Last week I insulated and started skinning the cabin so we could attend our first teardrop gathering. This is just the under skin as we plan to cover it with a nicer wood. We found the measurements were all over the place so we took our time to get the proper fit to each piece. The insulation made all the difference when we slept in it. You could still tell the doors were not insulated or fit properly and drafty but the overall cabin stayed nice through the night. We don't have all the insulation in yet because I still need to wire the stereo, speakers, and USB ports for the cabin. We also have to get a new XM radio antenna because Crybaby cut the one that came with our stereo then tried to solder it together.
We pulled out Saturday morning heading to Lake Perris and our first Teardrop Gathering. The gathering was fun, we met a lot of new folks and saw some amazing teardrops. I believe there was 127 teardrops that attended the event. We went for just the last two days due to work but we enjoyed our time with our new friends. Saturday everyone had their tears open to the public and we talked with people just starting their build or thinking about building. Since we've had to take our teardrop all the way back to the shell this is our build and shared our experiences with others. We made no mention of Crybaby, just simply said the person who built our box we could not recommend in good faith. Some of the lookers liked that ours was not complete and they could see what it takes to restore or build one. I told them to head to the forums as there are so many helpful and knowledgeable people there who will help and point them in the proper direction.
The creativity of group was amazing, I don't think I saw two tears that were the same. There were I think three other teardrops as large as ours supporting a queen mattress inside, most were the standard size and as unique as each owner. Saturday evening we attended the potluck with my buttermilk coleslaw, plates, and chairs in hand. The organizers did an amazing job with this event, it is not easy to put together an event especially on a large scale such as this and over several days. They went to every detail and comfort and my hat is off to them, "Thank you so very much for your blood sweat and tears I know went into this event."
After we returned home with new ideas, a fresh outlook and new energy I started back into work on the trailer. Well work seems to have been coming along at a crawl but I'm in no rush, I want things done properly not like what we received so I'm taking my time. I added a wood wall behind the aluminum skin here in the galley for support and stability, now my galley wall doesn't wiggle or bend. I found great tin tile frames that work out perfectly to hide where the speakers were in the galley. Who would put speakers next to a sink? I made the one next to the sink a message board using chalkboard paint and a magnetic board. The other I made into our housing for our light switch and charger port. It took a bit of creative cutting with my little jig but I think they look very nice. I purchased three of the four I need; the other two will be speaker housings, we are relocating the speakers into the galley lid so they are out of the way and won't get bumped or wet. I used 1" x 1" poplar and framed them inside so that I could use screws from behind to affix them to the walls. The color matches the patina of our sink and the blue in the mission tiles.
I removed the scrap plywood shims that didn't even fit into the dead space from the doors jams cut too large and lopsided for the doors that were installed. I used spray in foam to seal the drafts then used 1" x 1" poplar to cut and fit as a proper door frame. Now the bottom doorsill doesn't cut into your legs when you sit in the door. What a difference that made!
The rain came after I knocked off for the day cutting work off for the week. I can't wait for the weekend, I've ordered a fan for the vent, speaker wire, and a few other items to finish off the interior projects. Oh if you plan to insulate your trailer and run speakers behind the walls make sure you have the proper wire that does not heat up. Be sure to use wire that meets local building and fire code. Use UL-rated wire labeled CL2 or CL3 for in-wall installations of speakers and audio/video cables, and CM, CMR, or CMP for in-wall installations of Ethernet cable. We went with a 14G wire for sound quality but 16G is fine if you aren't running it very far.
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