The mood at the industry’s annual tradeshow, RVIA, is pretty good.  The show is considerably smaller than in prior years, but everyone expected that.  There is still quite a lot to see and some new products to explore, and people seem to be looking forward to a much better year in 2010.  For some of them, there’s nowhere to go but up, and for others this is a prime opportunity to snag market share from competitors who are cowering in the corners “trying to survive the recession.”

Airstream is showing a new interior to replace the Ocean Breeze, called “Serenity.”  We got a tour from Bruce Bannister, Airstream’s VP of Product Development.  The interior design is Asian-influenced, with white bamboo-look cabinetry and gentle colors.  It’s less radical than the Ocean Breeze.  The kitchen countertop is particularly interesting, with deep vibrant color and higher durability than before.   Overall, I like it.  The floor isn’t well shown in this photo but it’s a beautiful pattern. This feels like a wonderful trailer to relax in on a hot sunny day, with its cool and restful colors.

The company is also showing a prototype interior for the Interstate B-van (motorhome).  It’s tentatively called Black Onyx, although that may not be the production name.  It’s rather executive-feeling inside, with shiny black cabinetry, LED rope lights, and those butter-soft leather seats again.  Guys in black suits look good in this rig, as head of Interstate production John Huttle demonstrates in the photo.  We’re going to try to get John to speak at Alumapalooza next June about the Interstate motorhomes (and a new upcoming gas version).  I expect we’ll also have a demo unit to view.

The other big intro at the show was Airstream’s new 30-foot Flying Cloud.  This one has an interesting option to replace the front couch: a pair of swivel chairs mounted to the floor.   It gives the interior a very roomy feeling.  The rest of the trailer is mostly stock Flying Cloud interior, which means it looks nice.   Bruce explained that they did add a lot of radiused corners, and they have the cumulative effect of making the interior feel very friendly.

For us, it’s go-go-go all day, so our day started at 6:30 a.m. and ended at 11 p.m. with dozens of emails to respond to.  Today looks about the same.  Can’t complain, though, since everything we’ve touched has been very positive and we’ve made a lot of good contacts so far.  We will come into 2010 with a lot of new work to do and that’s why we came.  Now the long drive up from Tucson is looking a lot more worthwhile …

Finally I’m able to reveal a project I’ve been working on for several weeks: Alumapalooza!

For the past two years I’ve helped organize the Vintage Trailer Jam each summer.  I can honestly characterize those two years as a tremendous learning experience, and I mean that in a positive way. VTJ ’08 and ’09 taught me a lot about how to structure an event for the Airstream community.  That’s because we started off with a blank sheet of paper. Steve, Colin, Brett and I talked about what sort of event we’d like to go to, and what we needed to supply, and then we built up the Trailer Jam from there.

The first year we made a lot of mistakes, but the event came off well anyway. People begged us to do it again, so we did.  The second year we made fewer mistakes and it was much easier, but by then the four partners were getting distracted by their core businesses — all of which were feeling the pain of recession — and so we decided to disband the event.

After all the effort, six months of organizing, dealing with a dozen vendors, accountant, tax and incorporation forms, insurance, permits, and sweating in the heat while I helped haul trash — and a thousand other details that weren’t much fun — I thought, “I’ll never do this again.”

But either we’re getting smarter about it, or the passage of time has helped me forget the pain, because now I find myself partnered with Brett to organize an even bigger event next summer.  We call it Alumapalooza 2010.

Actually, the real reason I’m once again plunging into the event business is because I am a believer in the value of re-inventing ideas, starting with blank sheets of paper, and thinking outside the box. (Also, apparently, I’m a believer in business cliches.)  It bugged me that we hadn’t yet perfected the event formula.  On top of that, Brett kept calling me and suggesting we do something completely new.  I think he knew he was hitting a weak spot in my personality.  I couldn’t just leave it alone.

Whatever you call it, there’s value in starting without preconceptions.  That’s what made Alumapalooza possible.  We looked at recent history, and the needs of potential partners, and realized that there was a distinct need we could fill.  See, Airstream used to run “Homecoming” events at the factory in Jackson Center, but they died out, in part because they got too expensive for the company.  By keeping the spirit of Homecoming but re-inventing the structure, we figured out a way to hold a really fun Airstream event that would work for everyone (organizers, participants, Airstream, the village of Jackson Center, and vendors).  We even picked a different name, so that it would be clear we were going for something completely new.

You know when you’ve got a good idea when everyone else starts piling on, the minute you announce it.  That’s a validation clue that I always look for.  First we bounced ideas off each other, and when we had a concept that felt good, we took it to Airstream.  They loved it, so we told a few other people.  Next thing we knew, we were getting ideas and assistance from the village, the local businesses, the Airstream club, Airstream vendors, and even Airstream Europe!  While not everyone can get everything they want, we have explored every avenue that has opened, and I would guess that about one-third of the new ideas have become part of the event.

So, Alumapalooza is being organized by Brett and I, but that just means our main job is to bring everyone else together.  The real contribution is coming from many others.  At last count, four of the Airstream service and management staff are planning to attend and give talks.  Ultimately I expect we’ll have six or seven from the factory.  Eleven other people have agreed to deliver seminars and slide shows, too, coming from all parts of the US, including Airstream Life contributors Bert Gildart, J. Rick Cipot, Jody Brotherston, and Forrest McClure.

We have already lined up several vendors who will be giving demonstrations and selling products — and I expect many more to sign up in the coming months.  David Winick just signed up for a vendor space this morning, and Michael Depraida joined a few days ago.  David is contributing some of his fancy custom screen door guards as door prizes, and Michael is contributing his fun “Artstream” t-shirts.  The village of Jackson Center is making an incredible contribution with their concurrent event downtown, called “Jackson Center Community Days.” They’re giving us an advance purchase rate on ride wristbands.  A nearby hotel is offering us a special rate for those who are not staying in their Airstream.

And of course the biggest contribution comes from the people who are attending.  Hardly a day goes by now where I don’t hear from someone who plans to bring something cool (a restored vintage trailer, some art, a door prize, some special food, etc.) or who has a good idea.  Our community is filled with interesting people who all add something good to the whole.  Even people who can’t attend due to schedule conflicts are helping out, like our friends the “executive hobos” Alex and Charon.

One of the big “blank sheet of paper” ideas that we’ve implemented is to invite everyone, regardless of what brand of RV they own.  We figure if you want to show up at the Airstream factory, you’re probably interested in learning more about Airstreams.  You don’t have to own an Airstream to subscribe to Airstream Life, so why limit attendance at Alumapalooza to only people who own Airstreams?  It’s the common interest in the lifestyle that binds us together. We’ve already got a couple in a vintage fiberglass Trillium trailer planning to come.  Diversity makes life interesting.  And yeah, we’ll probably get some of those “other brand” owners to buy Airstreams in the future!

Another idea is self-parking.  Most rallies I’ve gone to have had dedicated volunteers who direct you to parking.  We’ve taking a big leap and set up a self-parking system.  That saves half a dozen people from having to spend all day, every day, in the hot sun waiting for trailers to arrive.  We all park ourselves at every campground we go to; why can’t we park ourselves at Alumapalooza?  Of course we can!

Yet another idea is flexible attendance dates.  Some people only can show up for the weekend, others are free to spend the entire week.  We’ve set up the registration form so you can choose whether you want 3, 4, or 5 days on site, and you only pay for the days you want.

More ideas?  How about online registration: The whole system is automated, saving paper, labor, and time.  Online registration means you can pay by credit card, get instant directions from Google Maps, join up with other attendees via Facebook or AirForums, and shop for Alumapalooza merchandise.  Plus, it allows us to hold down the event price since we don’t need someone to process registrations.  Pretty much everyone has access to a computer these days, but if someone doesn’t we can still take a registration via phone (802-877-2900 extension 4).

And another idea:  why not let kids come free?  They don’t take up much space, they add excitement, and it makes attendance a lot easier for younger Airstreamers with families. So we set that policy too.  It worked very well at the Vintage Trailer Jam.

It’s fun, building a new paradigm (whoops, there goes another business cliche!)  Tearing down the old way of doing things makes sense if you’re willing to build something up in its place. Dreaming up ways to make a better mousetrap (cliche #5) is like a game once you get rolling:  how many ways I can think up to improve my product? It makes the job more exciting.  Each new idea that works is like the thrill of finding an Easter Egg. This is a game that any small business owner can play.

Now that we’ve gone public and launched registration, I can talk a little about what goes on behind the scenes.  As things progress, I plan to write about the little lessons learned and how it’s going.  We still have six months before the event, so there’s a lot of work yet to do, and many interesting challenges undoubtedly lie ahead.  I hope we’ll see you at Alumapalooza next summer!

It has been a long time since we last camped in our first Airstream, a 1968 Caravel.  I suppose that a first trailer holds the same romantic spot in one’s heart as the first love, the first car, or the first house.  It may not be the best one you’ll ever have, but it will always be the one that started you off on a road of adventure and travel.

Owning the Caravel was a life-changing moment for us.  Emma was only three, and I was in another career.  We had muddled our way through a few marginally-acceptable “family vacations” with the usual stresses and disappointments that go with shuttling a toddler around with aircraft and hotels.  I was looking for a better way, and after months of research, I settled on the Caravel as something worth trying.  We plunked down $5,500 and bought a car that could tow it, and struck out for a few trips together.

It was a hit — a huge hit.  Between August 1 and October 12, we were out in the Caravel 20 nights, which is a lot for a rookie couple with a toddler and a full-time job.  We camped at the biggest balloon festival in Canada, visited Acadia National Park in Maine, and explored numerous places in New England.  I was so entranced by the lifestyle that I started Airstream Life magazine. It was a sad day when we had to finally winterize the trailer in mid-October (Vermont has a short camping season).

Since that 1968 Caravel, we have owned a series of other trailers, each with its own particular character and advantages.  The 1977 Argosy 24, for example was a wonderful “upgrade” from the Caravel, with much more space and modern comforts.  It was my first involvement in a full-blown DIY trailer restoration, starting from a severely water-damaged and virtually abandoned mess found in a damp Florida backyard.  Together with Brett, we put half a year of restoration work, 600 hours of labor, and over $22,000 in parts into it.  We sold it only because we had begun to travel full-time and needed more space.

A lot of other trailers have passed through our hands, some which we used and some which we re-sold without restoring despite their obvious assets.  The 1953 Flying Cloud we found was a great trailer with a lot of potential, and so was the 1952 Cruiser … and the 1952 Boles Aero, and the 1963 Serro Scotty.  All of those have found good homes and are either restored or in process.  But we never adopted any of them in our hearts like the tiny 1968 Caravel.  At just 17 feet, it is really too small for us to co-exist in it for long, and it had a lot of body damage and vintage quirks.  Caravels are regarded as highly desirable, and we could have sold it easily at any time, probably for a profit.   Yet, we kept it for sentimental reasons.

For the last five years the Caravel has been disassembled for restoration, with its guts torn out.  We brought it in for a replacement axle in 2004 and discovered rampant floor rot, among many other problems.  The scope of the job kept growing until we found ourselves with $18,000 sunk into the trailer, and completion still far away.  The project came to a stop in 2005 and for the most part, the trailer has sat since, tightly sealed against the elements and wholly unusable.

In the summer of 2008 I finally decided to start the Caravel project again, but using my own labor (with Eleanor’s help) to complete the interior work.  You can read about that in our Tour of America blog.  We got about 80% of the woodwork done before we ran out of time.   This summer, I had an invitation from my good friend Ken Faber to let his private restoration shop complete the job for me.  (That same shop restored Ken’s one-of-a-kind Airstream named “Der Kleine Prinz” which was recently donated to the RV/Motorhome Hall of Fame.)

Even in the final stages, a restoration means lots of phone calls and debates about details.  We thought we had all the hard work behind us, but still there were the details of things like hooks, hinges, trim and handles.  These items seem small until you get them wrong, then you realize how important they really are.  For the past few months we’ve been figuring out faucets, fabric, foam cushions, and finishes, and passing along all the information by phone to the guys who are doing the work.

And now, the trailer is nearly complete.  Only the upholstery work remains.  From a scratched, dented, rotting, and rusted (but well-loved) trailer, it is emerging as a shiny, clean and ship-shape silver pod that I can’t wait to sleep in. Ken has been teasing us with a few scattered pictures of the work in progress, and we made one interim visit back in September, but for the most part we haven’t seen the finished product yet.

Everything will be done  in a couple of weeks, and I’ll be off to Michigan to pick up the trailer.  So right now I’m thinking about all the things I’ll need in the car to outfit the trailer for the return trip to Tucson.  It’s a more challenging pack job than you might think.  I need to bring all of my personal stuff, my office stuff (so I can work from the road), all the furnishings for daily life like dishes and blankets, tools & parts, RV supplies, and work clothes for two days I’ll be stopped in Louisville KY for business.  All of this will go into bins in the back of the Mercedes for the 2,200 mile drive north.

Of this list, perhaps the most important is the tool kit.  Completely restored trailers always have bugs to work out.  I may have to tighten a water fitting, replace some screws, or re-rivet a corner of the belly pan.  When the trailer was new to us (35 years old), I was rather accustomed to having to fix or patch something on every trip.  Paradoxically, at age 41 it should be more sturdy now. I wish that were true of people.

In the photos you can see a few details of the trailer that came about in this restoration.  Colin Hyde oversaw the heavy work, handling all the exterior sheet metal replacement, removing the dents on top, adding a spare tire carrier, rebuilding the entry door, and many other things.  Inside he installed a new plywood floor covered by Marmoleum, rebuilt the black tank, and refinished the entire bathroom.  The Marmoleum was a big expense but I’m glad we chose it.  It is incredibly durable and beautiful material.  You can also see the new refrigerator (no more frozen lettuce and miniature ice cube trays!), the new catalytic heater, and the Marmoleum countertop. All of the furniture you can see in the photo was built and finished by us in summer 2008, and finalized & installed by Ken’s guys, Garrett and Jim. They did a nice job fitting the Marmoleum to the countertop and building matching wood trim for it.

What you can’t see is all new plumbing, a giant gray tank, new insulation throughout, new axle, brakes, tires, dump valves, window seals, wiring, power converter, battery, 12v breaker panel, window glass, door locks, and a thousand other details that have gone into this trailer.  Like every good restoration I’ve ever seen, it has turned out better than hoped, and certainly much more expensive.

Now the question arises, what would anyone do with two Airstreams?   We had considered keeping one in the northeast for excursions up there in the summer, but for various reasons that idea failed.  We plan to keep the Caravel in locked storage in the Tucson area, somewhat pre-packed and readily accessible for spontaneous weekends.  The sky islands in southern Arizona are mostly national forest lands, and they are dotted with gorgeous little campgrounds connected by dirt roads. These roads and campgrounds can generally only accommodate trailers of the sub-20-foot variety.  That has kept us from exploring some great places in southern Arizona, like Chiricahua National Monument and the surrounding area.

We could have tented in those places, but when we are usually in Arizona the national forest campgrounds are cold because of their high elevation.  A little Airstream with snug insulation and a catalytic heater is the perfect vehicle.  It’s also the right choice for short trips where we want to get away from the “liveaboard” lifestyle that the big Safari allows, and get closer to a sense of “camping”.  In the big trailer, it’s too easy to hole up inside, since it is so comfortable.  The size of the Caravel forces us to live outside, and that’s a good thing when you want to engage your surroundings.

All of this anticipation has me actually looking forward to the marathon drive north after Thanksgiving.  I plan to go alone; that way I can move quickly. If all goes well I’ll be back in a 10 or 11 days, but since I hate being on a tight schedule I will pack for two weeks and take my time on the way back if necessary.  Want to come along?   OK, cross your fingers and join me here for daily updates, starting November 28.