On that note, I'm happy to take you back to our first Airstream. The thirty one footer from 1972. It was beautiful in our eyes, and I dug up an awesome picture, taken a week or so after I backed it into our driveway. No, the Chevy Cavalier in front of it was not used to tow it home. Here it is:
Our first trip and family vacation with The Mothership was uncanny, but memorable. It was in January 2005, Maria and I were sitting on the couch, resting, the children tucked away in their corners of the house, their bedrooms, not time out. We were watching a reality show, remember that this was before streaming Netflix began, and binge watching took everyone by surprise, so our entertaining options were scant. The show was Wife Swap, or something to that nature. The couple that swapped were opposites and the show was ridiculous in plot and nature, but our "guilty pleasure" form of entertainment, to say the least. One couple was from Louisiana. It never dawned on us, at that time, that Louisiana was an actual place, we knew that it was part of the United States, but never gave it much thought. I had an epiphany, "Let's go to Louisiana." After a fast phone call to our aunt asking if she'd want to trek down there with us, it was decided we must go.
The preparation was a little costly, but we were determined on taking our Airstream to the swamp lands. We purchased new tires, I made a ramp for tire changing, I even packed an extra jack in the van for the front, just in case the old one stopped working. I sent emails to all the states we'd be passing through, began to map out directions, using Mapquest, yes, I said it, Mapquest, not Google Maps. Printed them out, put all my mapping into a briefcase, along with reservation papers. June 2005 rolled around and the kids were released from school for the summer. We loaded into our fifteen passenger Chevy Van, hooked up The Mothership, and were on our way.
History tells us today, that Hurricane Katrina was surfacing in the ocean. The weather was extremely steamy in the swampy atmosphere of Louisiana due to the looming storm being on the cusp. The temperatures were indexing at one hundred five degrees, maybe hotter. During the day, we romped around the state, visiting cemeteries, swamps, New Orleans, and Catfish Charlies for an AUCE (all you can eat) Catfish dinner. By the time we arrived back at the campground The Mothership looked like an aluminum can with condensation dripping on the exterior skin, ready to cool us, because I left the air on to cool it down during the day. Night time consisted of swimming in the pool and planning our next day, relaxing in the air cooled Mothership.
The trip was a success. It was hot, yes, and that fall when the news was showing the damage Katrina had done, we were looking at New Orleans in awe because we had just driven on those streets that were war torn by Mother Nature. It was sad, really, but we were able to experience the great swamp state, which by the way, loses a football field a day to swamp, in its natural glow and glory.
On the way home from that trip, Maria mentioned, that maybe we needed to get another Airstream and sell The Mothership. We put a for sale sign in the window, and I posted an ad in an Airstream forum. Months later, we sold her. This story will be in the next post. The original Mothership deserves more words, and I've taken enough of your time. Thanks for reading. Come back for more!