Before we get into the details and day-to-day (or rather, after-hours, weekends, etc) of this grand adventure of Pete & Stef’s first Airstream rebuild, I wanted to share the back story of how this idea began. Besides, it is an opportunity for me (Janet, wife to Pete and mom to Stef) to contribute. Tim, our son, is a budding graphic artist and he has created our icon, “Shirley (re) Creations (a mini size and full size version). While Pete and Stefanie will likely be the ones doing the lion share of the work, Tim and I will contribute albeit more infrequently.

But back to what got this going. When Pete and I met in 1989, Pete’s mom was already living in northern New Mexico. For as long as I can remember, on her property sat an old Airstream which was being used as a pseudo-apartment. Who would have thought that it was essentially a “tiny home” before it was chic! In any case, over the years that trailer fast became a storage area and fell into disrepair. Still, Pete occasionally would talk about the possibility of refurbishing/renovating the trailer. As the kids grew older, and Pete and the kids went to New Mexico each summer to meet up with his side of the family, the subject kept coming up. Just as Stefanie prepared for graduation from Johns Hopkins, she too started expressing interest in the idea of rebuilding the Airstream. Part of the desire was a better and safer place to store their bikes to visit other trails across the nation; in fact, I have put a few photos of those New Mexico mountain biking excursions down below. One picture shows Pete helping Stefanie with a class she was taking as she was obtaining her degree from JHU. It was so fun to watch the two working together.

More recently, Pete shared with me his motivation for rebuilding the trailer and I was surprised to find that his motivation stems pretty far back: as far back as when he graduated from the University of Maryland and began his career as a nuclear-trained submarine officer (around 1985-1990). This career path was pretty intense; it entailed one year of school-based training followed by two years of technical qualifications overlapped by four years of hands-on operating experience onboard a nuclear-powered submarine. He learned about every “shipboard” system (e.g., micro-circuitry, low voltage controls, power distribution, hydraulic systems, rotating and fixed equipment and more!) during his time in the Navy.

While the idea of having a trailer to house his and Stefanie’s prized mountain bikes was one of three reasons to rebuild the trailer, he also wanted to expand on his past engineering experience while learning more about design. Additionally, he thought it would be cool to expose Stefanie to another, more hands-on aspect of engineering. Another bonus: getting friends and other family involved in what he viewed as a fun project (and yes, you may hear or see them on this blog on occasion!).

And so, after months (and really, years) of talking about it, our weekends and free time will be living it! We hope you enjoy our blog and this journey.