Alumapalooza!

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We spent a part of last week at the Airstreamer's mecca - or "The Mothership" of Airstreamers: Jackson City, Ohio, a little town in the middle of nowhere, Ohio, the home of the Airstream manufacturing plant.  The occasion was the third annual Alumapalooza (http://alumapalooza.com/), a gathering of Airstream owners on the grounds of the factory, sponsored by Airstream Life (http://airstreamlife.com/).  All kinds of interesting "how-to" presentations, from maintenance of an Airstream to cooking in an Airstream, lots of fascinating people from across the US (more about and from many of them on: https://www.facebook.com/asl.alumapalooza).

"Gloria" - Interior 1

Aistreams have become an American icon - what other brand of travel trailers are still on the road at the ripe old age of 50 or so?  There is a whole group of people who live to rescue and restore the vintage Airstreams and get them back on the road, and there are people who pass their airstreams down through the generations; met one young couple who were thrilled to have inherited grandma's airstream, which was in mint condition as well as rife with memories of family travels (literally - travel photos covering the walls in a montage that spanned close to 50 years).  Then there was "Gloria" (yup - some folks name their Airstream trailers, as you would a boat), a limited edition 1953 trailer lovingly restored to it's original glory by the current owner.

"Gloria" - Interior 2

One of the highlights of this event is always the factory tours, which are fascinating because in this highly automated world, Airstreams are still literally hand-made.  Interestingly, on June 1 this year, the Airstream factory earned a spot on a list of 10 Must-See American Factory tours, see here: (http://www.foxnews.com/travel/slideshow/2012/06/01/10-must-see-american-factory-tours/#slide=9)

A field with hundreds of shiny, aluminum trailers on a bright and sunny day is a sight to behold, that is for sure, with people of all ages, dogs of many breeds, folks flying kites and just sitting around enjoying meeting new "neighbors" from far away (our immediate neighbors turned out to be a delightful couple  from Toronto - traveling in their 25' trailer with three large black labrador retriever dogs (https://www.facebook.com/HeirsDreamTravel)

Murphy was along for this trip and enjoyed attending some of the lectures as well as participating in his first "Yappy Hour" - dog treats all 'round rather than beers.

While John attended lectures on Awning, brakes, interior and exterior maintenance, I worked on a new quilt, setting up my trusty little Singer Featherweight.

The cousins - left to right: John, David, Charlie

After leaving Alumapalooza and our new acquaintances behind, we headed to Somerville, Ohio to take care of family graves, staying at an amazingly pretty and well-maintained KOA campground that rivaled some of the pretty state park campgrounds we have been in.  The following morning we moved on to Eaton, Ohio where we had a lovely, long breakfast and "catch-up" session with John's cousins, Charlie and David Biggs, their wives Judy and Cindy, Dave and Cindy's son Eric, and Charlie and Judy's granddaughter Meghan.

Then home......  Arrived to find our house was being painted (about two weeks earlier than we had expected)....the wrong color.....Yikes!  I guess this means we're back to real life again.

John is already planning our next Airstream trip, scheduled for  the last two weeks in July, to scope out good fishing sites and great camping sites for our September trip with son John, when he is home (our home that is; his is in New Zealand, obviously).