A Cupcake and Her Trailer

Remember several weeks ago when I told you I would tell you the story of our trailer (here)? Well, I'm feeling like procrastinating baking, so it's story time!

I have always had a love for all things vintage....especially Airstream trailers and VW buses (hopefully we will acquire one of those in the near future!) After much contemplation we decided to go for it and purchase an Airstream. Finding one was actually a lot harder than we thought. It couldn't be too junky since we would have to hire someone to do most of the work, but it couldn't be too nice either since we would feel bad gutting the inside of a cleanly restored trailer. Things were starting to look pretty bleak until we came across a little jewel way up in Illinois resting on the banks of one of the Great Lakes (really close and convenient, right?). We had never purchased anything over $20 on eBay, so bidding on a giant Airstream trailer was quite nerve racking. We won the bid and hired 2 friends to make the drive to pick it up.

 

When that clunker came rolling through the Brenham city limits we were both excited and terrified at the same time. How the heck were we supposed to turn this tin can on pink hub caps into a shiny cupcake palace?? We set out calling around to find someone to work on our baby (Kyle does not refer to her in as endearing of terms). Every call left us with the same answer.....no one wanted to work on our old trailer or had the time. It was around the beginning of October and I wanted the trailer to make her big debut at our wedding on November 5th. We were beginning to get a bit panicky when we finally found an RV dealership in Houston that was willing to take on the challenge. We excitedly set the appointment and got her all hooked up and ready for the road. And that's when it happened..........

CRASH! You see, this old thing doesn't specify which size ball to use to hook up, so Kyle and my dad made their best estimation and hooked her up. Who would have guessed that 5/16th of an inch would make such a huge difference! It was completely horrifying, but that old Airstream really became her namesake that day. You've never seen a trailer fly so beautifully across the highway, into the air and finish with a swan dive into a fence. God's protection was all around us that day. The highway was busy and an 18-wheeler was driving behind us. By God's grace no one was hurt except that poor fence and the face of our trailer. I just sat there on the side of the road trying to be tough and not panic. I was on the phone with my mom when we saw the trailer flying......unChristian words came out of my mouth and I know I scared that woman to death screaming profanities and calling for God to help us and then promptly hanging up the phone.....sorry mom! She rushed to the scene and as soon as I saw her I sat there on the road and started to cry. What is it about our moms being there that makes us feel like we can drop the grown-up act and revert to a weeping vulnerable child again? We hauled the trailer out of the ditch and back to the house. The next morning Kyle and my dad secured her again and drove her to Houston to the trailer doctor. She stayed in the RV hospital for quite a while, but when she emerged it was beautiful.

 

Kyle immediately got to work cleaning and polishing her. We had about 10 days before our wedding to get her looking shiny and new.  Nothing like a little last minute stress before your wedding, right?

He did an amazing job and worked so hard! (I've got to brag on my man a little) He did a 3-step polish job on it, laid new flooring inside, did some touch up paint, fixed lights, and a host of other jobs. We even had some of the groomsmen working on it before the wedding rehearsal!

It turned out beautifully! The shiny cupcake palace is still a work in progress. Windows have broken and flown off while driving, doors jam, and other things will come. I still turn around every 10 seconds when we are driving it to make sure it is still there. It has truly been a labor of love.

We hope that you will come by and visit us in the trailer the next time we are open. Maybe you will grow to love her and her delicious cupcakes as much as we do!