Hello from New Mexico

[drhodes22]

Greetings from New Mexico,

By way of introduction, we will be taking delivery of our 2018 22FB Sport on March 8th. This is our first travel trailer and will be towing with a 2017 V6 Toyota Tacoma with Tow Package.

To say we have questions is an understatement! I think the only thing we know for sure is how much we "don't know." One of the first questions would be what would be a good "shake-down" cruise for the new trailer? What are the things that are considered a "must change" on this. I have heard/read the reasonings about the Goodyear tires and am keeping this in mind.

We plan to do as many trips this Spring/Summer/Fall as time will allow as I am retired/ spouse is still working.

Oh, for those in the know-one more questions--best sleeping arrangements for the K9 companions?? We have two Labradors and they need "their space" as well.

Thanks for the great advice.
D Rhodes/New Mexico

[n2916s]

Welcome and congratulations!

New Mexico has excellent state parks (Elephant Butte for example) so finding a reasonably close spot for a shakedown cruise should be no problem.

You also have an excellent dealership in Albuquerque, Holiday Trailer aka Airstream of New Mexico. It has been family run forever with an excellent service department. After your first trip(s), you'll have a "punch list" of stuff that needs attention under warranty and they can handle anything.

For generic parts (sewer hoses, power adapters, water lines...) there is Central Trailer Supply (also in ABQ). Cheaper than Camping World.

Once your comfortable towing, try to spend some time in Palo Duro State Park south of Amarillo. Beautiful and will cure you of any fear of steep grades!

[eubank]

Cool! Another owner in Albuquerque! My wife and I are just to your south in Bosque Farms. Mike filled you in on some of the Airstream shopping in the area. Do keep in mind that Airstreams, like many other RVs, are comprised of many Airstream specific parts and many parts that are supplied by other manufacturers. THe latter include many components like refrigerator, AC, heaters, converters/inverters, and so forth. FOr those, you don't need to seek out specifically Airstream suppliers.

And you certainly live in a state that is popular for us Airstreamers. There are several affiliates ("units") of the Airstream association active in the state, including not just the New Mexico Unit, but also the Four Corners Unit.

If you decide to join the club -- and we would certainly welcome you! -- also keep in mind that you join any unit you want, regardless of geographic location. The unit we belong to -- Four Corners -- has lots of members who don't even live in any of the four cornering states!

Futhermore, rallies are open to anybody in the club, not just unit members. WE plan to attend a couple of our unit's forthcoming rallies, but we're also thinking about attending a rally from a non-New Mexico unit down in Texas, where we need to go anyway to visit some friends.

So welcome to Airstreaming in New Mexico!


Lynn

[abqdor]

Welcome to the Airstream family. We purchased our first Airstream, a 25' Flying Cloud FB from Airstream of NM just two years ago. Our maiden voyage was to Elephant Butte State Park because I wanted an easy first tow. I-25 is better than I-40. There are fewer semi's, which was what I really wanted to get used to.

The Butte has full hook-ups and even dump stations at Monticello as well as Desert Cove. It's just over two hours from Albuquerque and very decent grades (except for the two canyons close to the lake).

Various commitments have kept our travels limited to New Mexico so far, but we live in a great state with mountains as well as deserts in which to camp. The Jemez mountains has great campsites and is very close to Rio Rancho, but if your are looking to use the trailer as soon as you get it, going south will be much warmer for you.

The learning curve is steep, but quite manageable. PM me if you have more questions. Enjoy!

[The Ice Man]

Welcome to the Family!

Two answers above with lots of sage advice. New Mexico has a great State Park system and lots of BLM land. If you want to start out easy you could do something like driving down to the Isleta Pueblo, maybe an hour away, for full hookups. With that under your belt something like Elephant Buttes or Caballo State Park would be farther away and give you a choice of dry camping or limited hookups. Head north and you have your choice of the campgrounds in the Whittington Center (excellent and inexpensive) about 6 or 7 miles south of Raton, or public lands. Southeast of Las Cruces you've got all of Big Bend and west of Albuquerque you've got all of Arizona. Cortez, Durango and Colorado are just north of you. So you have lots of opportunities to start out with baby steps and grow them to adventures - drive an hour or drive a day. Dang, New Mexico is just a good place to be.

Lynn is right, either the NM unit or the 4 Corners Unit would love to have you attend one of their rallies as a guest to see if it's your cup of tea. They both represent a huge storehouse of knowledge.

[PKI]

Shakedown = US54 to Wichita, I35 to Salina, I70 to Denver, over the Pass through the Ike tunnel, continue I70 to Grand Junction, US50 down to Montrose, then the million dollare highway down to Durango, then jump over to I25 and go home to brag you have done it. Might be a good idea to wait until the weather warms up a bit, though. Or you could just run up and down I40 until it all feels good, fine, and fun.

A shake down is a trip to figure out how to do what you want to do. So make a list of those objectives and figure out where to go to learn what those places require. A very nice trip is over along the Colorado river and up to the North rim of the Grand Canyon. You will spend some time dry camping, so a local practice session is a good shakedown weekend. Get a suitcase solar pack to keep you charged if the sun is out. Some folks add a second battery. Some folks make the single work with a small generator.

The 22 is a nice coach and you should get some good advice from owners with lots of experience.

Hope to see you down the road some day. Pat

[Woosch]

For your dogs, we had a Lab and Golden retriever that were very happy sleeping under the dinette. A big dog blanket and those two were in Dog heaven! I imagine the dimensions for your dinette are close to the same as ours.

You might want to download the owners manual from Airstream.com and start familiarizing yourself before your walkthrough. Also a copy of "The Newbies Guide to Airstreaming" and "The (nearly) Complete Guide to Airstream Maintenance" would be good information before pickup day.
Have fun!

[dbj216]

Hello from Colorado: Welcome to the Airstream community. You're going to have great travel adventures in your new trailer.

I might recommend you coordinate with your dealer and spend a night or two right on the dealer's lot. You and your dealer can check out all the features, the dealer can answer any questions that come up, and maybe make any adjustments you find the trailer needs.

Then pull it home on secondary roads where you can keep the speeds down and get used to the "towing dynamics". You can't accelerate as hard, it takes more room to brake to a stop, you have to make wide turns, and it takes time to learn to back the thing up. You will have a checklist of all the items that need buttoned up before you tow. The books mentioned above are great learning tools. I recommend them and I have them both.

It's going to be a long wait until March. But you can learn a lot about Airstreaming here on these Forums.

David