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Old 05-09-2009, 12:55 AM   #1
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Question The Origin of AS Passion

Hello Everybody,

I just found this site by a google search, and I am excited to be surrounded by others that share my passion for AS. I am currently searching for my first AS.

I wanted to hear from everybody where they first discovered an AS. And how they feel in love with Airstreams.

For me, it was when I was a kid, and I was camping in Uniontown. In our campsite was this beautiful authentic piece of America. It was shining and I looked at myself in the reflection and I knew I was in love.

It was so unique, and so beautiful. I knew one day I would have one for myself. I am currently working, and saving up for one. I plan on buying one, and becoming full timer.

Cheers
Andrew
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Old 05-09-2009, 05:57 AM   #2
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Welcome Andrew

First of all welcome to the forum, and good luck in your search for your AS. Join us for a rally or two while you search for that "Special Rig", and get to know some other silver addicts. You may want to consider other silver brands too.


Best of Luck,

Kevin
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Old 05-09-2009, 06:22 AM   #3
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Thanks. Although I am stuck on Airstreams. That is the only brand for me.
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Old 05-09-2009, 07:01 AM   #4
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Welcome. For me it is the metal. I am a welder by trade and am especially fond of aluminum. Additionally, the distinct look that still looks a great deal like the originals appeals to me.........kind of like how a new Harley still looks like and "old" Harley.
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Old 05-09-2009, 07:48 AM   #5
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Welcome. About 15 years ago we moved into a new neighborhood. Neighbor across the road had a 32' coach, was retired and toured the SW for about half the year. When he was back he'd show us pictures of his travels. We got hooked.
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Old 05-09-2009, 08:34 AM   #6
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I know what you mean Ahab. I have this picture on my desktop, it is of an airstream in the early 60's in front of a sculpture curved from sandstone in a mountain in Iran. That picture couldn't be taken today, but to be on an adventure like that. It would be amazing.
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Old 05-09-2009, 08:55 AM   #7
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The Origin of AS Passion

Greetings Andrew!

I was first bitten by the Airstream bug when I was five years old in 1964. Friends of my family had just purchased a new Airstream Overlander (their second Airstream). I was invited to go on a short camping trip that summer and was hooked -- those hammock bunks were fascinating to a five year old!

The picture below is of the Overlander in about 1968:



Our friends retired from traveling and sold the Overlander in 1980. I had an opportunity to purchase it for less than $4,000, but it was beyond my budget as a college student.

By 1995, the Airstream bug was becoming active again, and I began the search for my first Airstream. For six months, I would drive to see any Airstream advertised within 300 miles of my home -- it seemed like each one had a few of the features that I wanted, but not all. Finally, just before I gave up looking for the winter, I decided to travel to look at a '64 Airstream advertised as being 28'. After two hours of trying to find the owner's location -- I finally spied the trailer. I had just walked in the door and realized that this was the coach for me and two hours later, I was writing my check for the deposit and making arrangements to pick up the Overlander two weeks later.

What I didn't know at the time, was that there was probably another reason that this coach seemed to call to me. I learned a few months later that this was actually the coach that our friends had owned, and I was now its third owner.

The coach as it appeared when I purchased it in 1995:



The coach as it appears today:



Very recently, I have had new aluminum wheels added but haven't taken any photos since that addition was made.

Kevin
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Old 05-09-2009, 09:03 AM   #8
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your AS is really beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
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Old 05-09-2009, 09:03 AM   #9
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I have been fascinated with Airstreams ever since I was about 10 years old. We lived in a small mountain town. I saw one come through one day and thought it was a spaceship or something. I have a huge admiration of flying and Airstreams have a lot of similarity to aircraft. I knew I would own one sometime.
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Old 05-09-2009, 02:00 PM   #10
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My grandparents had Airstreams when they retired in the 1970s. My brothers and I would go with them and spend much of the summers at various campgrounds. Their home base and favorite campground was Hunting Island state park (in SC, off Beaufort--which is still my favorite place in the world to camp). I fell in love with camping and with Airstreams then and there.
We got our first one about 5 years ago--wanted my own kids to experience what I had experienced. Some of my fondest memories are of camping with my grandparents and hope that my kids will look back fondly on the time we have spent in the Airstream. They love to go now at ages 8 and 5 and it would warm my heart if, when grown with their own kids, they would continue the tradition. Suspect they will.
Good luck in your search.
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Old 05-09-2009, 04:20 PM   #11
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My family were Airstreamers. Growing up, I spent my summers in my parents' Airstream when they would take me and my brother on vacations and weekend trips. When I take my AS on a trip, I can't help but feel a connection to those days as a boy and the excitement I felt when dad would start hitching up the AS for our next outing. As an adult, when I started shopping for a camper of my own, there simply was no other choice. It had to be an Airstream or nothing.
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Old 05-09-2009, 05:07 PM   #12
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Origin of Airstream Passion

Andrew, good luck in your quest to join the Airstream lifestyle. My interest in Airstream trailers harkens back over 60 years ago when on a summer trip to visit family in Colorado, somewhere between Lordsburg and Deming New Mexico, out of the heat waves coming off the highway, I thought I was seeing a mirage. This silver image slowly took form as it progressed toward us. I asked my Dad what it was? He said that it was an Airstream. As it went by heading west, I couldn't help but exclaim, "damn, that is really neat". My Mom reached back and slapped me on the top of my head and said not to use profanity. Even though I now own an Airstream, I still think to myself, 'damn, that is really neat" each time I see one.
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Old 05-11-2009, 07:12 AM   #13
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I grew up in SoCal, and my folks used to take us to Disneyland (it was still out in the orange groves then!). Anyway, after taking Rosemead Blvd past the Nike missle base at Whittier Narrows, we jumped on the 2 lanes each way Santa Anna Freeway and just before we got to Wallyworld there was a billboard with a picture of Wally AND an Airstream trailer stuck on top of it. I thought then what a cool trailer, I will have one someday. The Nike base is gone, the orange groves are gone, the billboard and factory are gone, but my Safari isn't!

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Old 05-11-2009, 08:04 AM   #14
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Wink The Passion Of The Airstream

SteamPowerd,
The "passion" infected me when I was a kid in the late 60's early 70's. When my family would run down I-95 to visit my mom's relatives in North Carolina and I would count Airstreams on the interstate and thought they were the coolest thing on wheels and fell in love with their shine and shape. Flash forward 4 decades and I was finally in a position to own one. Then the bug bit hard and a year later I had two. Now we are searching for number 3 for my daughter, son-in-law, and grandson (at least that's what I tell my wife)

I love older classic modes of transportation and I lump Airstreams in with the timeless beauty of DC-3's and Model A Fords.

PS - I also sent you a PM invite to some rallies in your neck of the woods.
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Old 05-11-2009, 09:38 AM   #15
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What great stories...

My grandparents lived in WV but lived in their Airstream about 9 months out of the year. Three or four months each year they *hunkered down* at the (now defunct) Port-O-Call Airstream Park in Melbourne FL - just 15 miles from my parents home. I spent quite a bit of time during the summers with them. The other 4-5 months were spent in Mexico and South/Central America. They were very active in the WBCCI.

I remember my grandmother laying in the sun on her *porch* and always preparing great meals in their trailer. Now that I have my own trailer, I really respect their ability to *coexist* in such close quarters. Their lives were so different than mine in my trailer ---- they were always up at 5:30am, fully dressed (she in a dress, he in dress pants and button down shirt), cooking, sewing, repairing bikes, having cocktail hour and lots of other entertaining, in bed by 10:00 after writing letters to friends they'd met on their travels. Whereas mine is sitting around the campfire in jeans & a T, drinking beer and grilling something outside before dozing off in the lounge. But I think we all enjoy the time in our Silver Gem alike.

In case anyone is interested; here's a bit more of my family history and vintage pics.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f161...tos-45861.html
Laura
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Old 05-11-2009, 10:07 AM   #16
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Ours is a more practical affection. My wife and I decided we wanted to take a slice of pre-retirement in a couple of years after the youngest child leaves the house. After many years of tent camping, we liked the idea of buying a travel trailer that would serve us well for many years. The "same old box" coaches were, well, pretty hideous. We knew of Airstreams, but had nothing like a lifelong love affair with them. We liked the new Airstreams better than anything else on the market, but it still didn't have the right "vibe." Then, we started looked at vintage trailers... Spartans, Avions, Airstreams. We choose Airstream for some practical reasons. There is a strong aftermarket for parts. These forums provide tons of great advice. The 60s Airstreams are more roomy (particular in headroom) than the 40s Spartans. The Overlander was the perfect length for two people. It was about a million times more "us" than any modern box trailer. So... is it love? After six months living fulltime, we'll see.
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Old 05-11-2009, 10:26 AM   #17
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Passion? I guess. I'm finding it more of a spiritual journey. Having just started this stuff in November afer purchasing a 2008, I'm finding more and more people coming out of the woodwork, either saying "wow, an airstream!", or "wow, what is that thing?", or worse, just thinking that I'm an uppity snob (which is NOT the case, if you smell coffee, come on in Wally!).

The want/need for an RV ran strong with me. I've been described by an overgrown boy scout (that's what the wife says anyway) and the need to get outside was necessitated by my profession (I'm a geek). So I took the then girlfriend (now wife) to RV shows, where she said the one thing that made the difference.

I don't camp in anything ugly.
New or old, has to be cute. Or kitsch.
Where's the airstreams?

At the time, couldn't afford one, and my mind was on a popup for 7 years. Bought it, introduced the wife to my style of camping (where the site is the headquarters for local adventures). She loved it! But hated the setup and lack of amenities.
Flash forward 2 years. Hey, economy has tanked, let's go to New Jersey and see what we could deal up. Bingo, found the one that we had been drooling over, bought it.
As for me, I LOVE the fact that with proper care, it will outlive me and the adventure WILL continue on in my absence. Once again, spiritual journey. Try that with a SOB.
Oh yeah, rivets. Not particle board, 2 by 4's, fiberglass and hope that it won't develop a leak in 10 years.
As you could probably tell, my wife's the aesthetic. She loves it, and she's the one that sold me on it's durability, and all the other good stuff that comes with an airstream.

I also love the retro stuff. i too rebuilt model a fords with my father in the backyard.
I'm in the hopes of in my travels finding an old airstream sitting in a field waiting to get picked up to get remodelled for my wife's business. Hey, you never know.
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Old 05-11-2009, 06:35 PM   #18
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It's probably not a popular opinion, but I grew up around both Airstream trailers and motorhomes, and to me Airstream means quality more than anything else. The aluminum is pretty neat, mind you, but even my B-van just screams "Airstream" once you see how well put together it is inside - for example, it has solid oak cabinets - and this is why so many of them are still on the road (how many other '90s-era B-vans do you see running around?). The first time I looked at my B-van, I just kept saying, "It's definitely an Airstream."

In my case, I own a car that I simply love driving and take to an annual event, and that car cannot tow a trailer, so for at least the next few years, barring any drastic changes in life, I'm going to be a motorhome owner. Someday, though, I'll probably switch to an Airstream trailer.
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Old 05-11-2009, 07:13 PM   #19
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I remember seeing an Airstream caravan on a family camping trip to the west coast in 1969 when I was 9 years old. I remember a line of silver trailers going past in the opposite direction, first one, then two, then they just kept coming and coming. I don't remember thinking about Airstreams between then and the summer of 1998. We had just had our third and fourth child (twins) the year before, and I decided that if we wanted to take up camping again a travel trailer was the way to go. We were driving from Midland to Gladwin, MI when I saw an old Airstream along the road, and suddenly that memory from 1969 came flooding back and I was hooked on the idea of getting an Airstream. It was the early days of the Internet and as soon as we got home I hit the computer to see what I could learn. We bought our '64 Overlander a few weeks later.
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Old 05-11-2009, 08:27 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Streampowerd View Post
Hello Everybody,

I just found this site by a google search, and I am excited to be surrounded by others that share my passion for AS. I am currently searching for my first AS.

I wanted to hear from everybody where they first discovered an AS. And how they feel in love with Airstreams.

For me, it was when I was a kid, and I was camping in Uniontown. In our campsite was this beautiful authentic piece of America. It was shining and I looked at myself in the reflection and I knew I was in love.

It was so unique, and so beautiful. I knew one day I would have one for myself. I am currently working, and saving up for one. I plan on buying one, and becoming full timer.

Cheers
Andrew
Andrew, you need to check out PENN WOODS Airstream Park. It's about an hour and a half north of Pittsburgh. There are many Airstreamers there and last time I visited, several units were for sale.

Looking at Airstreams on www.airstream.com or even on the classifieds here won't give you a realistic idea of what staying in any Airstream will really be like. Finding a dealer with a big inventory, visiting a forum rally (or one by WBCCI) or making the Haj to Jackson Center Ohio and seeing the factory is where you'll find "the right one". Or of course visiting an Airstream only RV park.

Right now the factory is a bit sad due to layoffs.

Good luck in your search and I hope you'll enjoy visiting Penn Woods - lots of great people there.

Oh, How I first encountered Airstreams? My Aunt Jean had two during the early 60's - she called her Overlander "The Silver Suppository" which tells you a lot about her sense of humor.

Happy Trails.

Paula
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