Blogging in Aluminum

If you read the headline of this post could you guess which of those words struck the most fear in my heart?????  Bush? nah, he’s so five minutes ago. Global Warming, scary but I am trying to make Gore proud. Terrorists? The whole terror thing is such a ploy to make our lives even more complicated and annoying,IMHO. Hillary?  She kind of reminds me of a nasty and overbearing teacher I had in high school (do you ever get the feeling that she THINKS she knows what is best for everyone else and she is going to put us in the back of the class if we raise our hand out of turn?), scary but ignorable. Nope, it is none of the above.  That’s right … the winner is… FILIFORM.  It is aluminum leprosy.  It is the nasty little demon who threatens to take away that beautiful, shiny, twinkling exterior and replace it with something akin to a bad sunburn peeling away dead lifeless skin.  And there is no restylane or botox cure for this affliction.  Now, I admit, I am plagued with what may be an unreasonable amount of fear of this happening to our trailer.  If I had my way I would lock our International in an hermetically sealed bubble between trips.  Where salt, chlorinated water and any other contaminate would not be welcome.  I know, it’s silly this fear of mine.   It’s not like it causes any structural issues.  It’s not dangerous.  It doesn’t prevent you from being able to camp or take a hot shower.  It doesn’t even shorten the life span of the aluminum (I hope).  But what it does do is rob of us of that vital part of Airstream afficianado-ness…. the long minutes (for some of us hours) gazing at the rounded, sparkling, silvery exterior in complete adoration.  Why…….why……..why? There have been owners who have lovingly and dutifully cared for their Airstreams and have still been afflicted.  They do not deserve this.  Why, after hours of muscle aching cleaning, polishing and waxing, should this happen to a (it started when it was ONE)  4 year old trailer!?!?!?!  Well, it has sparked some very long and careful consideration by Roman and  myself.  Rome wanted to leave the trailer in Encinitas (we could have cheap/safe storage there) and I about fell over and had a coronary.  My argument went something like; "What!!!!??? Leave our trailer? Abandon it to suffer it’s own fate?  Never.  Have you read the posts on airforums?  Have you? NO WAY.  Over my dead body.  I would rather rub broken glass in my eyes!"   After coming to his senses we brought the trailer home.  Where to park it (it’s former parking space is currently a construction site) we are not sure yet.  But one thing is sure… it is farther away from the salty air of SoCal which means one step further away from that evil little demon filiform.
 

Diane, Brian, Jerry (et al in the SNU)… I was reluctant to post this. Roman said I shouldn’t and we should just show up to the first rally of the year and let the evidence speak for itself…….. I can’t hold it in any longer. Maybe it is part of the affliction, the need to scream from the rooftops when a new shiny, brilliant, beautiful aluminum trailer finds it’s way into your heart and you (yes, we did it again) bring it to another rally. I was only window shopping. I occasionally (maybe not so infrequently really) prowl the web for airstreams for sale. It’s a gift, I think I have, airstream radar… Anyways, I found this lovely 1975 25 ft Tradewind on craigslist. It was love at first sight, she even had the avacado formica counter-tops I had been wishing for. Solar, catalytic heater and the BIG fridge with a separate freezer door! No sag in the rear, strong floor and beautifully undented skin. Can you blame me? The tambour is completely perfect. All of it!!!! What would you do. Look, don’t judge me. I like airstreams. Ok, I love them. I can’t let them just go to ANYBODY. What if they rip out the tambour? What if they decide to turn it into a mobile eatery? What if Mathew McCounaghy buys another one that I will never get to see?! AAAAAGGGGHHHH! Besides, now we’ve been to more than one rally with the SAME unit Jerry!!!! I can’t let you down! There was a hole in my heart where a vintage trailer should reside. I can breathe easier again.  Oh, Whatever, It’s not a problem.  I can stop anytime I want to. 

San Elijo State Beach Campground If you like to surf and you want to be around other people who like to surf and camp…. this is the campground for you. The campground is located over one of the most popular surf breaks, Swamis, in southern California. There is even a surf school that is run out of an old Airstream on the campground. Unfortunately, no pix of the surf school Airstream, it was locked away behind a tall fence for the winter season. (I could only see the top of the trailer over the fence). There was definitely a fun vibe at San Elijo. It seemed that most people were camping there because they love some form of watersports (kayaking, surfing, fishing) and camping, so there was a very "active" and vibrant feel to the camping experience. We quickly found the shopping across PCH and to my delight… you can get some pretty tasty desserts at the market. During our stay, we were lucky enough to get a few days right on the edge of the bluff overlooking the ocean. In the early mornings we could watch dolphins swim past the surfers without leaving the warmth of the trailer. Roman could check the surf right from the Airstream’s dinette. This was the sole reason we bought the model (the25fb) that we did, so Roman could see the ocean and the waves from the lounge in the back of the trailer. Coffee, surf and dolphins, you really can’t beat that.

We met Charles, from Colorado, at San Elijo State Beach Campground. He is taking a long vacation, or mini-retirement (however you look at it) traveling the US towing an Airstream Basecamp. I thought it was pretty cool for three reasons. 1. He is on a long vacation doing what he loves, kayaking, running, camping, riding his motorcyle (that is towed in the Basecamp) and seeing the country. 2. He is camping in Basecamp… unitl now I thought Basecamps were… well…lame. Now I don’t. Charles has definitely made me a believer and I can see the cool factor now. 3. It’s an Airstream.

Today on our way back home from San Elijo I towed the trailer for 4.5 hrs. Sign me up for Trucker school. (ok, not really, I can’t listen to country music, it causes something close to a tourettes-like reaction) I was nervous but I was getting a sense of "You Go Girl!" since having learned how to "stabilize" the airstream by myself (small steps guys). I was determined to get us at least to the 395 without freaking out and killing us both. Being only 5’1", seeing over the dash can be a serious challenge so I went into the trailer and grabbed some pillows off the bed and voila’! I could see pretty much everything from my new perch. For the first hour, I have to admit, I was scared. I was hoping I would not be required to change a lane and hit somebody, put a dent in it merely from just being a nervous driver or possibly miss an exit due to fear of moving anyway other than straight. My heart was thudding in my chest and I was certain that every other person towing something, on the same road as me, was wanting me back in the passenger’s  seat.  After about the first hour had passed, I realized something, a few minutes had gone by where I hadn’t had a single thought of causing a freeway pile-up.  "I might not make the six o’clock news after all!"  I was having fun.  Not long after my  straightening of the spine and feeling a little giddy, (I mean I WAS towing a 25 ft trailer with a big diesel F250 truck!) a trucker drove by, honked his horn and gave me the thumbs up!  Approval!  I felt like I had just been given the secret hand shake. I wanna’ pull something else now. Something bigger!  Oh wait.  Guess I should learn how to back up first.  For the rest of the trip people would wave and smile.  Probably just stoked to see the Airstream cruising along in rush hour traffic but if you would have asked me then, they were all thanking me for not hitting their Lexus on the way home from work.