An Afternoon at My Brother’s House

After breakfast and getting a few things packed and ready to go, we headed out on our trip to my brother’s house for the afternoon.  We first made a stop at the Mt Vernon Elks lodge to see if they had a space available for our RV.  We’re ready for a full hookup site for a couple of nights to get things cleaned up a little bit more before we head toward eastern Washington.  They do have room for us, so we’ll move the motorhome over there in the morning before we go to visit my aunt in Bellevue and meet friends in the afternoon.

When we left the Elks, we headed south on Highway 9 hoping to find a car wash to get some of the grime washed off the truck.  We didn’t find one until we got to Snohomish and we didn’t get it perfectly clean, but we did get a good layer of dirt off the truck and it looks much better than earlier today.

Our timing to see my brother today was good.  My cousin Clay was there visiting and had bought the teardrop trailer that Carl built and will be taking it home with him to Montana on Monday.  Up until today, we had only seen the photos that Carl and his wife Barb had posted online.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get the best photos possible, but my brother is a an excellent carpenter and did a fantastic job on this trailer.  In this first photo, the back of the trailer is lifted exposing the kitchen area.  At the upper left, there is a magnetic strip with a dozen spice jars attached to it.  There’s a two burner stove on the countertop, an ice chest slides into the lower left opening, and the top right drawer pulls out to expose a tub for a sink that can be pulled out to empty the water.

Ken is looking into the inside where there is a queen size bed that can be folded up to make a couch, and they also have cabinets inside for various items including a place to put their laptop computer so they can watch a movie.  Carl even fabricated the screen door which you don’t usually see on a teardrop trailer.

Here’s a better picture of the inside cabinets.  Carl does excellent finish work and cabinets.  In the past, he’s done some custom cabinet work for us in our earlier RV’s.

Here’s Carl standing by the teardrop.  On the lower right, he has a table and chairs set up for outside dining.  When not in use, the table slides into a space inside the trailer.

As Ken and Carl are looking at some features of the teardrop, Carl’s 10 month old puppy, Willie inspects Ken.

I didn’t get the right lighting for this next photo, but from left to right:  my cousin Clay, my brother Carl, Barb (Carl’s wife), and my sister Cris.

We had a clear night on our way back to Burlington, and here’s Mt Baker through the power lines.

Thanks Carl and Barb for a wonderful afternoon visit and meal.