“When life gives you lemons, make Lemonade” so that’s what we did.
When I bought this 1962 Garway canned ham camper, it was in the most pitiful shape and would have been classified by most people as junk. It was a real 1962 piece of tin crap! It had an asbestos floor with a huge hole in the middle where you could look straight down to the road. It was completely gutted, had its skin pulled loose on one side, had no windows, and the sides sucked in and out as we drove it away from the people we bought it from. I have no doubt they were laughing at us and shaking their heads in disbelief that I actually paid them $1,000 for it. It was a real lemon.
We were told it was a 1960 Garway camper that had once, in its prime, been featured in a newspaper somewhere in western Kentucky. I was a bit confused because there was the outline of an old sticker on the front of the camper that said “Garway,” but by the door there was a metal plate mounted that said “Garwood.” Through some research, I discovered that the company had changed its name from Garway to Garwood in 1960. Since my camper had both names on it, I assumed it was probably a 1960. Of course, there was no title. We had to refile for one, and through that process we discovered it was actually a 1962.
As I pulled it down my dad’s driveway to his shop—where she would be brought back to life—Dad was standing there shaking his head in amazement that we had gotten it there in one piece after driving 60 miles. He agreed it was a lemon, and thus the name “Lemonade & Lace” officially became our little lemon’s name. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! So that’s exactly what we did.
She was stripped completely down to the trailer frame, which was the only thing in terrific shape. From there, a new floor went in, followed by the frame, and then the painstaking task of getting her original skin back on and matching it up perfectly with the new frame. It’s a good thing my dad builds kitchens for a living because his carpentry skills were greatly appreciated—and very much needed. We buffed and sanded, buffed and sanded, and finally she was ready for paint.
I settled on pale yellow, the color of lemonade, along with white. Dad sprayed her colors on with professional care and his own made-up design. Then came insulation, electrical, paneling, and everything else seemed to fall into place. She’s decorated with lots of lace inside and adorned with teal and yellow accents. The entire process took nine months to complete.
My parents bought their first camper in April 2018. They and my sister’s family camped in it all summer. They would invite us to stay with them, but there just wasn’t enough space for my parents, my sister’s family of seven, and my family of four to all sleep in one camper. I knew I certainly wasn’t going to camp in a tent. For a while, we would drive to where they were camping, stay for the day, then drive home—only to get up the next morning and drive back again.
Eventually, I decided I would just buy a camper for the sleeping space, since we didn’t need a kitchen or bathroom. We could use my parents’ camper for those things. I really had my heart set on a canned ham–style camper, so I started searching for one to fix up. After four months of searching, boy did I ever find one!
I have to give all the credit to my dad, Eugene. If it hadn’t been for his hard work and expertise, little Lacey would probably still be sitting abandoned somewhere. We take her on our first camping trip next week, and we are so excited to start making memories and showing off our Lacey.
