The Game Time Decisions

Departure Time:  Sunday, September 1st, 10AM

Destination:  An easy out and back to Los Angeles

Reason:  Visit friends, my aunt, my daughter, more friends and all points in between.  National Parks, State Parks, Airstream Rallies, Route 66, Formula-1 Racing and more.

It was all systems go.  Friends stopped by the night before.  We had our final personal goodbyes with wine and cheese, many laughs, and "do you remember whens".  I am 54 and I want to keep creating the 'whens'; especially if someday one of us will not 'remember'.  Time to make more memories.

After the friends left that evening, I loaded in my final clothing selections (all wrong), shoes (too many), extra tools (like the make up bag, you never know what you will need) and kitchen notions (HAD to bring the Instant Pot and half dozen chop sticks) into the "travel trailer", as the CT DMV registration describes. GVWR 3000 pounds and I only had 450 pounds left to add.  With all the extras, I thought, 'I'll store my bottled water in my Tahoe", at 8 pounds per bottle.  I have learned a lot of mechanics lingo that I never thought I would want to know.  What is ball hitch grease lube vs what is white lightening lube? What lube do you put where and when vs what lube you shouldn't put anywhere.? So much lube talk.  Riveting stuff that I You-Tubed for days.  It's hilarious from a female perspective and as a solo traveler, when there was not more room to bring any personal lube along for the ride.  Sorry Dad.  So much stuff.  Too much stuff.   

There was literally no place to put anything else, except the final few more items; a new backup camera, a TPMS sensor (we'll get to that), and an rv leveling app (no so accurate) had to be installed.  All of which, was bough on Amazon Prime Day back in July, that I thought I could just install in an hour before departure.  WRONG AGAIN. 

I didn't realize that my solar, bluetooth, wireless back-up camera didn't magnetize to this aluminum tin can.  It DID however, magnetize to my finger with the metal plate it came with.  That started the send off morning with tears in my eyes.  It still hurts like a MF.  I'm sure there will be more along the way.  I think my husband felt so sorry for me, he installed it straight away and it is the BEST purchase of all the crap I had to purchase to get this tin can on the road.  NOT that I am an affiliate marketer, but this Pemacom camera is the BOMB.  It was cheap and good.  I can see behind the camper so I know when someone is sniffing up the Bambi's ass while I am driving 55 down I90 to keep the MPG's up and gas prices down.  I sound like Ronnie Regan in the 80's, all the while, Sammie Hagar is blasting in my blown ear drums.

 

So why the Airstream?

I fell down the rabbit hole looking at Airstreams about 6 months after my brother declared he was getting a converted Mercedes custom Sprinter Van.  Mine is more of a classic Rolls Royce of the 1930's.  My brother's is some futuristic thunderdome UTV Tina Tuner showed up in from a Mad Max movie.  We don't need another hero but we did need another cool ass toy to talk about.  The Airstream, the company, it's history and the community it serves, is really impressive (we'll get into that too).  I also found it fascinating that every Airstream is submerged in water for tightness before it leaves its world HQ in Jackson City, OH. HOOKED.

I had always wanted to take a drive across the country all my life and wanted to do it with my dog.  Somehow college, marriage, kids, and a gaggle of small businesses just kept getting in the way.  My husband and I once decided we were going to do a 6 month sabbatical, after a house development project ended (we were house preservationists back in the day).  That turned into a 10 day vacation to visit my brother, who lived on the Big Island in HI.  After selling a few of those businesses and my daughter leaving grad school to pursue her career in Los Angeles, I took a long trip last year to see if that would cure the itch.  NOPE.  It wasn't enough to just fly to visit family.  I also enjoyed the travel experiences. I wasn't afraid of flying, I was excited to see new things and be curious about the surroundings I was in.  

I believe in signs.  In January, I watched American Symphony, a documentary movie about Jon Batiste, a Grammy winning musician.  His music is next level.  There was a focus on wife, Suleika Jaouad.  She beat lukemia twice.  What struck me was how they met.  At the same performing arts summer program that I had been accepted and attended many years after me.  I attended in 1986. I wanted to go back there and see that place; a turning point that changed my entire life.   I was blown away by this power couple, who faced all sorts of backlash and adversity, in their climb.  I was so intrigued by her story, as much as his.  I even took my Mom to see Joh Batiste in New Haven for her birthday.  BEST concert ever! Sure enough, she wrote a book.  Between Two Kingdoms.  After she survived cancer, she took her dog and drove her car across the country.  She did it, so could I.  That book, and what she discovered about herself, was my inspiration to pull the trigger and start looking for an Airstream.

I knew that I wanted something small.  Something that would make me smile, not make me scared to tow it.  Something that had a good resale value and something I could rent if this whole thing would go south.  

The first I saw, was a 1970 Caravel.  YES, the same age as me, Vintage!  I thought I was ready to roll up my sleeves and restore an Airstream.  It's just like a house that had good bones.  I could shine those sneakers.  NO.  At first glance, it looked fine.  A friend, who is a vehiclular genius, met me to look at it, only to tell me it was a rusting sieve on the bottom and he wouldn't want to see me drive it 5 miles out of the driveway.  PASS.

The second look, was a brand new Airstream.  Negative on the hustle. Negative on the price tag.  I felt icky.  The dude was nice enough, but I left the dealer with a hard no, after hearing that I would have to take out a small mortgage for it.  I heard my Dad in my head, "vehicles lose their value the minute you drive it off the lot".  Point taken Dad.  My Mom and Grandmother always told me to find things on sale when you really want something.  So, on the same day, I took a chance on a Facebook Marketplace Ad for a "like new" 2021 Bambi.  It was like playing Bingo with the girls at Foxwoods, if I ever won.  When I saw it, I knew it was the one.   It was used as a COVID bedroom for quarantine purposes, somewhere in New Jersey. The family I bought it from was going to camp with grandchildren.  The family only seemed to use it as a playhouse or card room in their driveway.  Wonderful family and a great deal!  SOLD.  The damn DMV would have taken 3 weeks for me to get a temp registration to tow it out of their driveway.  Thank god for family and Plaza Service dealer plates! My brother-in-law came to the rescue when the DMV wouldn't issue me a plate and registration for at least 4 more weeks, with an appointment.  We got Tin Shrimp out of Facebook Market place and into my driveway that day.

Tin Shrimp: Officially Certified by Airstream in Jackson Ohio, a 2021 Bambi 16RB.

  

Why Tin Shrimp?

Well, I like to cook.  I like to eat.  It's a little play on tin fish, that lost it's luster in the culinary world, as soon as the style arrived.  Who wants to pay $28 in a restaurant to eat a can of anchovies with Keebler crackers?  ME!  I love those Anthony Bourdain disspeller novels about 'don't eat fish on a Monday' (which he later debunks in his sequel) and Tin because, well, Airstreams.  The cliché can opener RV of them all!

Bambi:  The lowest end model you can get in an Airstream.  16 RB just means it's a whopping 16 feet and the bed is located in the "rear".  Some semblance of privacy in between the "public" space, which is on the other side of a track curtain and only the other 1/3 of the rest of the 16 feet.  

Just before Noon, I pulled out of the driveway.  BYE, BYE, BYE.....