It’s a cliche, I know, but you’ll read why in a minute.

Earlier this week I had a little scare. I was sitting quietly reading (okay, I was browsing through a new Northern Tool and Equipment catalog), when without warning something looking a little like smoke appeared. When I tried to look directly at it, it moved and there was a flash. Then I thought it better resembled a large piece of dark colored lint floating by, so I grabbed for it, but my hand went right through it. I grabbed at it again and nothing. I starting waving my hand back and forth to disperse it, or catch it, but nothing.

By now my wife, Patrice, asked me what was going on. I didn’t answer her. I kept grasping at the air. She asked again, this time a little more emphatically, “What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

I couldn’t think of what to tell her, but then I asked, “Do you see some smoke or lint or something about where my hand is?”

She told me there was nothing there, “Are you alright? Should I call 911?” Apparently, she thought I was having a stroke.

I closed my right eye, and the smoke disappeared. When I opened my right eye there it was again! I only then realized I had a “floater.” Quite soon, the flashing increased and more floaters started to appear, except these were very tiny ones that looked like bubbles.

Floaters generally occur as one gets older, and are more common with those who are nearsighted - yep, that’s me. Typically they, “appear when tiny pieces of the eye’s gel-like vitreous break loose within the inner back portion of the eye.” Usually this is simply an annoyance, but when accompanied with flashing it can indicate a retinal tear or detachment. “Immediate” medical attention is recommended with those symptoms.

The next morning I was able to get an appointment and had an exam in the afternoon. My doctor assured me that aside from the floaters my eyes were healthy. Still, I now have somewhat diminished vision in my right eye, especially, I discovered, at night.

We were driving Patrice’s folks home from dinner on a dark and rainy evening tonight. Ahead, I saw a shadow moving back and forth across the road. I asked everyone in the car with me, “Do you see anyone in the road ahead?” I slowed down, looking hard, but neither Patrice or her parents saw anything. Of course, Patrice is night blind and her folks are in their Eighties (which is why I’m the driver).

I turned on the high beams, but in the rain it didn’t help. Finally, Patrice said she thought she could see white shorts on someone ahead. I could too. We caught up to him, skateboarding down the middle of the road, being pulled by a large black dog running furiously. The skateboarder was wearing black boots, white running shorts over sweat pants, and a dark hooded sweatshirt.

I honked furiously at him, and his dog turned a corner pulling him down a side street like a skier slaloming behind a speedboat . I was seriously not amused at such a stupid stunt.

Ironically, because I was worried about my vision, I was concentrating on the wet road ahead, and only because of that did I see him. Otherwise, I might have run him and his pooch over.

As if that wasn’t enough, after we dropped off the folks and headed home on Parker Road (Rich will appreciate this since he’s been on it - a multiple lane roadway with heavy traffic) a man in dreadlocks, wearing blue jeans and a dark colored jacket jay-walked out in front of us. I braked hard, and once again, laid on the horn, but he seemed oblivious and simply sauntered across the remaining four lanes of southbound traffic, all while not looking up, or to one side or the other. How all the other cars managed to miss him is a mystery. But then, perhaps he was just a floater, and not really there - that’s as good an explanation as any.

After reenergizing for a little more than a week in the sunshine and drying ourselves out in Denver’s low humidity, we went to the International Rally in Gillette, Wyoming.

If you’ve ever been to a WBCCI rally, then you know about the “bullpen” and parking. For years now, we’ve rolled into the rally, more than a little flustered by traffic and from driving in an unfamiliar town, only to be greeted by a sour, impatient and inflexible parking committee person. Of course, this type of welcome has been, to some small degree at least, responsible for the continuing loss of members and money, BUT I must say, something has changed, and that something is BIG. The change is attitude.

We arrived at the CAM-PLEX rally site at 4:02 p.m. fully prepared, mentally, to spend the night in the bullpen because parking is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and in the past, those were the hours to the exact minute. To our surprise, we were greeted by friendly, welcoming volunteers who, despite their shift being over, insisted on taking us to our parking area. Being greeted by friendly and patient fellow Airstreamers after a long drive sets a positive tone for the entire rally. As a result, we really enjoyed ourselves.

The Windmill campground is aptly named.

In fact, I didn’t hear one complaint from anyone, not even about the wind – which is a Wyoming constant – or the location. The people in Gillette were also warm and welcoming. We’d been warned that the ambiance of Gillette was just a grade above what you might find at a truck stop, but that is a gross misrepresentation, and again, attitude makes the difference.

Gillette was excited to have us and the CAM-PLEX officials knocked themselves out to accommodate us. Here’s a few of our recommendations if you visit:

Breanna’s Bakery, 208 South Gillette Avenue, has the biggest, most humongous good tasting donuts I’ve ever seen anywhere, and take it from me, a retired cop, I know my donuts! These whoppers are as big around as a dinner plate and are surprisingly inexpensive. When I brought a large box of them back to the trailer for breakfast, Patrice questioned why I’d buy so many for just us. I teased her by saying there were only two and that the shop only had boxes to put them in. Then I opened the box to show her. If only I’d had my camera ready to catch her expression.

Humphrey’s Bar and Grill, 408 West Juniper, we split the “Belly Bustin’ Ribeye” dinner simply because one portion is enough for two. Yes, Wyoming does know how to cook beef, but the side of rice and red beans was a surprise. It was a thick Jambalaya served on rice. Who’d guess that there’s good Cajun here? Great food and atmosphere, we highly recommend it.

Black Thunder Coal Mine. This mine is the largest open pit coal mine in the United States. If you think Breanna’s donuts are big, wait until you see the truck tires used here.

I wonder how many pictures have been taken of Bear Lodge (aka Devil’s Tower)? Here’s one of my own.

Devils Tower National Monument near Sundance, WY. Be sure to take the time to at least walk around the base of the tower. Do look away from the tower every now and then, because there is wildlife living in the area.

The bark of the Lodgepole Pine smells like butterscotch!

Look behind you while exploring… you never know what you might see.

Finally, the last night of the rally is July 4th and the CAM-PLEX was ground zero for the county fireworks display. This was simply the best seat we’ve ever had in our lives. It was positively BRILLIANT and a perfect end to a very nice rally.

The night of the 4th was actually cold and we bundled up under blankets to bask under the thunder of a continuous one hour show.

We’ve returned home to Colorado early. We were on the road for a month and I believe in that whole time we only saw four sunny days. Rain, rain, rain, or gloomy hot stuffy days. We really don’t know how people live with that. Patrice thinks they are, “water breathers.” I think, once a person becomes acclimated though, they grow gills.

But it wasn’t just the weather that drove us home. After Alumapalooza, we went to Elkhart, Indiana. The rain that dogged us all the way from Wyoming followed us there too, but I spent some time in the library at the RV Museum. Great place, just wish I could get in for $8 per week instead of $8 per day. At least I was feeling productive.

Then disaster, my computer was working okay, but when I shut down for the night, MS Windows XP SP3 automatically installed 11 “updates.“ The next morning, it wouldn’t boot. Couldn’t even get a BSOD. I didn’t have any of my diagnostic software with me - all back home. So, I took it to a local computer repair. Their diagnosis was that the hard drive was bad. Really, is that their best shot? I guess they also thought the crash following the updates was just a coincidence.

They were going to charge me $50 for the diagnostic and a precautionary backup. The tech told me they couldn’t get the hard drive out though because I’d forgotten to give them a key to unlock it. That’s when I asked how they were able to do the precautionary backup. If the computer wouldn’t boot and they couldn’t get the HD out, then there was no way to back up the data. “Oh,“ he said, “let me ask the tech who worked on it.“ I got out of there for $25, but it was still a rip.

Since then, I’ve determined that the updates corrupted the boot sector. I’ll need to buy some special software to recover. The bigger and immediate problem for us though was how to pay bills on the road. I do it all over the Internet, but my passwords and Quicken files are on the computer. I guess I should occasionally make a hard copy of some of that stuff.

While we were still in Indiana we drove over to South Bend to poke around Notre Dame University and link up with my cousin Diane. We really enjoyed the campus. There was some sort of alumni reunion going on, and I think that might be why all the young students and faculty smiled at us and were so friendly. Maybe, they thought we were part of that, but we weren’t.

Then heartbreak, I telephoned my cousin Diane to see if we could get together for dinner. A woman answered the phone, sounded just like Diane. It was her daughter. She just happened to be there to check on her dad, who is still grieving badly. Diane died April 8th she said, “We thought all the cousins knew.” She died suddenly from a brain aneurism.

She was about my age, a little less than a year younger. We had great fun when we were kids during summer vacations, swimming and water skiing in Hudson Lake, playing pick-up-sticks, and other games. I had a crush on her. Is that okay, for a cousin to have a crush? She was pretty, full of energy, smart and talented. And a hard worker, a good mother, a wonderful grandmother. She and her husband farmed over thirty years together, and like a lot of farmers held other jobs to make a go of it. I can only imagine his grief.

I know mine. I feel so guilty for not getting together with them last year when we were up in that part of the country. Seize the day, don’t put off today what you think you might do tomorrow. Tomorrow might not be there.

Still, my initial apprehensions that I had at the beginning of our road trip became impossible to ignore. My instincts told me to exercise the option to go back home. There is no point in staying on the road just for spite. Car and trailer problems, computer problems, depressing weather, sadness all became overwhelming. We don’t have to punish ourselves. We exercised the option that all RV’ers have. We moved on, and have been back home now for three days and each has been ridiculously sunny and beautiful. Flowers blooming everywhere, a gentle breeze rustles the leaves and Monarch butterflies and Humming birds swoop by our third floor windows. What’s more, there is no humidity. The gills are disappearing.

Today, I gave my Tire Tech seminar at Alumapalooza and afterward, several people asked if I would publish the method I described to determine ideal tire pressure. I didn’t originally author the procedure - that belongs to “AccessMaster” from his post on Airforums way back in April of 2003. He claimed to have worked for Michelin Tire Corporation for 7 years and Yokohama Tire Corporation for 11 years and had given numerous seminars on tire maintenance and correct tire pressures. Since then, I’ve used this method myself and can say that it has worked well for me. I’ve not had an on the road flat or blow out or tread seperation incident (I hope that doesn’t jinx me).

At any rate, use the following procedure with your best judgement as I’m not an expert on tires. I do believe the following makes a lot of sense though.

First, check the pressure when tires are cold. Run them for several miles at normal driving speed (on a day with average temperature). Stop and immediately check the air pressure (or the pressure indicated by your Tire Pressure Monitoring System). It should be higher than when cold but no more than 10% higher.

This may seem counterintuitive, but if the pressure is more than 10% higher you must ADD AIR and test again. For example if you start with 50 psi cold and the pressure builds to 60 when hot, you have exceeded the (10%) since 55 psi should be the maximum safe heat build up pressure. You must ADD AIR - start with 5 psi which would take the tire to 65 psi when hot.

After you run the tire again, the pressure should actually drop slightly because the tire will run cooler. The heat build up causes the tire pressure to increase when under inflated.

On the other hand, if the cold pressure does not change after being driven, then you have more air than needed. Remove 5 psi, BUT ONLY AFTER the tires have returned to cold, then repeat the test, such as the next morning prior to driving again or at the start of your next trip.

Always err on the side of higher inflation, but DO NOT exceed the maximum pressure indicated on the sidewall of the tire.

A Tire Pressure Monitor System, such as Pressure Pro, makes this process fairly easy, but if you are on the road when you do this, you will need a compressor or air pump with you.

I am a poor blogger. One post a month just doesn’t cut it. I have my list of excuses of course. I was busy getting the trailer and car ready for the trip, or I haven’t had good internet connections.

All excuses are lame aren’t they?

I had hoped to take the old clear coat off our Excella in the first week or so of May, but the weather was so unpredictable that I never started on it. Really, the clear coat remover I bought needs at least 60 degree days, but not more than 80 or so. I figured I needed at least three good days to take the clear coat off, but it was either too cold, too hot, too windy, or rainy. We even had two storms that rained mud.

Apparently, a dust storm carried dirt up into a rain cloud and came down as mud. Covered the entire city in a fine brown paste. That’s my excuse anyway and so we’re on the road with a shabby looking exterior. Oh, well!

Our first stop was a rally in Fort Collins, CO. It was cool and wet there until Sunday when we left. Then on to Sidney, Nebraska at Cabella’s and continued east on I-80. We spent one night at a road side rest somewhere in Iowa, then broke down on a hill just east of Moline, IL. Got towed to Green chevy dealership and spent the night camped in their back lot.

Free back lot camping while we waited for our Suburban to get fixed.

I didn’t sleep all that well. Greens assured us we’d be okay, even though they don’t have gate to lock at night, and that the only problem they’d been having was with some “radio thefts,” but that no-one would pay any attention to us. Well, not really. There was more traffic in that back lot at night than there was during the entire afternoon! One car even circled us repeatedly, nearly doing donuts. But, other than that we were left alone.

And Green Chevrolet did take good care of us. The mechanical problem turned out to be a minor one (only $156 + $112 for the tow) and so only lost a half day of travel. Then we were back onto I-80 and spent another night at a roadside rest somewhere in Indiana and finally rolled into the Tin Can Tourist rally at Camp Dearborn in Milford, MI.

Cool cars and trailers at the Tin Can Tourist Rally, Camp Dearborn, MI

Diane Flis-Schnieder and her 1935 Bowlus and 1936 Packard

Great rally! Learned some interesting things from author John Long about Bowlus trailers, had wonderful food, met with some really easy going campers. The only downside was a little too much rain (man did it pour!), but the good is that we didn’t have any leaks.

Love this Pontiac with its Spartan Manor in the background - the Airstream looks pretty good too, doesn’t it?

On Sunday (the 23rd), we left MI and did about 225 miles and arrived in Jackson Center, OH at about 3 p.m. with the temperature about 92 degrees. Too much heat, too soon! We were wearing sweaters in MI.

So, we’re now in the “Terraport” at the Airstream factory and it’s our basecamp until Alumapalooza starts June 1st. Even then we’ll just be moving to a grassy field behind the factory to camp with Rich and over a hundred others.

In the mean time, I’ll try to catch up on my writing and other projects - need to finish putting together my presentation on tire safety for this rally and start my presentation on 80’s Airstream trailers for the International rally in Gilette, WY.

Basilica & National Shrine of
Our Lady of Consolation

We did get out for one day of sight seeing. We went to Carey, OH to visit a Catholic shrine, Our Lady of Consolation. It’s a beautiful church built in Italian Romanesque architecture. From there we went to Tiffin, OH to see one of the glass museums there.

Tiffin Glass Museum, 25 S. Washington St., Tiffin, OH

Patrice inherited June Night crystalware from her grandmother and wanted to know more about where it was made and its history. We had a personal tour guide and learned some facinating things. One that interested me was that the yellow glassware called “canary” glows intense green under ultraviolet light. This is because the mineral that gives the yellow color (in nomal light) is a Uranium salt. The UV light excites the mineral making it glow or fluoresce. It’s not radioactive though, or at least not enough for concern.

Canary in normal light

Under blacklight

Thanks to the efforts of the Airstream Life Magazine team, a project I started some four years ago has come to fruition. Rich Luhr tells me he’s, “very psyched,” about it and that’s no surprise. I am amazed at the speed and intensity he works at. My work on the project, in contrast, was more spread-out over time, but once I handed it off to him, he was off to the races. The project I’m writing about originally started as two projects – the republication of Wally Byam’s books, “Fifth Avenue On Wheels” and “Trailer Travel Here and Abroad.”

To keep costs down, the decision was made to combine both books into one volume. It is now available from the AirstreamLife.com on-line store. Click Shop, then Books. The combined edition is a mere $19 plus shipping. If you’ve priced these books at eBay or other places you know that either one can sell for well over one hundred dollars. For instance, I just searched Abebooks.com and found one seller asking $355 for a copy of Fifth Avenue On Wheels, 1953 edition, in “very good” condition.

This is why I have been interested getting these wonderful books republished. As time goes by the originals become fragile, the pages yellow, start to disintegrate, and those that remain are often prohibitively expensive.

If you didn’t know, this is a problem shared with millions of books published with acidic paper. The Library of Congress has an on-going project where these kinds of books are destroyed to save them. The spines are cut off and the pages fed into a self-feeding scanner so that they can be saved in digital form. This is necessary because hand scanning is too slow. Despite this effort, it’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of books will not be saved. They will eventually turn to dust.

Of course, I did not destroy any of Wally’s books to save them! Instead, I scanned the books by hand, carefully positioning each page on the platen. With the pages digitized, optical character recognition software translated the printing into editable text.

Next, I proofread the results – OCR often interprets diacritical marks in foreign words incorrectly. For instance the diacritical mark, such as the acute ( ´ ) over the letter a (á) is mistaken by the software as the number 6.

Then there are also inaccuracies in the books themselves, with soiled pages, and deterioration producing flakes of paper and dust. The original printing itself sometimes produced partial letters and the typesetting process creates hyphenated words. Scans at 300 dpi pick up any and all these characteristics and defects and the software tries to translate them into text.

The lion’s share of my work was to correct and eliminate an average of one error for every hundred words. That is still the present state of even top of the line OCR software, about 99% accuracy.

Some of you might reasonably think that I must have Wally’s books nearly memorized. While that’s partly true, the reality I found is that proofing requires one to concentrate on errors, not content. Consider that when we read normally our brains skim over some words and combine others. There are examples passed along the Internet in Emails demonstrating our mind’s ability to read and comprehend entire paragraphs of purposefully misspelled words, or our mind’s inability to accurately count the number of times the word of appears in a paragraph – supposedly, because that word is a complete abstraction and by itself has no meaning. Hint – the next time someone forwards that test to you read the paragraph backwards, from the last word to the first, and you’ll then be able to count accurately.

Wally’s books could have been republished much sooner, but I was not able to determine if the copyrights were still active. That is where Rich, with his contacts in the publishing world and with Airstream Inc., determined that the works have become public domain.
“This special edition includes a Foreword by Dale “Peewee” Schwamborn, as well as a copy of the Wally Byam Creed, and introductions to each book by Rich Luhr, Editor of Airstream Life magazine.”

“The Byam Books,” 279 pages, available now in paperback for $19, $5 for Priority Mail shipping to anywhere in the US! Get yours now!

We drove south on I-25 last weekend and that undulating section of road is still there. This time I noted the mile markers. It is just north of mile marker 230. CDOT has not fixed it yet and it is as bad as ever. What’s more, I noticed skid marks along its entire length, indicating that a number of motorists have had a scary time there.

There are three lanes southbound in that location, but the problem appears to be confined to just the one lane on the far right side of the roadway (or lane #3). I think I’ve found a name for the effect - it’s called “porpoising” - and apparently all kinds of RVs are susceptible to loss of control when it happens, even motorhomes.

Anyway, just to repeat my earlier warning, southbound CO I-25 between marker 230 and 231 slow down and stay in the middle lane.

Part of my agreement in writing this blog is that it would stay close to the topic of vintage Airstream trailering. That limitation does make it a challenge though, especially in the winter when I’m not traveling.

Still, I’ve been to a couple of RV shows and yes, I do look at other brands and makes of RVs. Each time I do I come away with the conviction that Airstream is the best RV for my wife and me. One of the things I like about Airstream travel trailers is that they are relatively close to the ground. Two steps up and you’re in.

I read somewhere, not too long ago, that the number one cause of injury in RVing are falls. This is a big concern for me since my wife is handicapped. Getting in and out of our trailer has to be something she can do without my help. Airstreams are about the only travel trailer or RV she is comfortable with.

Some examples of other manufacturer’s stairs prove my point I think.

This is what you might see after falling out.

Too narrow and steep for adults, these stairs leading to a shallow sleeping loft are obviously for kids only.

With that in mind, it is easy for me to eliminate 90 percent of the RV’s out there. It’s astounding how many steps and stairs some of the other makes have, and some are just plain ridiculous. Miss a step with some of these rigs and you’ll likely find yourself in hospital.

They’ve got to be kidding! I wouldn’t attempt these stairs even if I was drunk.

I’m always disappointed with the small turnout of Airstreams at the RV shows, but it is understandable. I’m told that for the shows to be profitable an Airstream dealer ought to sell around six trailers, but consider themselves lucky to just sell one. Shows are just not good from the sales perspective. I think it’s worthwhile from a showcase perspective though, and maybe the salesmen, who often are not exclusively Airstream, just don’t do a good job.

There seems to be a lot of apologetics when it comes to price. While I was standing around, I noticed a couple of men commenting on the price of the Flying Cloud. The salesman wasn’t around and so I mentioned to them that they were looking at the price the wrong way. “It’s a long term investment, versus a short term one,” I said.

“How’s that?” One of them asked.

“Look at all the RV’s on display here – hundreds of them. This Airstream will outlive all them. Twenty or thirty years down the road every RV on the floor will be junk, but this Flying Cloud will still be on the road, looking as good as it does now.”

I could see their attitude change as I said that. Then I told them to watch the movie running on the TV inside. “Watch this slalom test, wait for it, wait for it… here it comes.” As I said that, the SOB being tested head to head with the Airstream nearly tipped over. “That’s why you want an Airstream.” The men stayed and watched the movie again from beginning to end.

I ought to be a salesman. Airstream is a product I can get behind. Oh, wait, I guess I am a salesman, I just don’t get a commission.

“Tiny” Berry’s pop was an Airstreamer, back around the time of the golden age of Airstream trailer travel. “Tiny” though, is a motor home owner and doesn’t have the energy or desire to fix up his pop’s old ’64 Tradewind, and wants to sell it. He called a friend, who in turn called me, to see if he could get an idea of what the trailer might be worth.

‘64 Trade Wind, curb side view.

I always dread that kind of call because usually there is little information, and perhaps only a handful of photos to look at. This happened to me a few months ago when a friend asked me if a trailer on eBay was worth the Buy It Now price. I gave him my usual admonitions and repeatedly stressed that he shouldn’t buy until he’d seen it and inspected it in person. He really wanted it though and trusted the seller.

He agreed to the price and drove to Idaho to pick it up. At first, everything seemed copacetic, but when he returned, he learned the truth. Not that it is as bad as it sounds, but in the dead of winter, he discovered that both the auxiliary and septic holding tanks were full, and worse, the dump valves were stuck.

“How can anyone tell such a bold face lie with his children standing next to him?” It was a puzzle to my friend, but unfortunately, when it comes to money, people will lie to their own mother. So, we shouldn’t be surprised when they lie to a stranger, or even to a friend.

He didn’t want the tanks to freeze, for obvious reasons, but couldn’t drain them either. Local RV service centers turned him down, most saying that they didn’t have the facilities to dispose of the contents. This was a lie too of course. They simply didn’t want the job.

For a week, my friend kept a heater going in the aft compartment. Then he decided on a plan of action – you might want to skip the rest of this paragraph if you’re squeamish, and maybe you should turn your children away from the screen. His solution for the septic tank was to lower the hose from his wet/dry shop VAC through the toilet, a straight drop into the holding tank, and suck out the contents. The procedure required several trips to flush the contents down his home toilet.

I admire his gumption. However, the auxiliary (wash water) tank needed a different solution though and that’s when he called me for help. Not only was the dump valve stuck, but also the handle had been pulled off. Fortunately, the VAC library has the shop manual for his year trailer, and I’m the librarian. I noticed in the diagrams that there was a clean out plug located under a twin bed. So, the idea I had, was to feed a hose through the clean out, down into the auxiliary tank, and pump out the contents. It worked! He calls me his “hero” now.

I’m not sure how I feel about that. There is still the problem of fixing the dump valves, but that can wait until the weather warms up. Hopefully, we can get them working again. If not, they will have to be replaced and that is problematic. It involves dropping the pan, and using a hacksaw, among other things. But at least the tanks are empty!

“Tiny” Berry’s ’64 Tradewind isn’t in another state. It is just seven miles or so from where I live. I’m much more comfortable with that. When I can inspect a trailer in person, I am more confident in giving an appraisal.

I love the layout and the wood cabinetry. At 24’ feet, it really is just the perfect compromise. It is big enough for extended travel but small enough to slip it into small campsites, such as what the National Parks offer. It is easily towed with a half-ton pickup too.

The good news – it is all original, the shell is in great condition with few dents or scratches, and the chassis appears to be in very good condition. The bad news – the vent covers have all been compromised and water leaking in has damaged a couple of cabinets and rotted the floor in a number of places; and the wheels are the split rim type.

Just to get it ready to sell “Tiny” has a big clean up job ahead of him, will need to replace tires and rims, repack the bearings, and ought to replace the dead battery and install new propane tanks. The very first thing I recommended he do though is to cover the broken vent covers with plastic and tape them down. There is no point in doing any other repair until the leaks are stopped and the wet areas have dried out.

He asked me if I thought he could get $2,000 for it if he did all that, and I am sure he can. With a little more work on it, such as replacing the vent covers, and replacing a cracked pane of glass, he could easily raise the value to $5,000, but he doesn’t seem inclined to do that.

‘64 Trade Wind, street side view.

Someone will buy it for around those prices and will have a very restorable and desirable trailer. I only hope that they restore it to its original condition as opposed to gutting and refurbishing it. If I had the facilities to do so, I would have made “Tiny” an offer right there and then for it, but I don’t and so I didn’t. As my wife says, they are too big to collect.

Since Rich appears to be getting excited about the Palm Springs Modernism Week I figure it’s fair to give Denver’s a plug. This past August, the 4th Denver Modernism show put mid-century art, furniture, technology, cars, and YES, Airstreams on display at the National Western Stock Show Expo Hall. I know, Denver is still considered a backwater cow town by both East and West Coast crowds, but we had lots of fun and if you weren’t there, you didn’t. Boohoo for you!

Still modern after all these years!

Vintage Airstream Club members were invited to this event in 2008 and I believe this was the first time Airstreams were included as exhibitors at any modernism show in the country. So, cow town or not, we made a little bit of history.

Airstream exhibitors, Randy Leitner, and Jim Lane, relax before the start of the show.

Unlike Palm Springs though, new Airstreams with a retro design are welcome. Airstream trailer collectors, Chris Hildenbrand and Jim Lane (oh, yeah, Airstreams are collectibles now), brought both a 1978 Tradewind and a 2006 Bambi Quicksilver hitched to their 1969 Cadillac (at one time they owned six Airstreams, but are now down to only five). Second generation Airstreamers, Randy & Margie Leitner, brought their 1964 Globe Trotter. Although I was present, my 1965 Globe Trotter wasn’t. It needs me to finish putting it back together. Oh well, there’s next year and I’m looking forward to it.

Vintage Airstreams on exhibit.

One nearby vendor at the show, Silver Stream Productions, rents their 1959 remodeled Overlander out as a mobile office, dressing room, and/or advertising prop.

Young SilverStream Production Trailers entrepreneurs, Hanna and Jason Smith, outside their refurbished Overlander.

It was great fun. We were well received and hundreds of people looked at the trailers and asked questions. Yes, the most common question was, “Do they still make these?” We had fun watching people’s surprise when we told them the Globe Trotter wasn’t new, but that the Bambi was. As in past shows, there were belly dancers, comedians, slide shows, an open bar on the first night, and on Sunday a car show. Fellow Airstreamer, Harry Truitt, entered his bright yellow hot rod in the competition.

The Serpent Moon belly dancers are a hoot!

The Modernism Show is a great promotion and just gets better every year. So, give it some thought and make a note on your calendar, August 27th (Friday) through the 29th (Sunday), 2010. I’ll be the Airstream “point person” again. Email me at: a

I want to thank the show’s promoter, Dana Cain, for making the show possible. This year she really took care of us. 2008 was a bit of a challenge getting our rigs into and out of the Expo Hall, but it was ‘pull-through’ easy this time. Read about Dana at http://www.danacain.com/ . The show’s website is at: http://www.denvermodernism.com/