Back before Kim and I had either children or an Airstream, we visited Texas several times, and always enjoyed what we saw and did. If we were to want to move away from Alabama for some reason, The Lone Star State would certainly be on my list of places to live. Although we had participated in a few Airstream rallies, we had never attended one with a Vintage Airstream theme. So, even though it was the middle of winter, I was thrilled to find out about the First Texas State Vintage Rally scheduled to be held in Montgomery Texas. With at least 70 Airstreams signed up, 21 of which were vintage, the rally seemed perfect for my Overlander’s first trip to Texas with Kim & I leading the way. After finding out my folks could watch the Boyz (school was still in session), our names were added to the attendees list. Even though Kim is an excellent planner/scheduler, one thing out of her control is the weather. And wouldn’t you know it, it snowed with freezing rain the night before we were to leave. Fortunately, the plan had always been to take two days to get to the rally, so waiting for the roads to clear up just made us late in getting to our halfway point in Louisiana. Luckily, although the weather remained cold, all the snow remained in Alabama.

Friday afternoon found us at the Rally parked beside two polished Airstreams – A 1964 Overlander and a 1957 Flying Cloud. The old adage “everything’s bigger in Texas” certainly held true with regards to the 239 site campground which hosted the event. Notice how much parking remains behind the Airstreams? The place is big enough for a Vintage Mack truck convention!

I was glad we remembered the flamingo food – The birds were everywhere!

The campground had a nice pavilion where all the seminars and catered events were held. Here, Tim Garner, Director of Marketing at Airstream, briefs the rally-goers on what’s new at Airstream.

Our neighbors & dinner companions. One half of the table hails from Texas while the half motored down from Oklahoma.

In what I thought was a nice touch, a live band played for the Vintage section’s open house. The 1979 Airstream Motor home on the left, having motored down from Ohio, beat us for the “longest distance traveled” award. The two Texas Bambis on the right were both made in 1961.

Kim and I tag-teamed standing with the Overlander during the public, open house so that both of us could get out and see everything. Kim estimated at least 100 people toured my Overlander. Interestingly, the most frequent comment dealt with the aqua/green bathroom colors. People were consistently surprised when told the bathroom is original. I was pleased, though, to meet a man who had come to the open house specifically to see my Airstream after following the refurbishment at my web site.

Bill & Candy were the hit of the rally with their beautifully restored 1954 Flying Cloud (that’s a pink flamingo neon-light in the window).

Although I would have won the “greenest bathroom” award had it been offered, I didn’t walk away empty handed - one of the door prizes was a new sewer hose.

I felt kind of old after touring Gayland’s Airstream. Even though “vintage” means “25 years old or older”, the thought that his Airstream qualified as “vintage” even though it was made two years after I graduated from high school didn’t make me feel any younger.

While the rally officially ended Sunday afternoon, Kim & I elected to stay the night and make a marathon drive home on Monday. By 2:00 we had the place to ourselves.

The weather turned so nice that afternoon that we decided to grill steaks. So after visiting the local outlet stores, Kim stopped by the grocery & returned with steaks & frozen fries only to find that we did not have a sufficient amount of cooking oil in the pantry. A quick trip to Wal-Mart solved the problem, and we had a great supper before settling down to watch the Super Bowl. The 808 mile drive home on Monday was uneventful.

A few days later, after returning from the grocery store with, among other things, more Airstream supplies, Kim casually mentioned that she had had to buy a big bottle of cooking oil while in Texas. My seven-year old jumped up from watching television and said, "Daddy! I know why!"

"Why son?” I asked.

"Because everything is bigger in Texas!"

Ya know, I couldn’t argue. It was a great visit – I hope we return soon.