Jun 14 2013

EU Airstream rally, Weilburg Germany

It’s already a great trip to Europe. We started off the day right with a breakfast of chocolate chip cookies with nuts and some more of the fresh strawberries, in our hotel room while the fresh air wafted in from the open doors on the balcony. Right there you’ve got the makings of a good day.

We walked back into the shopping district of Weilburg to get a top-up card for the cell phone, and with a little finagling and punching lots of numbers on the phone, I now have the miracle of Internet on my phone. EU9.90 bought me 500 megabytes of data, which should be more than I need for the days we are in Germany. We detoured a bit, stopping in at the Hopfbahnstrasse (train station) for a coffee for Eleanor and then returned to the hotel to pack up our gear.

The car rental people have assigned us a Citroen C3, which turns out to be a rather boxy compact car with not much of the get-up-and-go you’d want for Autobahn driving. Where we were driving the Autobahn was far from being a vast open highway where you can mash the pedal and zoom to your heart’s content. It’s a fairly crowded two or three- lane road filled with trucks and plenty of sudden traffic to cause rapid deceleration with little warning. We managed to reach 140 kph at one point but the rest of the time we were driving at typical American Interstate speeds and often far slower. This has tainted one of my long-time driving fantasies, but to be fair I never fantasized about driving the Autobahn in a Citroen.

50 miles later we were in the charming town of Weilburg. The encampment is just below the old city, which perches atop a hill surrounded by the Lahn river. At the very top is exactly what you’d expect, a castle. Down below is exactly what most people would not expect: 54 Airstreams.

I love the odd (by American standards) collection of tow vehicles that arrived with the Airstreams today. There’s everything from a 1950s Buick to a late-model Mercedes G-wagen. Two Ford F-250s are here, which thrills some of the Europeans because they are so American and weird. My favorite is the BMW X6, which I’ve never seen before and looks drastically cool in black. Other tow vehicles include a VW Westfalia camper van, a Buick Roadmaster station wagon, various Mercedes, and many Land Rovers.

Armin Heun, our host, handed us a chocolate and then introduced us to a new (European) Airstream model 684, which is somewhat similar to an American 23-footer but with many clever enhancements. We knew it would be different from the US models but were frankly staggered by the improvements the Brits (who build all the EU spec trailers) had worked into it.

There are almost too many things of note to list, but among our favorite features are the hydronic heat, electric entry step, the functional kitchen counter, the foot-level blue LED lights, the great roof vent/skylights with double shades (which are also found in the Airstream Westfalias), the clear bi-fold door in the shower, and the awesome electronic control panels that run virtually every system. This trailer also comes with electric power movers to help push it around the tight European campsites, satellite TV, hidden stabilizer jacks, a parking brake … the list goes on. Some of this stuff needs to come to America.

We spent the afternoon wandering the old town and getting lunch at a restaurant across from the castle (Schloss). Lunch turned out to be a two-hour affair but worth every minute. I usually rate cooking in terms of how well it compares to what Eleanor could have done at home, and the restaurant scored an unusual rating of “This is as good as yours!”

Part of the cultural experience of being in a foreign country, for us, is to shop with the locals. We pointed the GPS at a local REVE (grocery story chain) and picked up a few necessities for the Airstream, plus some light food for us. After returning from this errand with plenty of breakfast food, Armin dropped by to leave a full grocery bag of breakfast foods for us. So we have at least double what we need. I may have breakfast twice tomorrow.

I got a quick tour of the Airstream systems, partly from Armin and partly from Michael Hold of Airstream Europe. These trailers have very little onboard holding tank capacity, so gray water goes into an external tank much like the “blue boys” we use in America. Fresh water comes from an external tank called an Aqua-Roll. You roll it over the fresh water spigot, fill it, and then roll it back to the Airstream. The toilet is a cassette style, so later I’ll get the experience of dealing with that, but it should be no big deal.

We also met up with Pete and Tracey Bull, UK full-timers who have organized many Airstream rallies there. Pete is the UK distributor of Airstream Life, but until today we have never met or even spoken on the phone, so it was a distinct pleasure to chat with them in our 684 for a while.

After dinner with Armin, his wife Sandra and his daughter Emma (12 years old), Michael, and a few other guests, we met up with Ben and his party, from Switzerland. Upon hearing that we intended to drive through Switzerland, Ben immediately offered to suggest routes for us. We’ll meet up tomorrow to go over the maps together. Everyone has been like that, offering help, food, and tours. (And nearly everyone speaks English excellently.)

The agenda for this rally is typically light. Tonight’s only official activity was a huge campfire and music until 11 a.m. I have a feeling it would have gone much later if the local ordinances allowed it. Airstream Germany brought over a “bar” Airstream and offered open bar to all (courtesy of Airstream Europe). We headed back to our Airstream after 10 p.m. to call Emma and finish setting up inside, but even now at 11:30 p.m. I can hear people talking and laughing outside by the fire.

Tomorrow looks like it will be another full day. Can’t wait.

Jun 09 2013

Civilized life in aluminum

My plans for the past few days included a little more than just catching up on work and packing for our next trip. But that’s all I can do, since the weather here has been pretty poor. The northeast gets enough rain in June without the remnants of a tropical storm wafting up the coastline, and this time we got both, which translates to five or six days of rain. That is enough to quash any hope of a nice motorcycle tour through the region.

So here I am, in the Airstream listening to the splatter of accumulated raindrops from the trees. I can’t hear the actual rain. It’s really more of a gentle mist that never stops. It reminds me of the days we spent in the Olympic rain forest in Washington. Emma is off having fun with her grandparents, and Eleanor is shopping, so I’m alone here and free to do whatever I want … as long as it doesn’t involve outside activities or using the car.

Ah well, I’m certainly not suffering, just a little bored. On a day like this the Airstream is a pretty nice refuge. The key, I’ve discovered, is warmth. If it’s cold in the trailer, it just doesn’t feel like home. The high temperature outside will not break the upper 50s and it is chillingly damp. Even indoors with the furnace cycling occasionally, I worked rather uncomfortably for a few hours this morning, until I remembered that we have a catalytic heater.

That’s the ticket on a cold and rainy day. The catalytic heater hisses quietly and produces a nice, bone-warming heat that gradually pervades every corner of the Airstream. Somehow it feels much more even and comfortable than the furnace, which blows around hot air that quickly dissipates. I cleared a few things away from the face of the catalytic heater and fired it up. It was a little reluctant to start at first, or maybe I’m just out of practice. We haven’t needed it since … uh … last June when we were in exactly the same spot in Vermont.

Before she headed out, Eleanor put a hot cup of decaf coffee with Torani hazelnut and cream by my computer (I don’t drink regular coffee, and I only like decaf when it’s abnormally sweet). That was a bit of civilization, and it reminded me that I am, after all, in an Airstream. I began rummaging through the DVDs for a good spy movie to watch. If I’m going to make a rainy day into a nice day, I might as well go all the way.

I remember a day back in 2004, when we were still fairly new to Airstreaming but already completely under the magic spell of these trailers. I was at a rally where someone was holding an open house of their 1968 Airstream Overlander. The trailer was magnificent, all original, with cherry cabinetry that had mellowed over the decades to a rich brown. At the time I was still reeling with the concept that it was a complete home that you could take anywhere. Plop it down in the middle of a desert or a green rally field with 1,000 other trailers—it didn’t matter. No matter where it was, you could open the kitchen faucet and water would run out. You could cook dinner, take a shower, watch a movie, play games on the living room table, anywhere. For some reason, this floored me, and the impression remains with me to this day, even after living in our Airstream for years.

In years past we tended to just drop the Airstream in the driveway with a basic 10-amp power cord and try to survive the summer without any real hookups. This forced us into the house for the bathroom, showers, to escape very hot days, for cooking, and even to get decent Internet for work. We basically just slept in the Airstream. For a short visit this is fine, but during a month or two of visiting it felt very limiting. Eventually I realized that without using the Airstream the way it was intended was only a little better than sleeping in a tent on the lawn, so we began to arrange things to be more comfortable. Now we have a 30-amp power line that reaches the trailer so we can air condition when needed, and I’ve got cellular Internet that actually works, and a few other details have been arranged to make the Airstream the home that it should be.

On a day like today I really appreciate that. There’s no need to be uncomfortable. I can reach into my closet and pull out my warm socks and sweatshirt. I can slowly toast the interior with heat, and mix up tasty beverages and snacks from the refrigerator. I can stream a movie from Netflix or Hulu, communicate with the entire world, bake some cookies, or take a nap. And at anytime I can hitch it up and do all this again anywhere that I can reach with a car. It’s still amazing to me.

Thoughts like this make a dull day in the Airstream more appreciable. Having time on my hands today turns out to be a nice thing. I’ll plan future trips, write blog entries, talk to friends on the phone, watch movies … It sure isn’t “camping,” but today I make no apologies for that. With rain in the forecast for another couple of days, camping isn’t really what feels best right now. My Airstream life does.

Jun 07 2013

No drama

I know I keep harping on about Alumapalooza even though it is over for this year, but the event gives me a lot to think about. Although we now run three events per year (and four are planned for 2014 so far), Alumapalooza has always been “the big one.” I meet a lot of people there who give new perspectives on what Airstreaming is all about, and also a lot of people who say they read this blog.

This year, I was particularly thrilled to hear from a couple of people who separately told me that they went full-time in their Airstream partly as a result of inspiration from this blog, or the previous “Tour of America”. Lots of others commented on Emma, saying that they’ve watched her grow from a little five-year-old tyke to a teenager. These friendly folks are like an extended family to us, even though we often don’t know they’re watching until years later when we meet at an event!

I kept hearing from people that one of the best parts about Alumapalooza was that there was “no drama,” meaning that there were no internal battles, no public embarrassments, no arguments, and no politics. Everyone just laid back and had a good time. It might seem that this should be the norm for rallies, but too often events (not ours) have been marred in the past by such things, and a lot of people are frustrated by that. The best rallies and events are the ones where everyone sets aside their politics and prejudices, and shares the good values that bring us together. We work hard at making sure that happens, by thoughtful programming of the activities, and selecting the volunteer staff very carefully. So I was glad to get the feedback that we’d succeeded.

We are now in Vermont, with the Airstream parked in its usual summer resting place in the shadow of a row of cedar trees near Lake Champlain. It won’t move again until late August or September, but despite that we have many travels ahead. Eleanor and I are focused on getting out the door next week for a long-anticipated trip to Europe. By Friday we expect to be attending a big (for Europe) Airstream rally in Weilburg, Germany. This is going to be a major experience for us, since we’ve never camped in Europe and we haven’t yet had the chance to meet many of our correspondents in Europe.

Our Airstream during the rally will be a brand-new Airstream 684, which is the largest Euro-spec model available. It is being provided courtesy of Airstream Germany. (Because it is new and unsold, we can’t use the bathroom or the galley, so it will be sort of an “aluminum tent” for us, but that should not be a problem since the campground is in town—see upper edge of photo.) CORRECTION: It turns out this is a PR and rental trailer for Airstream Germany and we will be able to use all the facilities —bonus!

We’ll be parked in a lot with about fifty other Airstreams for three nights. Quite a few of them will be caravanning down from the UK, as well as Belgium, The Netherlands, and other countries.

On Saturday night I’ll be giving a little talk at 9:00 pm, about Airstreaming in America’s National Parks. (While researching this presentation I did a quick count and found we’ve visited over 100 of them so far, which is only about one quarter of the entire NPS system.) Otherwise, there’s not much on the program other than a barbecue, so there should be plenty of time to explore the town of Weilburg and meet the European Airstreamers. I expect no drama.

This weekend Eleanor and I will be busy prepping for this trip. With about 10 days to play with, we are likely to visit Switzerland and a little of northern Italy in addition to Germany. I’m bringing only an iPad and an iPhone 5 (with a German SIM card) for technology, trying to keep it light. Also in keeping with our usual travel style, we are going mostly reservation-free. We don’t want the pressure of a fixed itinerary. We’ll have a car and some maps, and see what looks interesting along the way.

The trip starts on Wednesday. I’ll blog as much as I can.

Jun 03 2013

Decompression session

With Alumapalooza behind us, we’re off on the next leg of our voyage. This will be the fourth year we have spent the two days following Alumapalooza courtesy-parked at the home of Lou & Larry in the “premium spot” next to their house. They provide a very comfortable place to decompress, with a full hookup and access to the house wifi, and they make no demands on us (quite the opposite in fact, since they feed us and help with minor trailer repairs), so it’s a wonderful first stop on the way east.

We had extra food from the catering on Saturday night that we couldn’t let go to waste. On the four hour trip from Jackson Center to here (near Cleveland) a lot of aluminum trays of food rode in the shower. When we arrived, Eleanor repacked it to fit in our refrigerator and freezer, but still there was so much that we were able to prepare a sizable gift for some neighbors here who need it, and give a bunch to our hosts as well. Even giving away many pounds of food, we will have enough ribs, cornbread, and green beans to serve the whole gang of family & friends once we reach Vermont.

Being here for Monday has given me a chance to reflect on this year’s Alumapalooza. Overall it was highly successful, with few glitches and lots of positive feedback. People have been writing in all day to say how much they liked it, and there were a lot of memorable moments.

Later this week I’ll have over 480 photos from our official photographers and will definitely post an album of them online. I think those pictures will tell the story better than I can.

The things that didn’t go well are also memorable, and I’m writing them up as notes for our team so we can find ways to improve them for Alumapalooza 5. We’ve already got a lot of neat ideas for new activities, and I think some clever solutions to the few remaining problems. All of this will be very helpful as we plan for the big Alumaflamingo event in Sarasota.

In two days at our Ohio courtesy parking spot, a lot can get done. I managed to get a good night’s sleep, get office work under control, have some time with our friends (including Lou, Larry, Dan, sKY, slaDE, Loren, Mike, Al & Shinim), and eat a lot of good stuff. Eleanor took care of our shopping and did the laundry. I also noticed and replaced yet another bad propane pigtail (hopefully the last of the unreliable ones I bought last year).

So with all that done, it’s on to the next adventures. I’m feeling ready for tomorrow’s drive. It will likely be a long one across Ohio, Pennsylvania and much of New York, so we’ll be starting as early as possible.

May 28 2013

Pre- Alumapalooza 4

The blog has been quiet the past couple of days because we’ve been deep into the Alumapalooza pre-event routine. We’ve settled into a pattern for the set-up of these events, which started before we arrived. This year we have a slightly larger staff than before, and they are all really excellent, so the workload for us has gotten much lighter. When we pulled in to Airstream’s Terra Port on Saturday, everything was so well under control that there was little to do but get updated, and on Sunday instead of joining the goody-bag assembly line, I was able to spend the day with Super Terry doing some maintenance to our Airstream.

The maintenance was primarily about inspecting our tires and wheel bearings. It has been over three years since the bearings were re-packed, and many miles, which is far beyond the usual RV industry recommendation. Paradoxically, our heavy and regular use of the trailer is one of the reasons we’ve gotten away with it. Sitting still isn’t great for the bearings, as it offers an opportunity for condensation to get in. I’ve also periodically checked the bearings to ensure they are running cool, and whenever a wheel is up in the air I check for smoothness & quietness of rotation.

Still, it has been nearly two years and probably over 12,000 miles since the last time Super Terry and I took the wheels off to check things out, so it was definitely overdue. We found that the Michelin tires are still doing well, but wearing more on the outer edge of the tire tread, so we took them over to the Wal-Mart Super Center in a nearby town to get them flipped.

Now the white-letter side of each tire is facing out, and the tires have been swapped from side to side so that they will have the same direction of rotation. This should even out the wear a little. Based on the wear I saw, I’d guess we could get about 50k miles out of them. They’ve already gone over 30,000 miles, and the date code says they are five years old so they are probably going to “age out” before they wear out.

Our inspection revealed that the brake pads were fine except on one wheel, where the disc caliper sliders had gotten dry. When that happens, only one brake pad gets all the wear, so we replaced that set of brake pads and re-lubricated the caliper sliders. Otherwise all was good. Super Terry re-packed the wheel bearings, and re-applied gray Parbond (a sort of thin caulk used for small seams on the exterior) to a few spots that needed it, and that completed our day of maintenance.

Over the weekend I had a few minutes to look around Jackson Center to see what has changed. We knew that the Cafe Veranda, the best restaurant in town, had closed. The building is still for sale. I hope someone buys it and turns it back into a B&B. It’s a gorgeous house and has some interesting history. I’ve heard that Wally Byam used to stay there many decades ago.

The one-screen downtown movie house, the Elder Theatre, is in danger of closing for the same reason as many other old independent screens across the country. The mandatory change to digital projection is too expensive for this little Mom & Pop operation, and so they’ve launched a Kickstarter effort to raise $25,000 to save the theater. Check it out and pledge if you love the little village of Jackson Center, OH. This country is going to lose hundreds of little downtown theaters if they can’t make the digital conversion this year.

Phil’s Cardinal Market, the old grocery store, has been replaced by a spankin’ new Family Dollar store. It’s nice to see some investment in the downtown. It just opened last week and seems very fine. This week the Alumapalooza-goers will flood it and probably clear it out of milk and bread, as they usually do.

On Monday the big deal of the day was the arrival of the tent. Normally the tent crew arrives in the late morning and has it up by 2 or 3 in the afternoon, but this year things ran late, so we didn’t have a chance to get in there and set up our stuff (lights, sound, kitchen, Internet, refrigerators, etc) until after 6 p.m. This was an inconvenience but really not much more than that, so overall I would say setup went extremely well this year.

All weekend we’ve had early arrivals showing up and parking in the Service Center parking lot. At this point I think we have about 25 Airstreams there, plus another ten or so staff trailers in the Terra Port, and probably 6-10 more service customers. Everyone gathered on the grass for the Memorial Day cookout, which was a huge success. The rain we had gotten in the morning cleared up for the afternoon and early evening. It rained again last night and there is still the occasional patter on the roof as I type this (at 6 a.m. Tuesday) but the forecast is calling for improving conditions all day and fabulous conditions through Friday. Only a little rain and not too much heat is a pretty good week in JC this time of year.

Yesterday Dave Schumann showed up and took a few of us into his office to show off a new Airstream guitar. So far only two have been made, but Airstream will get more and sell you one for $2,250 if you are interested. One of our attendees is going to play this one on stage this week.

All week Eleanor and I have been practicing for the new Aluminum Gong Show, which is a featured part of Alumapalooza this week. We’ve got a little routine which involves both of us and a ukulele. If the performance is not great, at least it will be entertaining. I am hoping a few more people sign up to be in the show. Any act is welcome, even pet tricks. It just has to be a minimum of 90 seconds long and a maximum of four minutes. If you are attending Alumapalooza you really don’t want to miss this show, trust me …

It’s time to get moving now. This is going to be one of those days where we do more before 9 a.m. than most people do all day. By 8 we will have a caravan of staff trailers heading out to the field, and by 9 parking of the general attendees will begin. Alumapalooza begins now!