The two of us seated in front of our 2009 23' Airstream International designed by Christopher Deam. Photo by Jon McBride. © 2009 Vantage Pictures

We own an Airstream™. Still kinda freaks me out.

Wanna see it? Here are some interior and exterior shots.

Until now, the only real exposure to an Airstream travel trailer I had was the one that was parked next to my grandparents’ home in Oklahoma. I think I was about 11 years old. My grandparents didn’t own it, but there it was one visit, sidled up against the house like a makeshift annex. It looked like a bullet. There wasn’t enough room in the house for all of us kids to sleep, so we were sent to the Airstream. I was pretty excited, because it seemed like a giant silver refrigerator box fort we had all to ourselves. I specifically remember it being old and damp, and the décor wasn’t gonna win any awards. The curtains might have even been burlap.

That experience pretty much formed my opinion of the Airstream for years. Rustic and musty. “Kind of like a mountain cabin.” But they sure looked cool.

And then I met Melissa.

About two dates in, one of the first things I discovered about her was her fascination with Airstream travel trailers. No, not RVs. Travel trailers. She set that straight right out of the gate.

“Airstreams, eh?”, I remember saying as I looked around her apartment for shrunken heads and any other indications that she may have a screw loose.

Scattered around her apartment, I saw a multitude of Airstream books, cookie cutters, holiday lights and ornaments, Monopoly tokens, you name it. Melissa had it.

“What do you like about them so much?”, I would ask.

“They’re so beautiful”, she would always say.

The Surprise

One Christmas, I surprised her with two airline tickets to Ohio. Melissa knew my friend John lived there, so I think she automatically assumed that the tickets were for a trip to go see him (I’m also sure she thought that a trip to Ohio was a lame Christmas present). Then she dug into the wrapping paper a bit more and found the Airstream factory brochure I had tucked inside. She still looked puzzled. I finally told her we were headed to the Airstream factory in Jackson Center. Her eyes lit up and she started mildly freaking out. While I can’t be sure, I think there might have been some peeing of the jammies that Christmas morning.

A couple of months later, we were on our way to Ohio. After spending a couple of days with my buddy John after all, we drove out to Jackson Center for the tour.

'An American Legend'

The WBCCI Mothership

On that snowy cold day, we entered Jackson Center and soon enough we passed the Wally Byam Caravan Club headquarters. Melissa started talking really fast and started clapping her hands like a kid.

“Wally Byam! Wally Byam!”, she said. It might as well have been Elvis.

Almost directly opposite of WBCCI headquarters was the Airstream Service Center, and then behind that, the giant blue building that was the primary Airstream assembly facility. Melissa was barely able to speak at this point. You might think I’m kidding. I am not.

Before entering the Service Center (where we needed to sign up for the tour), we took a little drive around the facility. Behind the main service building, there were no fewer than 30 Airstreams of various vintages either waiting to be serviced or being stored for the winter. We got out of the car an took a number of shots of them, many of which are below.

We then drove around towards the giant blue assembly building. We couldn’t get too close, but we got close enough for me to capture a quick video of Melissa. This should give you an indication of her level of excitement.

One happy camper

Inside the Service Center

The Tour

After cruising around a bit, we entered the Service Center. It was like an Airstream museum. There were glass display cases everywhere displaying Airstream trinkets, photographs and keepsakes. There was a desk in the middle of the room that was shaped like the rear of an Airstream trailer. When I envisioned a welcome center for Airstream, it was pretty much what we saw.

We signed up for the tour. Our names were the only one in the book, and noone else showed up that day. Things were working out better than I had planned. A private tour. This was going to be awesome.

Our tour was given by a silver-haired gentleman who had been giving the tour for over a decade. He worked on the factory floor building Airstreams for years. The dude knew his stuff. This must have been the 500th time he had given the tour, but he was as enthusiastic as the first. He showed us how the aluminum was carefully removed from stacks and bent over ribs to create the frame. He showed us the wood shop, where each cabinet and fixture was meticulously cut, shaped, stained and finished. He had us watch the technicians running electrical and plumbing lines. And it was all amazingly choreographed. I was starting to realize that what I was witnessing was true American craftsmanship, and a lot of love went into everything these people were doing.

This, my friends, is the beginning of my getting hooked.

I was amazed by the variety of models of trailers they were churning out. Some were 18 feet long, some were 34 foot behemoths with full garages to haul around motorcycles and golf carts. Some had more conservative interiors, while others featured dark woods and stainless steel appliances. The variety was incredible. Could I see myself in one of these?

Yes. Yes I could.

Shopping

From that point on we knew that some sort of Airstream travel trailer was in our future. We weren’t sure when, but we knew it would happen sometime. Crap, I wanted to drive one off the lot that day.

After doing some research online, we discovered Colonial Airstream in Lakewood, NJ, one of the largest Airstream dealers in the country. Since we live in Philly, we were psyched they were only 50 miles away or so.

Colonial Airstream's lot. Yeah, they have a few. Copyright © 2002-2009 Colonial Airstream

I started shooting emails like a madman to Patrick Botticelli, one of Colonial’s sales reps (and a guy who knows Aistream trailers like the back of his hand). I’d send him links of Airstreams they had on their lot that interested us, and told him that while we weren’t sure when, but we were going to buy an Airstream.

It took about 10 months.

Say this about the 2008-2009 economic crisis – it created some great deals for people looking for things on wheels. In December, I checked in with Colonial and discovered, just like car dealers, that there were all kinds of end-of-year incentives designed to move inventory. Before I knew it, I had made a deal with Patrick and his General Manager, David Starin on a 2009 23′ Airstream International. Floor plan ‘D’ to be exact.

In May of 2007, my only memory of an Airstream was sleeping in one as a kid. In December of 2008, we owned one.

Our Trailer

She’s a beaut. No question about it.

The interior was designed by Christopher Deam, who was commissioned by Airstream to reinvent the trailer. Have a look at the video below and this article that appeared on Curbly.

He originally developed a 16 foot Bambi trailer for Airstream, who partnered with Design Within Reach to market the DWR Airstream. Since then, his design sensibilities have been applied to the International line, which is dubbed the CCD Signature Series.

The floor plan for our model looks like this:

The Airstream 23' International CCD floorplan

The interior is pretty spacious considering the amount of stuff that they managed to jam in here.

I will be posting additional photos of the Airstream as we collect them. Be sure to follow along on our honeymoon page starting on 10/11, when we begin our cross-country journey.