Our first REAL trip...

So it is now April 2. We are camped at Wilson's along the French Broad River. Gorgeous view but lots of traffic noise. We are literally in the middle of several miles of riverside greenway. We do paddle this river in warmer times, it runs through the Biltmore estate. We had hoped to rent bikes but impending high winds and unexpected cold temps will send us home after lunch.

There is lots of traffic noise from the interstate and we are surrounded by big rigs but the view out the back is pure pleasure as are walks on the greenway.

I have been amazed at both how crowded and how private the campgrounds feel. We are typically parked between rigs that tower over us literally within spitting distance, yet folks are quiet and respectful. Many live in their rigs, some of which sport exterior kitchens as well as the ones inside. Most have large TVs. (Jessie's primary memory of a new 19' Airstream, marked down to $50K, was that it had 3 TVs and a lot of wasted space thereby). I just pack a laptop and DVDs.  We have gotten a lot of curious looks, and some admiring looks and comments. The big rigs are elegant but I suspect not nearly as carefree as their owners imagined. My over anxious self is not as carefree as I would like to be, I think we probably would be fine staying on tonite, but setup and takedown are simple and quick. And the kitchen works just fine. And that was the point.

Practice Run

Our first trip was to the mountains in January for RV driving school. My son came along to supervise and was a gracious (silent) observer as I spent five hours driving backwards at a crawl. No action shots from that trip!

Now that the weather has improved, my son, daughter and I had our first overnight in a local campground. I managed all the hookup and set up by my lonesome but was glad to send the kids into town as we discovered items I never knew I needed. We ate well, we mostly slept well. A shout out to the Amina stove top oven folks--I've made good cornbread and bump biscuits so far in this odd, but apparently effective contraption. And, despite an overactive dog and much rain, we came home friends. We progress...

The Adventure Begins for Real

LibraryAnn on her way home.

So the adventure began in my mind sitting in my community college library during a quiet spell, pouring over a book on the history of the Airstream. The man who invented it couldn't get his wife out of the kitchen so he built one they could take camping. This thought was too delicious (literally) for a woman with multiple food issues who likes to get away but hates navigating restaurant  food on the road. And who hasn't dreamed of taking, carefree, to the open road?! And for me, the dream of taking my kitchen with me was the best dream of them all!

So the search was on. I started by lurking the Airstream forums. I learned a lot about camping, maintenance and repair, and about tow vehicles. And that by the time an Airstream was old enough for me to afford, I couldn't afford the repairs. I bought a buyers guide to "stickies", or conventional stick built trailers, and learned how to search for leaks--and found many. Somewhere on a forum was mentioned ultra-lightweight molded fiberglass trailers that did not leak and I started lurking that forum. And searching for a long bed crew cab Frontier with a tow package. Found the truck in Charlotte last June, and LibraryAnn found me on the forum near Thanksgiving. Brought her home from Fayetteville in pouring rain December 2.

Her previous owner was a librarian who never got to travel with her.  She travels with us in spirit now as we make our first "get acquainted" trips.