It was early May 2011 and we were camped at a Scotty Camper Rally, at Scottyland Camping Resort in Middlecreek, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, with our 2010 Serro Scotty HiLander. Also attending was Ace with his Scotty. He has an Airstream too. He told us about, and invited all the Scotty campers to, an upcoming Airstream rally, called the Birthday Bash II. It was to be held at Coopers Lake Campground, near Slippery Rock, PA.
As it turned out his rally was immediately before, and in exactly the same place, as the National Serro Scotty Organization’s annual rally to which we had already planned to attend. We signed up for both weeks and didn’t even have to move our HiLander!
While Roy would like to suggest that the fantastic Bash II event should become “TAC” lore and should take all the credit for our decision to purchase an Airstream, in truth, I had owned an 18 foot Airstream in the early 80’s and we had already been considering trading up from our Scotty to an Airstream. The Birthday Bash gave us the opportunity to examine the multiple sizes and floor plans of Airstreams, to question the members about their experiences with repairs and maintenance, and to meet just a wonderful group of owners. (OK Roy, that WAS a big part of our final decision!) Several in the group suggested that, at our age and stage, we should look for an Airstream in good, restored condition and we agreed. I searched eBay, from our campground, on my iPhone, for Airstreams for sale and found a 2011 Flying Cloud 20, in Denver, Colorado. I showed the listing to Ace and he felt it was a great price and choice for us.
We watched the auction through the Bash II week and on into the NSSO week. On July 5th, sitting at a picnic table, by myself, in an open field, on an old dairy farm converted to a campground, I waited until the last minute of the auction and placed a bid using my iPhone. (Isn’t technology wonderful?) I was the only bidder and we won the prize at the lowest starting bid.
The following week Nora and I drove to Denver, Colorado and picked up our new toy, “the Enterprize II”.
We never did figure out why the original owner put it up for sale after just four months. We’ve since had it serviced at the Airstream factory in Jackson Center, Ohio and it’s in wonderful shape, including a solar panel, four deep cell batteries and a back-up camera with monitor on the dash!
On August 4th, after listing it for ten days on eBay, the new owner of our 2010 Scotty HiLander pulled HIS prize from our driveway and home to Livonia, Michigan.
We hope to see you all down the road real soon.
Fondly,
Bill and Nora
Bash II "TAC" Lore?
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