Tuesday, Oct 25 We sacrificed 19 days to hang around home while we caught up on end-of-summer/fall “stuff.” This left time for a long-awaited day-trip to Jackson Center to tour the new Airstream factory and Heritage Museum. Here are a couple pictures from the internet – the architectural rendering from when the new factory was first announced, and an overhead view of the factory as it is now. This new 723,000-square-foot factory ($50 million worth!) will allow Airstream to double its production, and the attached Heritage Center showcases the last 90 years of Airstream manufacturing. Stepping inside the expansive factory everything is bright, open, and “streamlined” with lots of glass reflecting great views – just like the Airstreams they build! The entry has several open lounge areas where the tours gather, a snack area, and an impressive glass entrance into the working factory. Pictures are not allowed in the factory, so I’ll briefly describe how an Airstream is built – we saw it all! The 350-hour building process starts with adding holding tanks to the frame. An average of 1,200 square feet of aluminum is cut, bent and flexed into shapes that are riveted together by over 3,000 rivets and sealed. That entire structure is lifted up by its roof, swung into place and attached to the frame. Insulation is added and then the whole structure is bombarded by 10,000 gallons of water at hurricane force to check for leaks. All furniture and cabinetry is built on site, and must fit through the door to be installed. The unit goes through a quality control inspection, is cleaned and polished, and then rolled out the door and delivered to a dealer. With the tour over, we paid $3 to tour the Airstream Heritage Center, where over 90 years of Airstream history is brought to life. There are a dozen vintage Airstreams on display alongside in-depth exhibits highlighting the iconic Airstream history. That was the extent of our silver-fix for the our two weeks at home –just enough to get us motivated for our next trip . . . coming up in 5 days, our annual fall pilgrimage to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
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October 2021
We don’t go camping any more . . . we go ‘streamin’ ! The “SIlvermine and His” is our 2018 25' Airstream Serenity with Salsa interior and front twin beds., and ‘streamin’ is the name we use to describe our adventures. Stream along as we document everything from weekend trips to longer summer excursions and full-blown vacations. You know what they say: if you’re not in an Airstream – you’re just camping!
Tom & Ella Brown |