Power for Tilley

Earlier, we decided on a 12 V battery as one of the power sources for Tilley.  While Pat intends to wire her so we can plug her in at various camping spots, we don't want to rely on this all the time.  Also, we want to be self-sufficient and more environmentally friendly with our energy use.  To this end, we did some investigation on the use of solar power for trailers.

We looked around a little here and there, but didn't see anything useful, portable or that wasn't wildly expensive.  Then a few weeks ago we decided to go and gawk at the mammoth RV cousins of our little Tilley at our local RV show.  There we found the goliaths and krakens of the RV world.  Huge monstrosities that could house a small village in each one. 

Then, tucked away in a little spot between two of these behemoths, was a little table that caught Pat's eye.  The poster said "Go Solar RVing".  We stopped dead in our tracks and went to speak to the lady standing there.  What we found was exactly what we were looking for!  They have just what their card says... thin, flexible, light weight solar panels...and they don't cost an arm and a leg!  We had a lovely chat with the lady, who was soon joined by her husband. They were both delightful and not your usual pushy sales people.  They were very knowledgeable about their panels and solar power in general. The other wonderful thing we found out was that although the panels are manufactured in the US, the couple live and sell the panels in Canada.  Their website GoSolarRVing.com has all the information you need to choose the best panel(s) for your trailer, cottage, even your tent. However you prefer to live in the great outdoors.

Pat will be finishing the wiring and installing the interior lights in the next couple of weeks. After that, we will have to decide on the type of panel we want. We're torn between their folding panels

 and their rollable panels

 
Either way, we can't wait to get one and save money, help the environment and just generally make Tilley even more self-sufficient and amazing!

New Pretties for Tilley

Back to more of the design aspect of our work on Tilley...

I was out at our local Canadian Tire to get a few things for a renovation of our back room - sandpaper, wood filler, stain blocker, the basics.  I happened to notice that they were having a huge sale on all of their winter things....and....they were unloading all their new spring items!

Last year when we were looking for general houseware items for Tilley I was looking online for some nice dishware.  I was also looking at every possible store in our area that would carry the same thing - unbreakable but stylish dishware.  The online pieces were beautiful but expensive and by the time we were looking in stores, most of their stock was already sold.  We would find something we like, but they would only have one or two pieces left. Most annoying.

As I noticed that the Canadian Tire spring stock was being unpacked, I also noticed that the spring outdoor dishware was being unpacked.....and "Oh Glory Be" I found it! 

If you look a little farther back in our posts, you will see that we had decided on green for our glassware and dishware and had found ourselves some lovely cups and goblets.  Well now we have dishware to go with them! I absolutely love the Victorian style botanical pattern and perfect green.  When I first saw them I was thinking "nuts they're porcelain" and I had to actually walk up close and  tap them to see what they were.  I was incredibly pleased to find they are melamine.  I purchased four of each so we can accommodate guests as well.  I am very much looking forward to using them this season!

Electrical Work, an Update

Now that Pat is finished with the safety aspect of our lighting, he can begin working on installing the reading lights into Tilley as he mentioned in an earlier post.  We also still need to redo some wiring for our outside door light and get our 12v battery. We'll be able to get some serious work done soon as the weather warms up.

For now, here are before and after photos of Tilley's new tail lights.
Before
(yes, they were being held together with tape)

  ... and After

So much better and safer.  The LED lights are going to make her shine!
More coming soon....

Intermission

Pat has started working on Tilley's electrics.  He even took some nice photos to share with everyone.  Then I asked him to clear off the card....of course forgetting about the photos.  Sorry!  So until he can retrieve them so we can show you what he's been up to, I would like to share with you a couple of Canadian sites dedicated to the Boler:

The first is Bolerama  The site is dedicated to the preservation of Boler trailers. It was established in 1999 by Linda Vanderwiel in Saskatoon.  There is a great history page.  It has an interview with the father of the Boler, Ray Olecko.  It also provides a forum, a page of rallies across Canada, photos, tips and even manuals!

Another site is Boler Life Here you can find how to's and information to restore and repair your Boler with lots of before and after photos.  You can even buy Boler decals.

There are also two Facebook Groups for Boler lovers : The Boler (US based) and I own a Boler (Canada based)  

Some of the restoration work people have done really shows the love owners have for their Bolers.

Check out the beautiful exterior work on this Boler owned by Mark Bergen.

There are a lot of people who like to restore their Boler to match their fabulous antique car!

(photo and owned by Beverly Wayne Armstrong)

Cheers to all you Boler fans out there!

Coming Soon II

Manly? Yes

Well electrical any way. One of the things we noticed when we first bought Tilley was that the tail lights were very dim and one lens cover was cracked. A little research showed that the dimness was a common complaint.  Our choices were to replace the lens cover and maybe work out something with the existing bulbs, or go with new LED tail lights. Bolers have always been a little quirky and one of these quirks is that they use School Bus size tail lights. Big monster 7" tail lights. Big monster LED tail lights the size of small dinner plates with 31 LEDs and the ability to leave streaks of blood red light behind Tilley like something out of a TRON re-make as she boots down the midnight road.....

Ahem - for safety's sake we decided to go with new LED tail lights that would maximize safety and would make Tilley safer to tow safely. So off with the old lights (which will be kept in case we ever want to restore to original specs). What were these monsters held on with? Four little 1/4" long screws into the fibre glass shell. That's not going to work on the new lights - the mounting holes are 1/4" wide. So it's back to the hardware store for some nice 1/4" stainless steel bolts. Sadly brass was not available in a long enough length. So it's stainless bolts with big acorn nuts for Tilley - she's beginning to look a little butch.

The new reading lights were a different story. They were designed for household use so I bought all the right mounting plates and other bits required. But a fibre glass trailer cupboard is not 1/2" drywall so a re-think was required. Upon disassembling the Italian brass light bases, I found a Y shaped mounting yoke in solid brass. Perfect - 6 brass screws and washers and we are in business.

Next up - putting it all together.

Coming Soon...

In our October 24, 2010 post "....And the Votes are In!", I mentioned that we had decided on the light fixtures and had ordered them.  Well, just before Christmas they arrived.  They are more beautiful in person than online, and heavier too.

Now that the holidays are over, it is time to get back to work on Tilley. During the next few cold months the goal is to work on the electrical components - incorporate a 12v battery, redo quite a bit of the wiring, add in the lights we had custom made, as well as replace the old and broken tail lights with new LED ones. 

For more details I now pass you to the mechanical/electrical minded half of us - Pat - who will post The Manly Explanation of what we'll be doing next.

Sweet Surprise!

Yesterday, November 2nd, was our official, legal wedding day. In 1990 we tied the knot and became our new selves of "Pat and Lee Ann".  I say that because whenever anyone refers to us it is never Pat, or Lee Ann, or the Gillilands (which would be silly anyway since I kept my maiden name), but always Pat and Lee Ann.  It's not that we are glued at the hip, but we were friends with similar interests before we got married and we still enjoy doing fun things together.

Of course, this year being our 20th Anniversary, and as you all already know, we bought Tilley as our gift to each other.  Our fun thing to do together for the next 20, or 30, or 40 years.

We have been putting all our anniversary gift funds into making her our steampunk haven for two. As well, yesterday was a week day and we both had to work and do regular every day taking care of business chores. So I was of the impression that we would be having a quiet evening watching something interesting on the television with the girls.  Well, I was greatly mistaken.

My lovely husband set up a little surprise for me.  Here is a hint...

The candle is sushi shaped, one of our favourtie foods (which you can see in the photo, as well as umeboshi).  Some lovely ladies at a now closed Japanese grocery store gave us the candle for an anniversary a few years earlier.

Have you guessed?!
He made some of my favourite Japanese dishes and set up a romantic dinner for two in Tilley.

As Tilley is now parked in our garage and it's November in Canada, he even warmed her up before he surprised me. We had a wonderful, quiet, special meal in our lovely santuary. We spoke only of us related topics. It was fantastic!

Here's to many more wonderful future anniversary dinners in Tilley (whether in the garage or on the road).

Happy Anniversary Honey!