Rot Repair 101

Has this happened to you? You buy a vintage travel trailer, all excited. You get it home, pull back the cushions (which you should have done before handing over the cash), and you see something like this:

Rotten, warped, mildew-stained paneling, indicative of water damage.

Now what?

If you're a newbie, you may be tempted to paint over it, put the cushions back in place, and call it good.  Or to tack another piece of paneling over the bad spot. These may be cosmetic solutions. But they aren't safe solutions. And here's why:

What you have here is the trailer equivalent of Stage 4 cancer. Left untreated, the prognosis is poor-to-deadly. For moisture to have reached the interior wood, it first must have penetrated the seals on the exterior metal skin. Then the moisture attacks the wooden framing that gives the trailer its shape and structure, eventually rendering it structurally unsound.

Only after that does moisture reach and begin to rot the paneling. See the broader expanses of the horizontal wood, above? That's the back side of the paneling--the same paneling you see on the inside. The paneling itself is only an eighth-inch thick. That, some thin insulation, and the exterior skin, are all that stand between you--the owner/occupant--and the forces of traffic and nature. If you don't fix this problem, it will only spread and get worse.

Because it occurs from the outside in, that's how you have to fix it to do it right. In other words, you have to take the trailer apart from the outside, remove the bad wood, replace it, and put the trailer back together.

To do that, you first must remove the J-rail. This is the aluminum trim that wraps around the edges of the exterior.

The lights, windows, and license plate holder also have to come off. This is so you can loosen and either lift or remove the corresponding section of metal skin.

The old insulation also needs to go. As long as you're in there, you might as well replace it anyway.

Now you can start to assess the rot and take inventory of what will need replacing.

A side panel (maybe more than one) may need to come off in order for you to have best access to the repair areas.

Here's a close-up of a rotted rear corner support. It fell apart to the touch, as did much of the other rotten wood. This isn't what you want to have between you and the outside world as you're going down the freeway. One bump or pothole, and the back corner could collapse.

The actual repair phase of this trailer is about to begin. Check back for photos of the process.

Camping of Another Sort

Every August, Girl Camping Girl pulls her boots on and heads to Deary, Idaho, where she puts on a weekend campout trail ride for horse people. The event is a fundraiser for the Appaloosa Museum & Heritage Center in nearby Moscow, Idaho. Appaloosas are popular (natch), but all breeds of horses are welcomed. Mules, too.

GCG brings a vintage trailer to set up as her command headquarters. The horseback riders always want to get a look inside.

The vintage trailer is quite the contrast with the huge, living-quarters horse trailers that many of the participants stay in.

Girl Camping Girl brings her horse trailer to the event, too. But for this occasion, it carries flowers and other decorations--not horses.

Activities include a Dutch oven dinner and cook-off. It's the best meal this side of Thanksgiving!

Food, food, and more glorious food! Trail riders work up a mighty appetite.

It's fun to see all the beautiful horses and the riders with their best riding gear.

Western art is popular at the silent auction. And some attendees arrive wearing their Western art--not quite on their sleeves, but close.

GCG doesn't sport any tattoos, Western or otherwise. But she does break out some of her fancy hats.

Part of her job is to make sure everyone knows and follows the rules for using the private horse camp where the event takes place.

She also makes it her job to make sure everyone keeps smiling and having fun. Because without the fun, nobody will come back again the next year. And the year after that. They've been coming back for 15 years now, so something must be working.

Coordinating a campout for 60 riders and 60 horses is like any other big job--someone's got to do it!

At the end of every trail ride day, Girl Camping Girl slips away into her trailer, puts her feet up, and looks forward to the next day.

Because truth to tell, she has as much fun as anybody else who's there!

The Girl Camping Trailer As Your Hideout

Travel trailers, vintage or otherwise, were made for...well, traveling. As in hitting the road and going somewhere.

But they also make a dandy everyday hideout, parked right at home. Comfy bed, a sweet pile of pillows, a book to read, perhaps the company of a favorite pet, and you're set for some private R&R.

Treat yourself to a favorite cup of something.

Cozy up by drawing the curtain closed in front of your lounging spot.

Dig into your secret stash of chocolate.

Think about what you'd like to have for dinner.

Above all--remember that Girl Camp is where you find it!

How to Be a Wonderful Girl Camping Guest

It's full-swing Girl Camping season, at last, and we hope you have lots of invitations that'll give you places to go and people to see.

Whenever you are on someone's guest list, or are signed up for an event, there's some unspoken etiquette involved. If you keep the following in mind, you'll always shine and be thought of as a wonderful Girl Camping guest.

* Mind your RSVPs. Always confirm or cancel with your hostess or event chairman, not just the campground or RV park, just as soon as your plans are firm either way. Number of campsites is always finite, and if you don't let the hostess know you're not coming, she can't move anyone up who may be on a waiting list.

* Ask before bringing pets or extra guests. Even if your hostess loves pets, she may not be planning activities that are suitable for having pets at hand. Find out the situation before you bring Fido or Fluffy. And while you may have room for an extra guest in your trailer, RV, or tent, keep in mind that an unplanned-for guest can leave the hostess short of everything from food and party favors to seats at the table or in the boat. Best not to surprise her.

* Make any special needs known. Trust us, you won't be the only one who needs help with backing and parking her trailer, who won't be able to get in until after dark, or who has a dietary or health restriction. A good hostess expects these circumstances and will want to be as accommodating as she can. The earlier you can make such needs known, the more time your hostess will get to make plans for meeting them.

* Bring a hostess gift. Even if you're paying to attend a function and aren't being treated to a private weekend, someone went to a lot of effort to get it pulled together. Your token of appreciation doesn't need to be extravagant, but surely will be noted and appreciated. It can be anything from a jar of your homemade jam or salsa to a bottle of wine to a little something to fit her trailer theme. The gesture, not the gift itself, is the point.

* Pitch in, join in. You're at an event to relax and have fun (it's camping, after all!), and it's perfectly OK to sleep in and skip breakfast, to bow out from the group and get some alone time, or to forgo participating in a game or sport you don't enjoy. But it's not so OK to let everyone else wait on or pick up after you, or to spend so much time holed up behind a closed door that the rest of the party has to worry about you. Do your part, in both the work and the play. Also offer to give a hand with the final clean-up before you hook up and head home.

* Mind your safety. Nothing ruins a camping weekend faster than an accident in which someone gets hurt--especially when it might have been avoided. Avoid taking unnecessary risks, and keep the 'adult beverage' consumption in line. (One of the most common camping injuries involves stumbling or tripping from the doorway of one's own trailer.) Further word to the wise: Write your ICE info (who to call in case of emergency) on a card for the hostess/organizer to have at hand. Though you may have it stored in your cell phone, there's no guarantee that the phone will be charged or that it can be located during an actual emergency.

* Leave a thank-you note. E-mailed thanks are of course appreciated, but nothing takes the place of a handwritten note that the hostess can re-read and savor after all all her guests are gone and she finally can put her feet up. Your personal note will be that final touch of Girl Camping class that puts you at the top of next year's guest list.

[Click here to read 10 tips for the Girl Camping hostess.]

Mornings in Your Happy Place

There are few things better than a morning's first hour inside your very own vintage travel trailer. (Girl Camping Girl should know--she has four of them in her obsessive collection.)

Make a pot of coffee...tune in something on the old radio (or iPod, if you prefer)...do a little reading...pet the camper dog...listen to the birds wake up...think about what's for breakfast...hide out from the rest of the world until you're ready to come out.

Bliss, with a hitch out front.