Picked up our first ever Airsteam today.

[Leprechaun84]

Today my lovely girlfriend Kate and I picked up our brand new 2014 27FB International Signature from Sweetgrass Montana and drove it home to Calgary Alberta. A big thanks to Steve Wells and Jim Rankin for making our experience with Airstream Adventures NW fantastic start to finish. We had a long but extremely gratifying day; celebrated in our Airstream, on our storage lot, over beers with friends. There was a border to cross, many miles to travel, and snow to overcome but everything went off without a hitch. Looking forward to many years of travels and many more memories. Enough snow, it's camping season!

Cheers,

Stephen

[Firedog1]

best of luck with your new baby, welcome to the family. Happy Camping

[Foiled Again]

Welcome aboard, you'll love it more and more - especially after the snow is gone.

Paula

[TerraYacht]

Two categories of welcome, as a relative newbie: we bought our used moho and knew no one, but our NorCal gang is just wonderful.

In summary: the hardware is great, but the people are even better!

[JFScheck]

Great rig - I started out with a 25FB - went up to a 31 - and settled on the 27FB too!!!

Don't forget to post pics!!!

[J. Morgan]

I looked at some new ones last weekend, not shopping just gawking, they are impressive.

[ricks-vt]

Welcome to the club. Safe travels and enjoy!😊

[jbroedlow]

We pick up our new Flying Cloud 27FB next Friday. It's been a long wait and we're both excited and nervous. Excited about finally seeing "our" finished product and nervous about the learning curve to get proficient with all the things you need to do. But am sure we'll be find our way. Hope our paths cross some day. Good luck and have fun. Jim

[Leprechaun84]

Thanks for the kind words and well wishes everyone. Looking foward to meeting new friends on the road. Here's a couple pictures of the new toy.

[mstephens]

WOW - snowy roads and all. Stream on! Welcome to the community.

[Leprechaun84]

Originally Posted by mstephens

WOW - snowy roads and all. Stream on! Welcome to the community.

The snow didn't start sticking to the road until the last hour of our drive. Was happy to get the trailer parked minutes before the sun went down and the snow really started to dump. By the time we left the lot there were several inches of white stuff on the highway and the road surface was greasy.

We were well prepared for snow though in our 2013 F-150 FX4 Supercrew Ecoboost with studded winter tires; this Canuck wouldn't be caught dead without winter tires and four wheel drive October through April.

The trailer towed fantastically though, I doubt we'd have had much of an issue had we been caught out in a blizzard.

Yesterday confirmed a year of research into Airstreams was well spent. Greatly appreciate all the information on this forum; the collective wisdom was invaluable in making our decision.

[bolerama]

Stephen.

Are you going to be at the May WBCCI rally near Drumheller? I would love to see your trailer. I'm envious of your tall segment protectors.

Paul

[wncrasher]

Looks great. Enjoy!

[Leprechaun84]

Originally Posted by bolerama

Stephen.

Are you going to be at the May WBCCI rally near Drumheller? I would love to see your trailer. I'm envious of your tall segment protectors.

Paul

There's a chance we'll make it. We have family flying over from England the same week. If we can convince them to join us we'll make the trek East. We will certainly attended events in the future however. Hope to see you around.

Cheers

[Captain Hank]

Good luck. Enjoy your adventures. Come to SC, no snow!!

[andreasduess]

Originally Posted by Leprechaun84

without a hitch

There's your problem right there.

Welcome.

[Arcticfox]

Looks like a really nice unit...
How did you talk Airstream Adventures NW to deliver it to Sweetgrass? Smart move on your part! Was importing it a big deal at all?

We just purchased a 28' Flying cloud from Airstream Adventures NW (Seattle) and now will have to get over there in the next few weeks to collect it.
(Yick - Sweetgrass would be a lot closer if I would have thought of it earlier....lol)

As a side note what hitch are you towing with?

Cheers
Doug

[Arcticfox]

As a side note - I not on your pictures, you already have a set of WBCCI member numbers. did you have North West put them on for you?

[Leprechaun84]

Originally Posted by Arcticfox

Looks like a really nice unit...
How did you talk Airstream Adventures NW to deliver it to Sweetgrass? Smart move on your part! Was importing it a big deal at all?

We just purchased a 28' Flying cloud from Airstream Adventures NW (Seattle) and now will have to get over there in the next few weeks to collect it.
(Yick - Sweetgrass would be a lot closer if I would have thought of it earlier....lol)

As a side note what hitch are you towing with?

Cheers
Doug

Hi Doug,

Steve Wells at Airstream Adventures in Nampa Idaho was really accommodating; we told him upfront that we'd like the trailer delivered to the border if possible. There was a reasonable charge for the delivery but it certainly was better than driving all the way to the dealership.

We were very anxious about the importation process and brought every document we had pertaining to the trailer. The process was easier than expected however. We provided the certificate of origin and the US bill of sale to a very unpleasant CBSA drone then she gave us the RIV form to fill out. Seconds later she was stamping forms with amazing bureaucratic efficiency and we were off to see the cashier to pay the Federal shakedown. After that we were free to go. They didn't inspect the trailer, check the stickers on it, or even glance at it, they just wanted our money.

Bringing the vehicle into Canada took maybe an hour, 90% of that time was spent in line. Looking back we were far too concerned about crossing the border.

We used an Equalizer hitch, and it performed great. The trailer was a breeze to tow. The only downside to the Equalizer that I noticed was the horrendous creaking and clunking noises when performing tight turns. I think the noise is coming from where the torsion bars connect to the hitch. I'm considering throwing a little lithium grease on hitch end of the torsion bars but want to research the consequences of doing so (friction being necessary to the anti-sway function of the hitch). If anyone has insight on the topic I'd appreciate it.

As a side note - I not on your pictures, you already have a set of WBCCI member numbers. did you have North West put them on for you?

With regards to the WBCCI number on the unit; you're right, we had the dealership put the decals on before we took delivery. We told Steve Wells that we'd like to join the club (hoping to acquire some wisdom) and inquired as to whether we could have them apply the decals. They not only applied the decals, they registered us and paid our first year's membership dues too!

Can't say enough good things about our experience with Airstream Adventures NW out of Nampa. What had been stressing us out for months turned out to be a breeze.

Cheers,

Stephen

[Leprechaun84]

Originally Posted by andreasduess

There's your problem right there.

Welcome.

Haha, I knew that comment would get a response!