Maria and I have not always loved camping. In fact there was a time when we tented it. Yes, tented it! We usually camped with a ninety pound hound, named Barney, who took up a third of the tent. We loaded up a vehicle, usually our Dodge Caravan adorned with wood grained sides. We loaded up our hound and ventured, at least once a year, to a campground. What we didn't like was the sand and dirt that continued to find a way into our humble abode. It annoyed us.
On one Springish day, my mom told us about a travel trailer for sale. It lit Maria and me up. We explored the idea, a haven without sand and dirt, a place with hard sides that would give us the illusion that we were in a house. We checked out the travel trailer tip that my mom informed us with. It was an older unit, approximately twenty four feet long. It was orangish and white, our colors, really. But as we walked through it we noticed there was spongy floors, we opted out.
It was then that my wife started flipping through RV and Truck trader magazines, and we found a 1972 Corsair about an hour from our house. It was a nineteen footer. Upon inspection, it was spot on to what we wanted. At the time we only had three pre-teen children. We explored, realized that it was cute and we purchased it. It was a trip, a really unsafe trip as I blindly hooked this heavy small trailer to back of our 1985 yellow and white suburban and took it home. The safety chains rattled behind us, clinking on the pavement, the lights were coming unplugged, and when we got it home, there was more drama hitting us head on.
Those of you who love to pull trailers and were at one time inexperienced, can probably relate to this event. Our driveway in the city was elevated at the end, a large mountainous mound of concrete. The concrete beckoned to the rear drag bars of the trailer. We were making a spectacle of our virgin life to travel trailers as my wife was "guiding" me in. The entire block could probably hear us swearing as I finally got it in. The next step was cleaning it, everyone wants a clean house. We began the cleaning process and my nose, which most of the time is keen on smells, especially those smells that are similar to death and dead animals, picked up on something. It was funky, disgusting, and I instantly began to gag, I lifted up a cushion and the wood of a bench in the front that the smell was obviously coming from. It was a horrific mess where a squirrel had nested, blessing it's new found shelter with fecal matter and nesting material. I gagged, almost threw up, and let Maria and my oldest daughter finish cleaning. We owned that travel trailer for two years. We painted it almond and yellow, to match the Suburban and we looked like a bumble bee driving down the highway. It was a sight and I can say that most could safely see us miles away.
My father-in-law told stories. He always mentioned these creatures in the RV world, although he wasn't a camper, these aluminum structures that had a lifetime warranty to the original owners. They were called Airstreams. Of course, his influence on Maria was great, and before I knew it, I was digging into the Wally Byam legend and Airstreams.
At the time the web wasn't as intricate and as easy to navigate as it is today. So in my dusty den, in the late winter, as snow fell out my window, I posted a want ad for an Airstream. We were used to the Corsair and had since sold it for what we paid for it, and the idea of an Airstream that small was slightly ludicrous, because we knew our family may be growing.
The ad was responded to, and to my surprise it was close to home, not the hour away that the other trailer was. I responded back, we explored the thirty-one foot Airstream from the same year as the Bumble Bee, but it was long. We did fall in love, despites some minor imperfections. We put a deposit down and purchased it a month or two later.
I was shocked at the flow behind my 2001 Yukon. This Airstream was lighter than the Bumble Bee and yet was twice as long. I was convinced at that time that I would only own Airstream's. There was no question. All this camper, aerodynamic design and light! An RVer's paradise on wheels. It was exciting as I backed it into our driveway and, with a couple years of towing under my belt, I backed it in with confidence and my early onset skills. We were set on the path of being Airstreamer's and a new adventure was on the horizon.
I will continue this post with a Part Two. Just because it deserves detail. Remember, although there's no content on our YouTube channel, I would really appreciate getting everyone to subscribe. So, hit this little link: Dark Nest Travels and click the subscribe button, I promise, I'll try to give you the best entertainment that I can, and promise, I'll evolve and get better at my videos. Thanks for reading, stay tuned for Part Two!