When I undertake a project, I like to have a goal and a hard deadline. The makeover of our 1976 Airstream Sovereign Land Yacht had both. In the middle of last May my goal was recreate the interior of our Airstream to match the way we actually use it and the deadline for completion was July 13 – the date of our reservations at Peakes Kenny State Park on Sebec Lake in Maine for our annual church camping trip. Giving our Airstream a 50th birthday makeover in two basic steps:
- Ripping out everything inside the camper
- And replacing it with everything new that we would need for how we actually
use the Airstream
My wife and I are in our seventies and at this time in our lives we don’t use the Airstream for travel, but rather as accommodations in two very beautiful places in Maine. In July, the Airstream goes to Sebec Lake for a couple of weeks and then on to the family oceanfront property on Pigeon Hill Bay in DownEast Maine where it stays for the rest of the summer.
Both locations have water and electric hook-ups, so we don’t need propane for heat, lights, or cooking. Our re-imagined Airstream will be all-electric: heat, lights, air conditioning, cook plate, microwave, Keurig, kettle, frying pan, air fryer etc. Both locations also have showers so a very basic bathroom will do. It’ll also be just for the two of us, so there will be no need to provide pull-out beds or other guest amenities.
After the cabinets, bathroom, beds, plumbing, appliances, flooring etc were removed I was able to get right on to the rebuild. Our goal was to have as open a floor plan as possible starting with a new engineered, waterproof laminate hardwood floor, then moving on to building the new cabinets. I made cabinets about 6″ narrower than the originals on both sides of the camper. Also, the new design had no wall cabinets at all. Those two changes gave the camper an amazingly improved sense of spaciousness.
On the long wall opposite the door and the kitchen sink, I built a section of open cabinets out of pine lumber and topped it off with a 10′ maple butcher block counter top. The sink area counter top is another 5′ section of the butcher block. The rear of the Airstream became the new bedroom and a very comfortable love seat along with a small table and two chairs. The bathroom with a full-size flush toilet was moved to a compartment next to the kitchen. Most all of this is visible in before & after photos accompanying this article.
I was able to meet the goal and the deadline and we’ve enjoyed spending good times at Sebec Lake and Pigeon Hill Bay this summer. Now, there’s only one thing left to do and that is get the Airstream ready for a long Maine winter.
In October and November here in Maine, the mouse invasion begins in homes, barns, sheds and especially in campers and RV’s. Mice can get in through the smallest of holes, cracks and openings. Most campers and RV’s provide plenty of those opportunities and our Airstream is no exception.
For years we have used PredatorPee® Bobcat Urine PeeShots to keep the mice from getting into our Airstream. If you’ve never heard of them, they work based on a very clever and all-natural premise. In the wild, mice stay alive by always being keenly aware of the presence of a dangerous predator like a bobcat. They know that if they smell bobcat urine wherever they are, it’s not a safe place to be and they flee. The bobcat urine PeeShots are small, easy to use canisters that contain bobcat urine in granular form. They create the illusion that a bobcat is close by wherever you place them and nature does the rest….and the mice invade someplace else!
I put them around the wheels and in and around any openings or hatches like vents, storage compartments and gas, water or electrical access points. All campers and RV’s are different, but they all have some or all of these access points. Find the ones on your rig that are most vulnerable and give them PeeShot protection. You’ll be pleased with the results.
