The Demolition Starts

Here is Daisy at Jimmy's shop the first day of demolition.

The day after we brought Daisy home, I got to work of removing as much as the interior as possible, except for the kitchen counter, cabinets, and closets. These items will be of use to me for my mobile business. Lots of mouse poop, dirt, and half-eaten acorns??? Jimmy made me wear a respirator, but that proved too hot for me about an hour in (we had temps in the 70's that day). I decided that the things I didn't need (the dining items, appliances) would be listed at http://www.vintageshasta.proboards.com/. The folks there know the value of these things and I feel good knowing that they can have a good home. My favorite thing was this icebox. I don't think I have ever seen one before- these things were made way before my time!

I also found something that made my day. After I removed the backsplash, I found this license plate screwed into the wall BACKWARDS. Why someone did that, I don't know, but I am glad they did and hope to use it when I register her. Isn't this just too cool?

Hey, look- it is the original magazine rack! Keeper!

It was a pretty productive day.

In the Beginning...

My boyfriend Jimmy and I started looking for a vintage travel trailer to start a mobile business with. I got a bug a couple years ago about wanting to start a snow cone stand. This was perfect timing since I have been unemployed for awhile now and would rather work for myself. He recently told me that he wanted to have a business opportunity and asked if I still wanted that snow cone stand. Of course, I said yes, and we had searched for one for a short couple of months when I came across a 1959 Shasta AirFlyte in Austin. She was probably one of the cleaner campers that I have seen considering her age and instantly fell in love, so we bought and dragged her back home to the Houston area.

Working on her will be a challenge as we live in an RV park in a bigger, more modern 5th wheel. We don't have the room or the permission at the park to work, so we took her to Jimmy's shop the day after so that I could start gutting the interior. We plan to move her to a storage facility down the highway and bring her back to the shop on the days that the business is closed so that we don't take room away from Jimmy to work on his motorcycles. Maybe one day we can move to a place that has room to work, but for now, this setup will have to do.

I instantly named her Daisy, as in Shasta Daisy (yeah, some may think that is corny). Now, I am thinking of naming my snow cone trailer/business 'Shasta Daisy'. I don't want some commonly used name like "Parrot Ice" or "Hawaiian Shaved Ice" since my product will be all-natural and not something that is full of preservatives and can glow in the dark.

Because I am unemployed and we live on one income, getting this project ready in time for this summer may not be a realistic goal. That is fine by me because giving myself a year to work on Daisy and playing with the various simple syrups for my snow cones means that I can perfect both and be fully ready to serve the public!