I don’t drink beer, much to the disappointment of many, and I don’t own a motorcycle, much to the disappointment of myself.   But I do like factory tours.   So while in Milwaukee it seemed incumbent upon us to go to at least two famous production facilities: Harley-Davidson, and Miller Beer.   Wednesday was designated Miller day (or as they repeatedly told us through the tour, “Miller Time”).

The tour was fairly amusing because it started with the usual over-the-top propaganda film that has become the hallmark of factory tours everywhere.   Whether Coca-Cola, Tabasco, Celestial Seasonings (tea), Tillamook cheese, Corvette, Nissan, or any other we’ve done, there’s always that introductory bit where they try to convince you that their product is not only a major part of American history, but an nearly spiritual experience.   Just to be near it is to become a part of something much larger than oneself.

In the case of Miller, the thing that really got us going was the reiteration of the phrase “Miller Time,” which (since I am an admitted beer cynic) particularly struck me as comical after about the 30th or 40th time I heard it.   But the tour was admittedly well done, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes factory tours, or who likes beer.   Like other factory tours, there is free product to be had at the end, and Miller’s samples currently take the form of three tall glasses. No skimpy paper cups here.

The sheer numbers of production are staggering.   This is only one of several plants across the US, and they ship massive quantities of beer to ten states.   Imagine 2.25 million cases per week, going out on 250 trucks a day and something like 18 rail cars, too.   Interestingly, they say that Chicago takes a large share of the production, equaling as much as five other states.   Draw your own conclusions.

If you take the tour, you’ll see the movie, a filling and capping facility, a warehouse, the kettles, the historic “beer caves,” the Miller Inn, and of course the gift shop.   For the price (free), it’s a heck of a deal.

Harley-Davidson will be another day.   We have one more day in Milwaukee, and I’m still working frantically on the magazine, so the current balance is about six hours of work and a few hours in the afternoon for exploration.   We’ll probably catch the tour on Friday.   On Saturday we’ll return to Madison for just the day, so we can participate in the WBCCI flea market, and then we’ll be on the road again.

Sometimes our progress on the road is glacial in pace, but I usually prefer it that way.   Driving only short distances gives us a better chance to explore, not to mention the cost savings.   When touring the Four Corners region last year we drove less than a thousand miles in a month.   Our big trip on Monday was simply to get from Stoughton to Milwaukee, which is about 80 miles mostly on the interstate.   It would have been an easy day but we were “behind the curve” all the way.

The day started innocuously enough, with a trip to downtown Madison so that Brett could have a scheduled business appointment.   While he was in the meeting, Eleanor, Emma, and I found a coffee shop on State Street with wifi, and settled in for an hour of reading and working.   I didn’t get the name of the place, but the chairs were deep, the coffee and chai drinks were generously sized, and the wifi was decent. Emma had her favorite, a steamed coconut milk.

While I was catching up online, and just a few minutes after posting yesterday’s blog, the entire AirstreamLife.com website began to fail.   I got our boy genius programmer on the job, but in a short while everything went down, including this blog, email services, customer service, and the main website.   There wasn’t a darned thing I could do about it.   (It looked at first like we were getting a denial-of-service attack, but later it was proved to be an internal problem with our database.)   So when Brett got back, I packed up the laptop and we went back to the State Capitol building to get a few more photos, and to tour the rooftop observation deck.

On the way back to the state park, we stopped in at the International Rally at the Alliant Energy Center to pick up that replacement awning arm I needed from Zip-Dee   ($84 was the price of my lesson; always remember to take in your awning when thunderstorms are possible.)   And there, standing in front of the new Airstream display, was Bob Wheeler, the president of Airstream.   We see Bob 3-4 times a year, sometimes at his home base in Ohio, mostly on the road at events, and always like chatting with him about the state of the Airstream world.

He suggested lunch, and although we were pressed for time because we needed to get the Airstreams out of the state park before 3 p.m., it was hard to refuse.   So we went off to some local cafe that is also a yarn store (a culinary first for us).   By the time lunch was over we had to rush to get back to the state park, and when we did arrive it was 2:54 p.m. and somebody was waiting to check into our site.   I started feeling rather behind the curve by then, because it was rush-rush to get the trailer hitched up and out of the spot.   Rushing a departure is never good because it’s too easy to overlook something small but expensive.   I have to be extra careful on the checklist in these situations.

Then it was off to the dump station, and then through construction zones to the highway, and then 70 miles of fairly dense traffic all the way to Milwaukee, where it became horrific 4-lane stop & go traffic.   The new tow vehicle really shined, however, yanking the Airstream forward 100 feet and then screeching to a halt when some idiot in a car cut in front of us … over and over again.

After about 30 minutes of testing our brakes with 50,000 Milwaukee commuters, we escaped to the State Fairground, where there is an RV park.   Huge dark-blue thunderstorms were on the horizon right behind us, and we wasted no time in getting unhitched and set up.   Ten minutes later we felt the first sprinkles…

So it was that sort of day.   Although a lot happened, I felt at the end of it all that I hadn’t really accomplished much.   But here we are, settled comfortably if not in the most beautiful spot.   The Fairgrounds are like Wal-Mart, but with hookups.   We’re on asphalt, the highway roars by just a short distance away, and there are few trees.   We’re not here for scenic beauty, but for practicality.   This location puts us close to downtown Milwaukee, and there are services we need nearby like laundry and a Verizon store to replace Eleanor’s phone. (It suddenly died yesterday.)   I need to spend a few days working intensely to get caught up on Airstream Life business, too.   Sometimes we trade beauty and travel glamour for the asphalt-coated realities of life.

PS:   The website problems seem to be resolved now.

 International Rallies are always full of excitement and action, for me.   It’s not the schedule; it’s the people.   They show up with smiles on, ready to see all their Airstream friends again, and it’s like a big homecoming every time.   It’s great to see the folks who have been such good friends to us over the years, and even more great to meet new friends, like Michael and Tina Lambert (pictured below).   Michael is the author of our lead article in the Fall 2009 issue of Airstream Life magazine, about touring Route 66.     Sunday was our first chance to meet in person, and my first chance to check out their very cool trailer.

So much has happened, so many people, so many trailers, that I can’t even capture it all in my head right now.   Instead of trying to blog an entire day of non-stop socializing, I’ll just put up a few pictures of the people.

Frank Yensan and his daughter.   Those of you who listen to The VAP know who Frank is.   He recently started a restoration shop, and you can see his ad in the Marketplace section of the Summer 2009 Airstream Life.   He was parked in the vintage area not far from Rob Baker of The VAP.

Glenn Thomas (at right) is a second generation Airstream dealer, up in Wentzville MO.   His father’s name is on the door: Bill Thomas Airstream.   Glenn is a good friend and a fervent supporter of the magazine.   We always like to visit with him.   He grew up living and breathing Airstream.

John Fuller (left) shows the original WBCCI badge assigned to members way back when.   I’ve only seen   two of these, and the other one was being worn by Dale “Pee Wee” Schwamborn.

Brad Cornelius, Editorial Illustrator for Airstream Life magazine (right).   Brad is just a genius with illustration, and his work has appeared in most of the issues, along with two covers.   He dropped in for the day, without his very nice ’65 Globe Trotter.

David Winick showed up with his latest project.   He’s working on a 1948 Airstream Wee Wind, which is a fairly rare and very cute little trailer.   At the moment it’s just an “aluminum tent” with no interior.   In the photo, you can see David Winick and Ken Faber peering inside.   When David has it done, I expect we’ll feature it in Airstream Life, since his work is always exemplary and unique.

Jim Russell always seems to have a project going.   He unveiled his 1949 Airstream Clipper here, for the first time.   It’s very well done   inside and out.   I shot the interior for the files. I always photograph every cool trailer I can get to, because I never know when I’ll need a particular shot.   (This is why my photo archive tops 100 gigabytes.)

We could probably spend another day at the rally, but we’ve got other things to do this week.   The plan is to move out of the state park today and find a spot where my phone and Internet work better, then commute back to the rally next weekend.   The weather has been spectacular since a cold front went through on Saturday night, and there’s a lot we want to do while it stays comfortably cool and dry.   As always, it will be a mix of work and play.

Our typical days have now evolved toward the central event that brought us to Wisconsin: the WBCCI International Rally in Madison.   Over at the Alliant Energy Center there are several hundred (approaching 800) Airstreams parked and socializing.   My primary task this weekend seems fairly straightforward at first: seek out interesting stories and interesting trailers, and document them. In practice, this is a very time-consuming thing, since just one friendly conversation tends to take 20 minutes or more, but it is also fun.

I spent a couple of hours over at the site on Saturday afternoon, to get an initial lay of the land.   The International Rally tends to attract a cast of characters who are particularly colorful, enthusiastic, and loyal to the Airstream community, and they were immediately obvious.   Just browsing around a few minutes I ran into Forrest McClure (regular contributor to Airstream Life), Luke Bernander (pictured with his 1965 Caravel and 1960 Nomad trailer-boat), Michael Depraida (artist), Rob Baker and Frank Yensan of The VAP, Tommy Green (ukulele man), Don McKelvay, and Patti Raimondo.

I expect to meet up with many others on Sunday.   Tommy is already planning some uke jam sessions in the evenings, which I hope to join, and Jim Russell is readying his latest gorgeous project for photography, a 1949 Airstream Clipper (pictured).   The really fun part is that the characters in this show are both people and Airstreams.   The Airstreams have the history and the travel stories, the people (who are often legitimately interesting in their own right) add value by interpreting those stories and adding their own personality.   Since the Airstreams range from 1930s models through 21st century models — the people are, as well — there’s a lot of diversity.   It should be a very interesting day, if the thunderstorms hold off.

I expected regular thunderstorms this time of year, but was hoping for fewer.   We’re having one almost every day, which makes photography tough, and planning a day even tougher.   We got decent weather in the morning for the big Farmer’s Market by the capitol building downtown, but last night’s steaks on the grill almost got rained out.   And the bugs in the campground are still a nuisance.   There’s not much we can do about weather, but we are likely to bail out of the state park on Monday for a less forested spot elsewhere. Meanwhile, today’s forecast is optimistic, so I hope for blue skies all afternoon while I’m taking pictures at the rally.