Tiny town gears up for some classic fun
At least 30 classic travel trailers are heading for the Festival of Wheels and Music Jamboree beginning Friday in Goldendale, Wash.
“We’re getting calls from all over the Pacific Northwest,” says event director Lorraine Reynolds. “We’re a tiny, little town and this is a pretty big deal for us.”
Festival organizers are planning all sorts of fun events for three days of music and wheeled-sports antics in the downtown city square. Look for lawn-mower drag racing, a motorcycle stunt show, four-wheel-drive rock crawl, tire bowling and a mud bog.
Goldendale, nestled in the foothills of the Simcoe Mountains in south-central Washington, is about 250 miles from Spokane on U.S. 97 between I-82 and I-84.
Of special interest to folks interested in old trailers is the “Great American Classic Truck, Tractor & Vintage RV Hoedown” on Sept. 17.
Two couples heading south for the event are Nan and Jan LaBell of Olympia and Gary and Sally Lodholm of Gig Harbor, Wash. They’re members of an informal vintage RV group called the Tin Can Tourists.
The LaBells became interested in vintage RVs a little more than two years ago when they were looking for a retirement project.
“We have always enjoyed taking road trips to small towns,” says Nan LaBell by telephone, “but sometimes accommodations were difficult to find. We liked the idea of rebuilding an old trailer.”
After searching for a few months, they located a derelict 1958, 18-foot Silver Streak in Union, Wash.
“After buying it,” says LaBell, “we immediately towed it to a landfill and tossed all the carpeting and cushions. We then put duct tape over the windows because we were afraid they were going to fall out on the road.”
Over the next 24 months they completely gutted the inside and redesigned the 14-foot-long interior space to include a full galley with stove, refrigerator and cast-iron sink; a functioning shower and toilet; a dinette that converts into a bed; and “plenty” of closet space.
“Ready to go down the road complete with a little water, dog food, milk, the bird book and binoculars,” says LaBell, “it weighs in just at 3,000 pounds.”
The Lodholms’ 1949, 21-foot Kit Chateau, loaded and ready for camping, tops the scales at about 3,800 pounds – an easy tow for their Dodge Ram 3/4-ton truck.
The retired Gig Harbor couple began renovating old travel trailers in 2002. They have seven.
“We can never have too many,” says Sally Lodholm by phone from her 1908 farmhouse. “We love antiques and other old things, so restoring vintage trailers was a natural progression for us.”
The Lodholms found their 1949 Kit through a newspaper ad in Yakima. They towed it home and spent four months of 9- to 12-hour days working on it.
“We kept the exterior authentic,” says Sally Lodhom. “But the interior was in such dire shape that we just had fun with it.”
In addition to other touches, they speckled the cabinets and painted the walls in a faux finish with a suede technique.
“We get really involved in fixing them up,” says Gary Lodholm.
“I guess we’ll stop collecting them when we run out of room on our property,” he says, “but, with 21/2 acres, we still have a little space left.”
Information
“ Tin Can Tourists’ Web site: www.tincantourists.com.
“ Vintage Airstream Club (no connection or association with the Airstream Travel Trailer manufacturing company): www.airstream.net.
“ Klickitat County Historical Society, Presby Museum, 127 W. Broadway, Goldendale, (509) 773-4303.
“ Maryhill Museum of Art, 35 Maryhill Drive, Goldendale, (509) 773-3733, www.maryhillmuseum.org. The third annual arts festival runs Sept. 16 and 17 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“ Goldendale Observatory State Park, 1602 Observatory Drive, Goldendale; for program information and hours call (509) 773-3141; www.perr.com/gosp.html.