Now that I have your attention, may I –ahem– titillate you a bit more, by saying that to find out what I mean, you’ll have to follow me to the second part of this tease ... where the photographic evidence can be found.

Here’s why I’ve been distracted from just about everything for the past week: I finally have a travel trailer! And not just any travel trailer ... that just wouldn’t do for me. I’d begun my quest looking for an Airstream, but wasn’t having much luck with that quarry. Then someone introduced me to Silver Streak travel trailers—if you’ve not heard of them, you’re in the majority. Silver Streaks are aluminum (anodized) travel trailers, very similar to Airstreams in some basic ways. Some people claim Silver Streaks are built better than Airstreams, in part because the company was so small that each trailer was essentially a custom job. I’m not going to step into that debate. I will say that I immediately noticed upon entering the Silver Streak that ultimately became mine that the less severe curvature of the top gives the Streak a less claustrophic feel for me, and more storage space. (The round chimney thingus is not part of the trailer’s roofline.)

This one is a 1983 “Supreme Luxury Liner”, and is about 33 feet long. Fortunately, it came with all the original paperwork—as one might expect with a relative rarity, documentation and resources are hard to come by. The freestanding table is apparently a rarity within a rarity. It’s adjustable vertically, and strong hinges fold the sides down as well, for fairly compact storage. The built-in table has at least two more leaves to it, which are stowed in a closet. The only significant change thus far is that the carpet has been replaced; the original was a near-shag orange carpet, so I’m glad it’s gone. This light-colored carpet is fairly new, and should last while I get acclimated to the “Silver Snausage”, as the snolfs call her.

I say “get acclimated” because I intend to rehab her to some degree, and live in her. As is, her large space isn’t very efficiently laid out for my needs. And of course, being 25 years old and basically parked for the past few years means it needs some loving care. But I have a lot to learn, both about trailer living and all the projects within projects a rehab entails, before I jump in, so that’s why there’ll be a honeymoon of sorts. The snolfs and I have already spent one night in it, to their delight—it seemed a bit dusty for my nose, though, so a thorough cleaning is the first project on tap.

Actually, I got started on that a little today. It was sunny and warm, so I stripped the beds and gave the mattresses and box springs a good airing out and sunning. There’s a lot of crud in the housing for them, but unfortunately, not a lot of money—just a quarter and a 5-peso (Mexican) coin so far. So now you know where a lot of my time—and most of my money—will be going this summer!