the 1973 Winnebago was purchased to be our home.....but we need to search for great vintage goodies farther afield now...it's been that way for at least 5 years. Good stuff is not so much around Tacoma, and well, the good stuff is a diminishing supply. So travel we must.
....and I tell ya, it does feel weird to drive your home down the highway. I'm driving my bathroom, my kitchen, my dinette, my bedroom....down the highways and byways.
As we drive, we always get a lot of looks from other people driving....every time we stop for gas someone wants to chat, and when we pull up to the rv park, folks wanna talk about the Winnie.
It's fun!
I'm happy to talk about my mobile home. She's a sweetie.
Our last foray towards Portland allowed us to stay 2 days at the Sou'Wester lodge and vintage trailer park. It has been a "secret" place to stay for people who value experience over fancy and luxury...so it's perfect for people like Mark and me.
Now, under new ownership as they say, I was worried that it was gonna go the way of the Ace Hotel hipster hell bent for boring ass hipster cliche. But no!
I'm happy to report, the Sou'wester is still artfully down home, and it is slowly being cleaned up and all the deferred maintenance of the trailers and the grounds are being worked on and freshened up. And, uh, the Pacific Ocean !! is 3 blocks away....
While at first glance, the 'wester might seem like High Concept, and in other hands all would be lost....but it is still retaining its sweet lo-fi charm.
What should take center stage are the sturdy old simple buildings and the mid-century trailers....and they are the Center Stage...That big lodge building is so sweet and the decor is simple. They're sticking with the rustic and unassuming, and no taint of self-conscious hipster pre-packaged Anthropologie/Pottery Barn can be found anywhere.
Oh sure ...there's old typewriters, there's funky 70s Salvation Army decor, but on the whole, it feels real and it feels comfy. We were there in the middle of the week so we didn't attend the music or the other activities that are scheduled .....in...
AUGUST
Sat-August 4th – Flash Flood and The Dikes
Sat-August 11th -The Golden Bears. AND… Our First Vintage Travel Trailer and RV Classic.
Sat-August 18th – Joseph Appel (from Swing Papillon, AnnaPaul and the Bearded Lady, and the Clambake Combo).
Sat-August 25 – Old Light
I wish we could go back for this.... the Sou'wester is having their....
FIRST VINTAGE TRAVEL TRAILER RALLY!..
- August 10th, 11th and 12th. We are very excited to see some beautiful trailers and to meet the people who have taken so much care with them!
- It should be a fun weekend. And we plan to have live music in Saturday night in the pavilion. There will be an Oyster Bar, a local vendor whose Willipa Bay oyster concoctions are amazing!
Here's the perfect example of that hipster goofiness that the Sou'wester Has None Of....the way the Ace is over-the-top...and not in a good way....
so pretentious...
I should have taken more pics, but here's a few of the old girl herself....if the shots of the trailer interiors don't get your heart pumping....you must not like vintage !
