There is now a 1976 Shasta 1750 in our driveway! She is as yet unnamed. The drive home from RI was uneventful despite the fringes of a hurricane out to sea causing some breeze and light rain. Parking her in the back corner of the driveway at an angle was a challenge but Mr. Castle has since driven her down to the local emissions testing center to have the VIN verified for her registration. I placed some small rocks where her tire had been so that when he got her back I just guided him toward the rocks. It took one readjustment and less than 3 minutes that time. I also had guided him to the hitch ball almost perfectly on the first try when he left this time. 

We definitely need to buy a tow vehicle so that we don't wear out my minivan pulling her. It worked but......  so a truck is in our future. 

We are completely undecided as to what we want to do with both the interior and exterior. So much of her is in decent original shape. The floor, the walls, the exterior paint, the bathroom, the appliances. But we have always dreamed of doing one over to make it ours, so we will make some changes. We don't care for the dark shiny paneling so that will be changed. Don't know if we'll go with lighter wood, or paint.... We had thought we'd have a theme but we also had thought we'd have an older camper and could do a 50s theme of some sort. Having lived through the mid 70s neither of us is interested in going with a theme from that era. It's pretty cool she is from the bicentennial year, but it was not an attractive time in design history! We just keep gathering ideas. It may start with falling in love with a certain fabric once we start looking. 

The kitchen and sitting area, and an old air conditioner the former owner was going to install. I think new curtains may be our starting point. The valances over the windows seem to be original. They are very unattractive!

The dinette, also reflected in the mirror on the bathroom door.

Hitched up and ready to leave her last home. 

Now in our driveway being unhitched.

Deposit made

Immediately after rejecting our friend's parents' Shasta Compact we started looking all over Craigslist for other possibilities. We found several and Mr. Castle made a few inquiries. Last week he heard back from a woman who has a  16 foot 1976 Shasta in Rhode Island. He went and looked at it yesterday and ended up leaving a deposit. It is in much better shape, largely original and a much better size for our needs. We are working on plans to get it home. This just became real! While we would have preferred something just a bit older this is too good a deal to pass up. Now the discussion begins. What do we keep original and what to we update. 

This is what we were hoping was going to be the beginning of the adventure. It belongs to a good friend's parents. When he heard we were looking, he suggested we come get theirs. Unfortunately, the badge in the bottom photo is the main reason we didn't bring it home. It's too small for the three of us. The interior is in really rough shape. There is at least one hole in the roof and it has sat for over 40 years. Mr. Castle felt that if the aluminum skin were removed, the frame would pretty much disintegrate. It is too much project for a trailer that would end up being too small for us to travel with very far. As much as I loved the idea of turning it into a little craft cottage in the backyard, I couldn't ask him to renovate this one. We have been scouring Craigslist in New England and beyond for something in better shape and are confident that we will find something soon. We are narrowing our criteria for what we want and reading every blog and book we can. We have sent a few emails asking for more information on a couple of trailers. We even toured some new ones while shopping at Costco last month. The new ones have lots of nice features but we're finding them very, beige? We also are focusing on buying a tow vehicle before purchasing a trailer, although that could change if the right one came along. The dream is alive, although dormant for this summer....

The Dream

Greetings from southern New England! 

We hope you will join us on our journey into vintage camper restoration. Thing is, we don't even have the vintage camper yet.... The most I can ask is that you stay tuned!

This has been a dream of ours for quite a while. We've kept an open mind about what we want, from a VW pop-up camper to a travel trailer. We're are hoping for vintage. It's pretty much a requirement. We are more than happy to take our time restoring something that needs some TLC. It needs to be "not huge" and not difficult to tow. It needs to sleep two adults and a teenager. And it needs to be pretty inexpensive. The bonus there is that we can make it ours, inside and out. We're in no real hurry. Mr. Castle is approaching retirement. He'll do the hard hands on work and most of the designing. Castle Jr. will assist. I will get the joy of decorating and help with planning and designing. 

And it will have a name. The Moving Castle for now... Anything official will not be decided until we meet him or her. 

We hope you join us in our travels, from a few towns away to our driveway, and then the open road!

Mrs. Castle