of strange leaving the trailer somewhere that is not your home.

And of course there is the cat. She is coming home with us and won’t be attending the vintage trailer show. Sorry Yoda, I will make sure to take lots of photos just for you.

Good night Lake Cahuilla. We will be back in a couple of days for our 2012 coverage of the Modernism Week 2012 Vintage Trailer show!

over and out,
dan

A year ago, Mila did not seem to mind this taxidermy coyote quite as much as she did today. Don’t worry my little one, this one is friendly. You can tell because he just came back from Fat Tuesday in New Orleans by the looks of those beads.

On site at the hotel, there is a restaurant attached to the lobby. Prior to the Ace Hotel days, it was a Denny’s.

Now as the hotel’s hipster diner, it is a little trendier and a little pricier.

You can no longer get a Grand Slam breakfast or a Moons Over My Hammie. However, they do make a mean black bean burger and serve you water in a vintage glass bottle and glasses.

What we are really here to do today is to take advantage of the salt water, heated swimming pool and hot tub. Today in the California desert, we are looking at temperatures in the mid-80s smack dab in the middle of winter.

We didn’t have to convince these girls much for them to get dressed in their favorite swimwear.

We couldn’t wipe the smiles off of this one’s face.

This one, well, she is into whatever her big sister likes.

They even managed to meet a new friend in the water.

The Ace Hotel and Swim Club welcomes guests at their pools whether you are staying at their hotel or not. For a daily fee of $16 per person (kids under 12 are free), you can swim until you can’t no longer keep your eyes open.

If you thought those vintage water bottle and glasses were cool at the diner, just wait until you get a scoop of ice cream pool side. These girls’ eyes just about popped out of their heads when they saw the ice creams coming out in these giant bowls. That is until they looked inside and saw normal size scoops.

Ice cream AND red velvet cupcake!? Which pregnant lady do you think placed this order? Yeah, the one that also ordered pudding in a little mason jar. We are all eating for 2 on this trip.

We really got lucky with the weather today at the Ace Hotel. Let’s keep our fingers crossed to see if it will hold up again tomorrow!

over and out,
dan