1959 Shasta Airflyte

Owners: Coleman Family -

Location: Abilene, TX

Brenda Coleman relates the following story of her beloved Shasta, to share with us all, her enthusiasm for vintage Shastas!

Shortly before the end of 2003 my family and I began looking at trailers, more as a game on our way back and forth between Texas and Kansas. It didn’t take long before we were well educated on Airstreams, canned hams, and pop-ups. Once you start looking you see them everywhere. I got so good at looking I could just look at a house and tell if it might have a trailer hidden around its out buildings.
Oddly enough we found “Sally Holiday” 14 blocks from our home. I didn’t know much about the Shasta but I knew I was incredibly taken with this hunk of metal. I stalked the trailer’s current home for a week or so. I tried tracking down the phone number of the home, but could only get as close as the neighbors home. One Saturday I found the owners home. I knocked on the door and asked if I could see his trailer. He let me peer through one of the broken windows and I knew in all its ugliness, dead bird and flapping duct tape windows and all that it had to be mine. I asked him if it was for sale and he replied “no”. In my best southern drawl I said, “Oh honey everything is for sale.” I offered him $500 and gave him my card and asked him to call me. On my way back down the sidewalk he called out, “Nice to meet you Shasta” and I knew I had him. Sure enough he called a week later and on February 4, 2004 I was the proud owner of a 16’ 1959 Shasta Airflyte.
She was completely intact save for the wings, 3 windows, the dinette seats, and the curtains up front. Her leaks included the vent, the four corners and under the back window. All of these panels were removed, reinsulated and new Birchwood interiors installed. We did not re-skin her; we did all of our work from the inside which was most difficult, but seemed to have worked. On the exterior I went through about 900 new stainless steel screws.
My husband made sure our girls new that it was “mamma’s trailer” and until she came back from the paint shop that’s what they called her. But when they saw her freshly painted they said “Wow mom look at our trailer!” I got to do most of the work myself, except for some of the framing and wood work where my husband’s talents were vital.
We completed Sally Holiday in May of 2005 and took our maiden voyage on May 14 to the Abilene State Park which is only 30 minutes from Abilene. We camped there twice before our big trip in July.
Other than enjoying restoring a great piece of Americana, my second biggest reason for taking on this task is to make sure my girls have an appreciation for their country, for the great beauty in this land and for the spirit and culture of the people who live here. I had never RV’d as a child, my parents had a lake house in East Texas, and as big a blessing as that has been it didn’t help us see America.
In July we went on a 12 day adventure. We went to Carlsbad, NM and saw the caverns and the bats, then to Santa Fe where we spent the fourth of July. On our way to Canyon City, CO we were coming over the overpass to Clines Corner and my husband said “Oh my there is another pink trailer!” I looked down and couldn’t believe my eyes, I had to physically turn around and look behind me to make sure that Sally Holiday was still behind us. We pulled up right next to the other pink canned ham, a 1959 Lakewood and I think we all jumped out of the car screaming. The other folks, Bill and Caroline were just getting out and after we scared them half to death we took tours of each other’s trailers and found out that Caroline is a jeweler and they had a filming crew with them shooting a mini-segment called Route 66 for QVC. After we got back I got to see an episode of the mini series. The colors on the trailers were almost identical. I asked them if they knew Larry Hill of Albuquerque, NM from the Vintage Shasta Club website and sure enough he had done all the work on the trailer. Small world. Bill and Caroline gave me the most beautiful turquoise pendant. It was really one of the best memories from the trip. Having never been to a vintage trailer rally and having those two old trailers sitting side by side in Clines Corner was just the bomb!
From there we stayed at Kotopaxi, CO visited Royal Gorge, where I could see Sally sitting in the parking lot wherever we went in the park. I tried not to take more pictures of Sally than of my own two darling children, but it was tough. We drove through beautiful Salida and up the Continental Divide. Arriving at our destination, Breckenridge, CO where Kevin, attended a Habitat for Humanity conference. We have both worked for Habitat for Humanity for the past 15 years. In fact we met on a Habitat for Humanity construction site in Dallas, Texas. He says I hit him up side the head with a 2X4 and next thing you know we are getting married, but of course I remember it differently.
From there we went to the highest KOA in America and we drove up Pikes Peak – sans the trailer of course. Then we headed back home with one more awesome stop over in Mills Creek, a national park that is located in a state grassland preserve in New Mexico. This was our first boon-docking experience and it was quite exciting. The Mills Creek Park was so pristine and so untouched by man that it was truly one of the most awe inspiring areas I think I have ever seen. It is similar in looks to Palo Duro Canyon, but without all the visitors. You could easily visualize it as the first settlers would have seen it. As we got back into civilization we had a tire on the tow vehicle blow out, but even that was seen as another part of our great adventure. I can hardly wait for the next big trip!
We have taken several weekend trips to the Hill Country, one to Garner State Park and to South Llano State Park, we’ve been without the kids one trip, and have been enjoying hiking, canoeing and plenty of Smore eating. We get lots of looks and questions, people are very nostalgic for the trailers that they traveled in during their younger days. I love putting the lights on at night and how the entire trailer glows like a campfire. I love the craftsmanship, the warmth and the restoring of something so iconic to the American dream, yet so simplistic that it was almost overlooked.
Next year we are planning a trip to the Grand Canyon...we hope to see you along our wanderlust path someday.