Hi Gang,
Here's the fourth and last short note from Rollins Pond CG - NYS DEC
- July 2007.
When are Airstreamers anonymous in a campground? Simple answer: Never.
It's a small world.
Second day we were at Rollins Pond CG, a father and son walked right
into our campsite with a big smile and called me by name. I
recognized the man's face but couldn't place him. Our son was
standing nearby so I introduced him to the man - who promptly came
back to our son with his name: Tim from L & M Motors.
Ahhh Haaaa! This was the mechanic who fixed the air conditioner on
our Suburban before we used it to haul our '67 22' Airstream from
Upstate New York to Oregon City, Oregon a few years ago. The previous
Winter we had mapped out every single reference point mentioned in
several Oregon Trail books from the start of the trail to the end of
the trail. We were going to visit each of them and immerse ourselves
into those bygone days - and we did.
Another couple (who also specialized in boondocking) would be
traveling with us and had agreed to alternate days when the other
would lead and pick out where we'd stay for the night. The incentive
to have every other day off from planning and organizing. It worked
well.
During that trip, not only did our '87 GMC Suburban tow the Safari
well but the a/c worked flawlessly all Summer. I called Tim at work
from Kansas where the temperature was 102 degrees. I told his boss
who I was, where I was calling from, why I was calling ("I want to
talk with Tim about the a/c job he did for me") and asked his boss if
I could speak with Tim.
A minute later, Tim picked up the phone and hesitatingly said: "Mr.
Tyler, I didn't expect to hear from you." I asked Tim if he thought
he had fixed our a/c as good as possible. He said "Yes?" and I
replied: "I agree and wanted to let you know the temperature here in
Kansas is hotter than blue blazes but inside the Suburban, it's cool
as a cucumber."
After a bit of light hearted chit chat, I told him: "You fixed my a/
c, it works like a charm, please put your right hand on your left
shoulder and hit it a couple of times. That's me thanking you for a
job well done."
Tim remembered that phone call. He even remembered our three tow
vehicles and when he saw two of them (the Suburban wasn't one) at
Rollins Pond, he waltzed right into our campsite. He also remembered
there were four Airstreams in our back yard and was sure we were at
Rollins. How many of us are anonymous? ---- Not me, not you, not any
of us.
The second surprise visitors were John & Diane from Canada. They
first stopped to talk with our son (site#4) and then us (site#1).
They were not Airstream owners but wanted to know all about them,
especially the older one. We talked for half an hour and shared
experiences. If John and Diane have subscribed to this list (I
described how to do it), please chime in and introduce yourselves.
Let's visit some more.
The third surprise was not a visitor but was the owner of a very old
pick up truck who was towing an even older silver trailer. It was a
little smaller than the 31' Spartan we lived in during the 1950s
while I was in the US Navy stationed at Norfolk, VA - Quonset Point,
RI - and Brunswick, ME.
The pick up truck owner and I gave each other a thumbs-up high sign
(with big smiles) as he drove toward his campsite. Both of us knew we
had something in common. I'm certain if we had met up with him later,
we could have enjoyed sharing similar experiences with our Airstreams
and Spartans. Neither of us was anonymous to the other.
The fourth surprise was a couple who stopped while I was filling my
water bucket at the spigot. "Do they still make Airstreams?" "We
never see Airstreams anymore and today, two of them came into Rollins
Pond." "Do you know the other family?" And the questions continued
until cars began piling up behind them. Anonymous? Think about it -
no one is anonymous in a campground - whether their rig is an
Airstream or Some Other Brand.
This is my last short note from Rollins Pond. It's now time to head
back to our mini five acre ranch near Albany, NY. Our son's vacation
is over and they'll be returning to New Orleans. I think everyone had
a great camping experience. We used the Sunfish a few times when the
wind started to pick up. The Kayak received more use than I had
anticipated (calm water most of the time). Our son and family took a
day canoe trip from Rollins Pond to the Boat Launch at Fish Creek
(they had a fun "wilderness" experience).
Later:
Son and family are now back home after an adventuresome memorable
week together.
Biggest surprise for me was all mechanical components on both tow
vehicles (32 years old and 29 years old) and both trailers (40 years
old and 18 years old) worked as designed. That pleased me immensely -
more so than I might ordinarily admit.
The lessons we drilled into our kids about "attention to detail" -
"organization and planning" and "thought before action" actually paid
off for us. Plus, I think our son now has more appreciation for his
father's emphasis on "redundancy" when it comes to boondocking miles
from the nearest Home Depot and far from the known FedEx delivery
routes.
The next few months for us will be back to the hum-drum of repairing
and restoring (R&R) our house from damage caused two Winters ago when
a soldered fitting on a hot water pipe began spraying inside our
house (unknown to us in Florida), then it's back to Florida for more
R&R of Mom's house after hurricane damage of three Summers ago
(fingers crossed for the 2007 hurricane season). These few years of
non-stop R&R feel like a never ending process. We're hoping for a
return to big time Airstreaming in 2008. Feeling "grounded" is not
our cup of tea.
Terry