You took your Airstream there?????? NO WAY

[AZstreamin]

Wanted to start a fun travel experience thread…This community has logged millions of miles on the road and many of the best travel stories are those unexpected destinations or maybe it’s a tale that starts with… you won’t believe where I took my Airstream….

So as a newbie with only 3500 miles under my belt I want to open the floor to you… Let’s hear your wild travel story or destination… Was it half way around the world? Did your AS go to Woodstock… maybe it was a vendor at a Grateful Dead show…maybe it was the time you got it stuck crossing a mountain pass in the winter.. Maybe it has been to every baseball park in the country in one summer… OK you get the picture now let’s hear your story…

[uwe]

The first oicture is of the climb up olf Creek Pass a few years ago. Gravel and potholes for miles. Reminded me of a third world Wally caravan from the 50's...
The second and third picture are of our trips to San felipe, where beach front camping in Mexico is as it's best. You can crawl across beach sand with your airstream in tow...

[55inyo]

My airstream story is not all that great. But I took my airstream
over the sierra nevada mountain range hwy 395 from lake isabella
to porterville california thinking it would be a quick little ride. I
found out getting over the sierra nevada mountain range is no little
ride it took most of the day. Then I saw a sign that said trailors
over 22 ft were not permitted on that road, but it was too late I
keep going. On a mountain ridge/cliff about 3000 ft down a forest
service truck almost slamed into me head on which would have
caused my truck and trailor to go over the cliff. Fortunlely the
forest service truck stoped in time but ended up in a ditch.
Also I have been out to Death Valley many times
if you ever get a chance to go there it is really nice. And always
remember to never ever go over 65 mph when towing a trailor.

[Druupy]

Does setting cruise control above 85 MPH count?

Long stretches of desert hwy get lonely.

Air in tow is real smooth above 70.

[AZstreamin]

Originally Posted by 55inyo

My airstream story is not all that great. But I took my airstream
over the sierra nevada mountain range

Come on....give yourself some credit 55inyo...that's quite a tale... and it is great... Note: journal that under Adventure Trips.... your lucky to BE.....ok I’m listening all ....keep 'em coming...

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by Druupy

Does setting cruise control above 85 MPH count?

Long stretches of desert hwy get lonely.

Air in tow is real smooth above 70.

I concur. On interstates I regularly tow with cruise set on 75. However, that is MY limit. Nothing more!

[55inyo]

Hey thanks for the nice reply azstreamin. And this is a message to
Druupy, Im just a slow driver plus the fact that my trailor has almost
fishtailed on me a couple times coming down hills in Death valley.
So Im real careful about that. Better to be alive then dead I say.
-----Or even worse lose the Airstream. But my trailor is on a
straight axel and it is dangerous for me to drive to fast with it.
check out my trailor it is just below your message Azstreamin.
It wont be there for long as you know on this web site there are
many messages that come in.---- Now the mojave desert where
I live and have grown up in is my version of paradise. I love Death
Valley, It is so vast and peaceful there.

[CaddyGrn]

Wow folks!

Tow at 75+ what do you do if you have to stop? But, then I am a !!!! Besides, I think of gas mileage each time I get into a vehicle! Sometimes it is just nice to look at the scenery!

Travel safe! Have fun!

Mrs. NorCal Bambi (traveling in S Tardis)

[55inyo]

You know what I have noticed , We all live in nice
places Azstreamin lives in Channdler Az, Druupy
lives in Port Orchard, Washington. Caddygrn lives
in Yreka,calif, and mimies mate lives in Fayetteville ,
Ga. As they say in California that is sweet. By the
way I am going to have another beer.----Airstream
rules .

[yukionna]

I have a story similar to the story posted by 55inyo...

This is part of the story of our adventure to South Carolina to pick up our first Airstream trailer that we had won on eBay. At this point in our lives, we had always been tent campers and neither one of us had any experience in towing a trailer. The story starts on a Saturday after we picked up the trailer the day before and were in the process of working our way back north -- trying to get home to Massachusetts by Sunday. We had been detoured on Friday night and were trying to find a way back to Route 81 so we could reach the Pennslvania border by dark...

The question now was how to return to Route 81 without losing too much time. We had already lost precious hours due to the slow traverse on Route 29. Also, we didn't enjoy the prospect of driving all day on Sunday. So, with road atlas in hand, I searched for the most direct route while hubby drove.

One alternative was to stay on Route 29 to Charlottesville and then take Route 64 West to Route 81. Instead, we decided to take Route 501 out of Lynchburg, Virginia as it seemed to be the fastest, most direct roadway between Routes 29 and 81. The road started out innocently enough as it wound gently uphill through the forest with stunning views around each bend (see photo #1). The sign prohibiting tracker trailer trucks from taking this route was a harbinger of what was ahead. As it turned out, our "direct route" went directly through the Blue Ridge Mountain range.

Before too long, the "gently winding" road disappeared and was replaced with switchbacks and a steep grade upward. Luckily for us, traffic was light. Each time the traffic line grew behind us, we pulled over to let it by and to catch our breath. Turning back was not an option now. If we were in a convertible, cruising along with the top down, we probably would have enjoyed this leg of the journey a little bit more. Instead, we were in a Chevy Blazer with our shiny, new Airstream in tow driven by a driver with only 200 miles of highway towing experience under his belt.

Downhill was trickier with yet more steep grades and heart-stopping hairpin turns (see photo #3). There were quite a few times where I had to remind myself to breathe. Undaunted, hubby forged onward with nary a flinch. With a dozen hairpin turns under his belt, he soon became an expert at navigating the turns AND keeping both vehicles in his lane. The Airstream tracked beautifully through every turn. At times, we even forgot we were pulling it. Needless to say, the passenger side brake pedal was worn out long before we reached the bottom of the mountain pass.

In hindsight, if we stayed on Route 29 to Charlottesville, this leg of the trip might have been quicker and with less wear and tear on the vehicles -- I can't imagine it would have been more scenic. All along the way, we were treated to spectacular views of waterfall bespeckled gorges and breathtaking scenic vistas across the valleys. Around one corner, we encountered a picturesque horse farm nestled in the bend of a downward turn (see photo #2). The brick house was surrounded by a white picket fence and well worn horse paths.

Around another corner, we saw a farmhouse in the distant valley surrounded by acres of farmland with grazing cows. Aside from a few houses at the summit and in the valleys, there weren't many homes on this route.

One hour and thirty miles later, we made it through the mountain pass. At 4:20 in the afternoon, we were now well behind our original schedule of reaching Pennsylvania before dark. With one last look at the mountain range (see photo #4) we just crossed, we continued onward to Route 81 where we hoped to make up some lost time.

[rseagle]

I guess familiarity makes a big difference in the percepion of road difficulty. I grew up in Lynchburg and went to college in Lexington. The most direct route between points was Rt. 501. I know every turn. As a matter of fact, the route is easier since the Highway Department smoothed out some hairpin curves in the Coleman Falls/Holcomb Rock area.
We tow our 22' Airstream regularly over this route each summer as we camp out at Cave Mountain Lake CG in the Jefferson NF near I-81 and Natural Bridge. The scenery in the James River gorge is breath taking. Afterward, we travel east to Lynchburg to my sister's house for a visit, before heading home to Fredericksburg.
It's not an easy drive, to say the least, but truckers do drive it, and slower speeds (on Rt. 501) are safer than the 65-75 mph downhill speeds coming off Afton Mountain on I-64. A runaway doesn't have a chance.

[maxandgeorgia]

Some of these stories that deal with mountain driving, passes, and hairpin turns, causes me to point out that a recommendation was made on another thread just this week for a directory to mountain driving that is for truckers and anyone hauling a long or heavy vehicle/tow over mountains in the east and west. I just ordered ours through Amazon, reasonably priced book, expensive shipping since I wanted ours before we head out west this week. The guide is paperback and gives the map of a state indicating numbered passes and challenging highway areas, followed by entries that give details any driver should have before entering or leaving one of these: differences in conditions in directions, even tells in the extreme cases: "This pass is dangerous!" The information included is very detailed so that if you choose to haul over a pass, you know what you are headed into. The book is titled: Mountain Directory Guide West for Truckers, RV's, and Motorhomes. It's twin just changes the title to Mountain East. . . It was recommended here on the forum, and it is going to be a permanent addition to our Airstream travel library as well as a well-thumbed reference on this week's trip! Don't mean to hijack this thread, but the nature of the thread title indicates that this is a good reference for many of us! ~G

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by CaddyGrn

Wow folks!

Tow at 75+ what do you do if you have to stop? But, then I am a !!!! Besides, I think of gas mileage each time I get into a vehicle! Sometimes it is just nice to look at the scenery!

Travel safe! Have fun!

Mrs. NorCal Bambi (traveling in S Tardis)

Well Mrs. NorCal, I only tow at 75 on interstates that I know really well. I frequent I-75 from Metro Atlanta to Central Florida several times a year so I know it pretty well including the many areas where road construction is going on. I plan my "speed" around these areas. On this stretch of I-75 you either go a minimum of 75 or you get run over or you have to stay in the beat up trucker's lane. I think the roughness of the right lane is worse on the trailer than going an extra few MPH's. The speed limit is posted at 70 and adding 5 MPH is over looked by the State Troopers. Since my family is so familiar with this stretch of interstate, we don't miss any scenery at that speed (not that there is much to see on that stretch anyway ). My observations have been that you really don't miss much scenary at any speed on the interstates. When off interstates I stick to the posted speed limit for safety and site seeing.

[Paul Mayeux]

I love reading these stories. Our wildest one took place a few years back - Labor day weekend 2003. We were on our way to Cuchara, CO, on the highway between Raton, NM and Clayton, NM. We love photographing old towns and dilapidated buildings so when we saw a sign that read "Sofia 23mi" we thought that sounded interesting so we looked it up on the map. It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere and it looked to be the perfect candidate for a deserted town. We turned south on NM 453 on a wide improved gravel road. We traveled about 15 to eighteen miles down this smooth county road, stopping occasionally to take some photos of some abandoned farms. We found Sofia. sadly it had evidently been a town at some point in time but there were only a couple of buildings and they had been overtaken by a ranch and turned into some sort of ranching facility. I took a picture of Annie, while things were still quiet and we ran across a cool old bridge.

About a mile out of Sofia the road began to narrow. As quickly as it narrowed it turned soggy. We approached a sign indicating that we were crossing the old Santa Fe Trail. I stopped to take a picture. I also noted that the road was in worse shape than I thought and there was no way to turn around as the sides of the road had some standing water. Evidently it had rained the night before. I shifted the truck into 4 wheel drive and we proceeded another couple of miles. The road was slick but the trailer and truck, being driven at low speed in 4wd Low Range, were tracking fairly well. About five miles west of Sofia we came to a split in the road. I checked the map and it showed a split. Turn right to go back to 87, which is where we wanted to go. I made the right turn and we traveled about 300 yards. I was driving in the center of the road since it was narrow and muddy when a small 4wd S10 pickup approached from the direction we were heading. I pulled to the right slightly to allow him room to pass and when I did our rig slid into the ditch, sinking up past the rims on the truck and up to the belly pan on the Overlander. Things definately looked grim. I got out and surveyed the situation. The mud was so slick it was difficult to walk. The S10 had gone on by now unaware of our situation. There was no cell service - we were literally in the middle of nowhere. I got back in put the truck in gear and with liberal use of the gas we were able to pull forward but couldn't break free of the ruts along the side of the road. I put it in reverse and again with full throttle began to move backward, still unable to get out. We tried this several times over the course of about thirty minutes to no avail. I got out and with a shovel tried dig the ruts down to where tires could break free. No dice. By this time an hour had passed and the S10 comes back along. The driver stops and scratches his head knowing his truck could not do anything for a 7,500 lb truck and 5,500 lb trailer. I asked if he had a tractor. "NO" was his reply. I looked down the road in the direction we were heading and it appeared to drop after a while. I asked him what the road was like further up. He informed me that it was a dead end and the dropoff I could see was where it crossed a creek. He said good luck and as he was driving off he said if I could get into the pasture on either side of the road that the ground was firmer. I figured our only way out was if I backed all the way as far as I could then drove forward as fast as I could then at the last minute cut the wheel hard to the left in order for the momentum to help get our curb side out of the ruts, then without slowing much turn into the pasture on our left through a gate opening right about where the dropoff to the creek starts.

I got in, dropped the truck in reverse and floored it. We slowly dug our way backward until we could move no more. I put it in forward and floored it. We started moving. I began to cut the wheel hard as we neared the end of our ruts. The mud was slinging everywhere but it did start to pull its way to the left then all at once we were back in the center of the road, I continued toward the gate opening. As I approached it I turned the wheel hard to the left and we literally went sliding sideways into the pasture. I wasn't so sure the trailer wasn't going to roll. Once in the pasture we stopped and sure enough the ground was firm. A quick check of things and we drove the pasture as far as we could eventually hitting the road west of where we had turned onto it. As it turns out, the fork we were looking for actually was further on, we finally hit it about two or three miles from where the first fork, not shown on the map, was located. As far as the truck and trailer go, we hit a huge rain storm in Trinidad, CO which took care of the bulk of the mud.

[Paul Mayeux]

Oh, I used up to much space onthe other pictures, but here's the end result...

[Condoluminum]

Our first and most memorable was pre-Airstream SOB Trailer, but it might spare some other members a thrill... We left the east exit of Yellowstone heading for Mt. Rushmore, and enjoyed the ride from Cody to Greybull and shortly beyond on US Hwy 14, a red "Scenic Byway" kind of road on the map... All was well until we began seeing signs for "Shell Creek" and then started climbing and the signs changed to "Shell Rapids" and (shortly after we passed a couple terrified-looking motorhome driverrs coming down the hill at us..) then "Shell Falls". The road got steeper, narrower and twistier, with big rocks and rushing water, as we climbed Shell Canyon... Many flashbacks to Lucy and Desi in the mountains... There was a small reward as the alpine valley at the top in Bighorn National Forest was beautiful at over 7,000' (Granite Pass to get there was almost 9,000'...), and looked like Heidi country...

The second was our decision to casually launch on the Friday of July 4th weekend without reservations and pull the Airstream up northern California's Coast Highway or Route 1, from San Francisco to Leggett, where it joins US 101 for the trip into Oregon... Again a red "Scenic Byway" and I unwisely ignored warnings from sportscar-owning friends who warned me there were sections where you'd see your own tailpipe coming around corners. We bounced and swerved from turnout to turnout to let angry holiday drivers blast past us, and didn't really enjoy the magnificent coastline or redwoods.. Again, it ended well with a last-minute negotiated parking spot in Ft. Bragg (after being turned away at the first 5 campgrounds and RV parks...) and enjoying their "world's Largest Salmon Barbecue" and fireworks for the weekend.. Maybe on a quiet Tuesday morning that road would be more enjoyable, but it wasn't any fun on a summer holiday weekend...

John McG

[casarodante]

Thought I would weigh in with my worst encounter, which in comparison to some, doesn't sound so bad. It happened less than 1 month ago.

We thought we would try out a campground up toward Kings Canyon. It was called Sierra Lakes. It turns out some new owners had taken it over and put a good deal of work into it. We arrived when it was dark (I hate doing that). They gave us a map and said to find a spot that we liked that was open. The RV spots are down one road, the tents another. The map showed the spots and a loop road at the end.

Well, it wasn't exactly like that. The first thing was very steep hill in the middle of the spots. It amazingly steep for a campground for RV's. They just had put down a fairly thick coating of gravel. I started up it and started slipping. Put it in 4x4 and go real slow. I did make it up. We continue looking and thought we would go around the loop. There was no loop. It was just a cul-de-sac with the spots shooting out from it. Where do we turn around? I had to pull into one spot and back into another a couple times. Good thing they weren't too full.

We went back down the hill and selected a spot that was partially up the hill. However I had to turn around again. This time in the parking lot near the office. OK. Back again. The sites were not angled at all, they were at right angles to the road. I had to pull into the spot across the street and back into the spot. Whew, made it.

I had a couple days to figure out how to get out. It was too tight to turn right and down the hill and too steep to turn left and up the hill. So forward into the spot across the street, back down the hill a bit and back into another wider spot. I could then turn right and head down the hill.

We will probably avoid this campground just due to this unless they pave the hill. Here is a photo that sort of shows the problems.

[Minnie's Mate]

Well caadoptees it is a good thing that wasn't me or we'd still be backing up and pulling forward! I do pretty good in the drive way , but if there is any chance that someone might be looking or if it is a strange place or tight quarters, it is like the newbie that I am.

[casarodante]

Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate

Well caadoptees it is a good thing that wasn't me or we'd still be backing up and pulling forward! I do pretty good in the drive way , but if there is any chance that someone might be looking or if it is a strange place or tight quarters, it is like the newbie that I am.

Backing up is definitely a learned skill. When I first started I was so green that it took many attempts to backup in a 'straight' line. However, going to different campgrounds and their various designs, it has made me learn and once you do it you feel real proud. A KOA in Salmon Arm, BC and Humboldt Redwoods SP (Burlington) are two spots that stick in my mind. You can go to a parking lot with boxes and/or cones and practice but the real world is where you do your 'real' learning.

Keep at it and it will come.

[Minnie's Mate]

Well, I guess part of my problem is there have been only three places that haven't been pull-throughs so I'm not getting enough experience.

One of those was at Ft. Wilderness. Talk about close corners! I had to fold my driver's side mirror down flat to the side of the truck to keep it from hitting the truck in the space across the street with it! More than once! Had to do it again getting out of the camp site, too! Spaces and street just too narrow for a 20' truck and 30' Airstream.

Then at the Top of Georgia Airstream Park, the spaces are wide with a concrete parking pad. My wife wanted me to be perfectly centered on the pad. "Dear, it doesn't have to be in the center"....she thought it did! I made three trips around the loop and back trying to get centered on the pad. And there were no Airstreams on any of the sites across the street. URRRRG!! By the way, I seem to do better backing in from the blind side than backing the trailer to the left. I just need someone to make sure I don't back into anything...like a tree or concrete pic-nic table.

And Jackson Center. Well at least there isn't anything across the street from the spaces. Except an occasional tree. I can handle trees. They are big enough I can see them and they are in front of me there.