The Douglas Jetliners Trailer Club

 When I was a young child, maybe 5 or 6 years old, I remember going to weekly square dancing with Mom and Dad's trailer club, the Douglas Long Beach Jetliners. Dad worked at the Douglas plant (later McDonnell Douglas) and we went on a lot of camping trips with the trailer club. I think it was their primary social group, and they developed lifelong friends through the Jetliners.

My brother was looking through some old files that belonged to Dad, who died in 2008, and lo and behold, he found the placard for #11 that was on the Rainbow all those years ago. Sure brought back a lot of memories.

We Really Did It...

Seeing that it's been over a year since updating, Tracy and I really did it.  We made the decision to full-time, so retired in May 2016 and sold almost everything with the plan to live on the road for hopefully about 20 years, Lord willing.

We traded the 2015 F-250 for a 2016 F-350 Crew Cab King Ranch Long Bed Dual Rear Wheel monster (that's CC KR LB DRW). Although they had the same drivetrain, the F-350 is substantially more stable and has the proper weight capabilities for the 5th wheel.

We left Fort Smith and headed for a planned trip through the Pacific Northwest, Canada, down the western coast into Northern California, Lake Tahoe, Utah, Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, and eventually making our way to Orlando, Florida for the winter.

Plans were interrupted in Boise when the Montana developed cracks unexpectedly.  We were blessed to find a beautiful used 2015 Redwood for a bargain price with the help of our nephew, Austin.

We picked up kayaks for recreation while we were in Santa Rosa, California, so here is our typical "going-down-the-road" rig.  We are fully enjoying and appreciating our Redwood as home, and it truly feels like home.

Winter 2016 was spent in Florida with part-time fun jobs at Walt Disney World.  Summer 2017 was in West Yellowstone at Grizzly RV Park, (where we stayed in 2015 with the Rainbow, incidentally!)  And of course, all the adventures in between.

The Rainbow and it's partner, my 1924 Model T "Belle", are in storage in Arkansas waiting for us to give them some TLC and get back on the road.  The adventure will continue, and who knows what comes next!

Movin' on Up

Well, here's some news...

We met a couple at the vintage rally in Canton who had a 5th wheel and were full-time RVers.  It was interesting talking to them, and they gave us many pros and a few cons (very few) about their experience with life on the road.

We begin talking on the way back, and then began looking, and we are now the proud owners of a 2004 Montana 3575RL (RL stands for Rear Living).  We've had it out about 6 times so far since purchasing in mid-October. We think we got a really good value in this trailer and it's in excellent condition with very little wear & tear.

It's a whole new world from the Rainbow. Who knows what the future holds, but we may just be full-timing it, at least for a while.  Tracy made me promise I would retire young enough and in good health for us to enjoy some life on the road, visiting the sites of the wonderful United States.

Been Awhile...

Well it's been a very busy few months.  First, we managed to attend our first vintage trailer rally with Tin Can Tourists.  The rally was in Canton, TX, home of the world's largest flea market.

The rally was a lot of fun. We didn't win any prizes other than the Bingo and door prizes, but everyone really liked the story of our Rainbow.  And I think we were probably the only attendees who had a family story like this.

Here was a neat Silver Streak that was built in Southern California, like a lot of the campers built in the '50's. This was sold by a dealer on Long Beach Blvd., just a few miles from where I grew up.

We enjoyed the rally and are keeping our eye on the calendar provided by Tin Can Tourists to see where our next one will be!

A New Friend

I've met a new friend through the blog. Her name is Bess from Oregon and another Rainbow owner. Would be fun to find out how many other Rainbow's there are out there.  I think this is probably a '55 or '56 based on the features.  Here are a couple of pictures of her Rainbow...