And apologies in advance for what turned into a long introductory post… I’m technically not a new member, I’ve been searching and reading these forums for several months leading up to taking delivery of a 2015 Intl Serenity 25FB this past weekend – still excited thinking about it!
We’re a family of 4 (5 counting the Labrador), exploring with an Airstream has been on my mind for years, so stoked to finally make it happen!
A little background, because of the high cost of newer trailers, last summer we bought a smaller trailer (a Pacific Coachworks mighty lite 16BB) just to see if we would actually use/enjoy it. A year later, after multiple trips to the California central coast, a weekend in Tahoe, and a few last minute get aways, we’re hooked! We also realized we needed a bit more space, particularly when the weather doesn’t cooperate, so we knew we would go up in size.
I want to call out the fantastic buying experience we had with Danny Villanueva at Bay Area Airstream - once we figured out which model we were looking for, we had a great deal so quickly I literally wasn’t ready for it! Storage is at a premium in our part of the SF area, so I had to put off delivery for a few weeks to sell the first trailer – finally got the Airstream out to the coast this weekend!
We had a great (but short) trip to one of our favorite places, a KOA just south of Pescadero. The kids and wife hadn’t seen this particular trailer before, it was an instant hit - we already had plans to be back for Labor Day, now we’ll be there in our new rig. Can’t wait…
We did have one odd problem on our shakedown cruise, yesterday afternoon, I discovered a tiny fountain projecting from the external water heater access panel. Pulling it open, I could see that the drain plug was leaking – not around the threads, but from the base of the plug itself! It must have just started as the ground below wasn’t even damp, shutting the water off obviously stopped the leaking.
After reading airforums, and with the magic of modern technology, the replacement is sitting on my doorstep not even 24 hrs later. I just need to get home and replace the plug (with some Teflon tape on the threads) and hopefully should be good to go! Thought it was odd – don’t remember anyone suggesting spare water heater drain plugs in the many ‘what do I need for my new airstream’ threads, so here it is. Fortunately this is exactly the sort of thing I wanted to find before the 5 day trip.
I’ll finish my already long post with a few details of our setup, because I know I spent many hours here researching the options.
We already had a 2013 Yukon XL Denali, and decided to stick with that as our tow vehicle. Haven’t had chance to visit the CAT scale yet, but will do so soon and post the results. The dealer recommended the Blue Ox hitch setup, reading here lead me to conclude that was a reasonable place to start, will consider replacing it as we gain more experience – so far I can say I definitely notice the increased weight (going from ~2000 lb single axle to 6500+ double) which I expected, no concerns going up or down so far, we haven’t been in any significant wind – yet… I did buy clip on mirrors (CIPA 10900) as the Airstream is wider than our previous trailer, my preliminary conclusion is that I don’t need them, but do appreciate the added information – they will be staying. There was another new owner taking delivery the same day we were, I’m hoping to read about her experiences with a rearward wireless camera soon!
Ok, now I’m done – many, MANY thanks to the countless folks who have contributed their experiences to these forums, I have literally lost count of the tidbits I’ve picked up here. Looking forward to joining the ranks!
If I've figured out how it works, this should be a picture of Danny V. from Bay Area Airstream in front of our new rig...
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