Anchorage builder creates the Atomic Camper

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Bill Guernsey's Atomic Camper is parked alongside his house in an East Anchorage neighborhood.The trailer-camper took roughly 4,000 hours to complete.

The 16-foot-long, bright red rocket on wheels stands out in a quiet mid-Hillside Anchorage neighborhood. It's not something one expects to see nestled up between a huge spruce tree and a two-story gray house.

Though it looks more like a 1950s comic book character's ride, this is Bill Guernsey's camper. Actually, the Atomic Camper is actually solar powered and includes a full bathroom, kitchen and shower. It's Guernsey's home away from home. During summer weekends, he and wife Becky take it camping in Seward, Portage and other spots around southcentral Alaska.

Guernsey built the camper over the course of two years. That's not two years of weekends and after work. "About 6 hours a day, 6 days a week. Whatever that works out to," Guernsey said.

Guernsey has always been a builder, a maker. It's in his DNA. His grandfather on one side was a carpenter and cabinet builder; the grandfather on the other side was a woodworker and steelworker. Their credo: "Build it, make it, do it."

READ MORE: Rocket Man: Bill Guernsey and his Atomic Camper