The Acquisition
My wife and I have been
enthusiastic tent-campers for years. In
two separate, two week sight-seeing vacations driving & camping our way
though
Several years ago (before kids), Kim was not especially
thrilled when I first brought up bringing home a travel trailer. As a
child, her parents had a used, 19 foot white-box with no hot water or
A/C. Once a year, the family of four would load up in a pickup truck, and
drag the trailer to the
In addition to an ever
present musty smell, Kim remembers being told to use the outhouse, and do NOT
turn on any lights. Although she enjoyed being at a camping area, she did
not enjoy being there in a travel trailer. Two adults & two children
crammed in the cab of a pickup truck also ranked low in fond memories.
I, on the other hand, had
never camped in any sort of Recreational Vehicle up to this point although I
remember my aunt, uncle, and their four kids taking their Airstream
everywhere. In fact, they once took it
to
That was a long time ago. In time, their camping activities slowed to a halt. Although the mid-eighties saw the coach being used occasionally as a guest house, after that it more or less became my uncle’s storage place for odds & ends.
Now skip forward to around 2001. Barring occasional visits, I’ve been gone
from my hometown over 20 years. Visiting
my folks one day, I asked my dad if Aunt Shirley still had the Airstream as I
had not been by their house in years. "You don't WANT that thing do
you?" was his somewhat agitated response. I inclined that I had
thought about it on & off over time, and asked him to see if sister wanted
to sell it when he saw her next.
Well, he never quite got around to it. Since it was more of curiosity on my part, I let it slide because my second son was born that year, and, between him & his older brother, I had my hands full.
Around the middle of last year, Kim decides our house needs additional space. There is a whole sordid tale associated with the plans, but suffice to say that incorporating the new space was going to leave the house partly, if not completely, uninhabitable for some length of time.
Since my shop does not have suitable amenities for comfortable living, I immediately thought about Uncle Les's Airstream. So, when we all converged at my parent's house for Thanksgiving, I outlined my current dilemma to him, and asked if he would sell me his Airstream.
He turned somewhat pale, and started stammering out a bunch of reasons why I would not want it, and that I did not know what I was getting in to, etc. But he never said no. Armed with that small amount of encouragement, I told him I would like to stop by the next weekend and have a look at it. "Well, if I'm in town" or some other stalling tactic was his response.
Through email, and a phone call before leaving town the next weekend, I managed to get him to agree to be there the following Saturday.
Knowing that Uncle Les was safety minded, I showed up in the Suburban, as I did not want to quash the deal by appearing to have an inadequate tow vehicle. Between the outside temperatures being in the 20s, and him being a little under the weather, he asked my Aunt to unlock the trailer & show me around.
It had been at least 20 years since I had actually seen the Airstream, and it's general appearance, both inside & out, left much to be desired. But other than the totally rotted out bathroom floor & buckled kitchen sink countertop, the Overlander really just looked like a dirty time capsule.
After the tour, we moved inside to the kitchen table to discuss the sale. I really did not know what to expect based on the fact that he is somewhat of a packrat who never parts with anything. I did notice, however, that my aunt was somewhat serene & accommodating to changing the view of her backyard as seen from the kitchen window.
We sat at the kitchen table for many minutes while my aunt & I patiently listened to my uncle as he listed reasons why I would not want the Airstream. When he finally ran out of reasons, and realized I had the tools to both transport & restore the Airstream, he said that I could just have it. He did not need the money, and knew that it was not worth that much in its current condition. Plus, it was going to take some bucks to get it camp worthy.
I honestly was stunned. An out-and-out gift was the last thing I expected. I thought about expressing some “I know how much the Overlander means to you & will take really good care of it” sentiment, but between having no Kleenex handy, and not wanting him to change his mind & keep the Airstream, I moved outside to start preps on transporting it the 70 miles to where I now live.
Having already brought the proper tools, I set about
removing the wheels to have new tires installed. Leaving the Airstream on
four jack stands & making note of everything else that would be needed for
the return trip, I let everyone know I would return the following weekend to
pick it up.
The next weekend, after spending many hours in the freezing weather, I finally had the Overlander ready to hit the road. We once again gathered at the kitchen table to finish up the paperwork. The angst of losing the Airstream was coming to a head with Uncle Les. He started getting all wound up with possible scenarios like me driving off a cliff, falling asleep at the wheel, and/or a host of other "irresponsible" things. Like I was a little kid behind the wheel.
Finally, at the height of his rant, Aunt Shirley says, "Les! He is middle-aged now!!" Somewhat startled by her comment, Uncle Les proceeded to only grumble while he sifted through the paperwork, signing where necessary.
For legal purposes, I thought it was best to list the sale price as $1. For symbolic purchases like this, I have a small stash of Sacagawea Golden Dollar coins I use for the transaction. Handing one to Uncle Les, he grumbled, "What is this?" After I explained, he then somewhat snidely asks what could be bought with it. "An Airstream!" my aunt laughs. That seemed to lighten his mood a bit.
Although my uncle had not hitched up to the Overlander since the first Shuttle lifted off, he still remembered that a particular house antenna guy wire needed to be gently lifted up so that the trailer could pass underneath.
Having never pulled a trailer as long as the Airstream out of a SINGLE lane driveway with mailbox onto a NARROW neighborhood road with a DITCH on either side, I offered to hold the wire while he drove. He declined citing "Don't remember how" as an excuse. However, I took the look in his eye as, "Okay kid, you've got it now; Prove you can handle it!"
To my surprise, I ran his gauntlet with no problem. He followed me to a small church a few blocks away for a final preflight checkout. Happy enough with the way I drove to the church, he told me to call when I got home.
While talking to Uncle Les on the phone after I got home, I saw Kim looking out the front window at the green trailer hooked to the Suburban. "I'm glad you made it home safely" was about all she had to say. Now that I think about it, with her childhood camping experiences of trailer camping, she probably wanted to cry.
But, the whole reason for getting the Airstream was to have a backup living accommodation. Luckily, believe it or not, the Overlander had no really bad smell. At least nothing that could not be minimized with fresh air & Lysol.
Kim did not actually tour the Airstream until late
the next day after the exterior took on it's 'after' appearance, and some boxes
of clutter had been removed from the interior. She seemed game to the
idea that it would be a workable setup. She was, however, quite adamant
about getting new drapes & other soft goods.
My plan at that time had
been to simply clean up the Overlander, and restore the appliances to working
condition. After all, it was, for the
time being, only intended to be used as backup living accommodations. But we ended up not adding on to the house
that year.
Deciding we would wait at
least another year before readdressing house plans, bumper-to-hitch
refurbishment of the Airstream was sanctioned with an end goal of
I hope you enjoy my
collection of Airstream information.
Maybe we’ll meet at a campground sometime!
Tom