Those of you that have suffered the insult of a rear-end accident leaving you with an “almost” totaled vehicle know our pain! We have been feeling this the last 3 days as our truck languishes at Superior Auto with an original estimate of 5 weeks of repairs – mostly waiting for a new frame, truck bed, and other major parts to arrive from the factory. Imagine our delight when Superior called to inform us that that frame had arrived in just 48 hours, and our truck was well on the way to total recovery! Just like any good parents, we went down to visit her. Feeling wonderful about the progress on the truck, and knowing that it would NOT be 5 weeks till we are back in business, we celebrated Friday with a picnic-trip to our favorite Harrison Lake State Park. The prediction was for 72 degrees with a storm and much colder temperatures moving in by the end of the day! We stopped in Bryan, Ohio and grabbed a lunch to take into the picnic area. Harrison Lake is a beautiful state park with lots of tall trees, summertime shade, and green grass. Here are some views of the park in the winter! Our travel buddy for the day was little Charlie Button. She is trying to stay in travel shape for the two-month long Alaska trip this summer. We had the park completely to ourselves, and Charlie enjoyed running free . . . looking for squirrels and running back to check on us! While we were there, over the course of 2 hours, the clouds moved in and the wind picked up. Obviously, the cold front was on the way. We arrived home by 2:00, pacified by our little day-trip picnic and energized knowing that our wrecked truck was rapidly moving forward.
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The unseasonably warm February weather lined up in perfect alignment with the weekend that friends Alan and Carie picked up their new 2017 26U Airstream. A full-blown camping weekend was launched to record the event! In mid February! It all started two weeks before when Alan and Carie got word that their newly ordered Airstream was progressing down the line (4 weeks early!), and we met them at the factory for an early screening. Here is a very happy Alan visiting his very new Airstream. The next weekend was the Columbus RV show, and a group of Airstream allies that met up to view the 2017 Airstream lineup brainstormed a camping weekend to join Alan on his first campout after his walk-thru and pick-up on Friday. Our week started with a flurry of trailer activity – dragging out all the bedding, clothing and basic supplies that we would need for a camping weekend. Disaster struck on Tuesday (Valentine’s Day) when our truck was rear-ended and completely put out of commission. After a lot of detours, our truck was declared fixable with a complete new-frame-build – but it wouldn’t be ready in time for the weekend. Not wanting to miss this weekend, we opted for a day trip visit on Saturday. Here are some sad pictures of our "almost" totaled truck! Deer Creek, because it is open all year round, tends to attract break-out campers on the first warmish weekend of a new camping season. Alan arrived Friday afternoon after his walk-thru at Haydocy Airstream. Joining him were John and Suzie and Randy and Chris in their Airstreams, and Pat in his little retro-drop. When we arrived Saturday before noon, they were all firmly rooted in a camping routine including a campfire circle down by the water. I walked around and got a few pictures of the rigs, but didn’t put enough effort in getting pictures of the campers. Here are a couple more of Alan's new 26U. At noon some of us took advantage of the near-by Deer Creek Lodge for a quick eat. Tom loves the Reuben, and I love their large salad with chicken, goat cheese, cranberries. . . . Another tradition at Deer Creek State Park on these early spring campouts, is that we meet new Airstreamers! George, Rose and Doug showed up in their 25', vintage, Sovereign, Airstream that had recently been beautifully renovated. We wasted no time in knocking on their door and inviting them to join our afternoon campfire. We'll be looking to have this Airstream join us on some upcoming spring trips! For us, this little afternoon taste of circle-time-with-friends-around-a-campfire would have to suffice our urge for an early spring campout. It was hard to leave knowing that there rest of the crew would be lingering over the campfire, preparing wonderful camping meals, and snuggling down in the comfort of their Airstream.
Next on tap for us is the Mothball Rally the last weekend in March at Hocking Hills State Park. Hopefully the truck will be back in commission by then. |
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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 |