We're off to see the Wizard...

We're sitting in a field with eight other Airstreams.


It's ungodly o'clock, we're all up to make final preparations and to have our picture taken before setting off for the ferry port of Dover. In convoy! Depending on the point-of-view of other road users, we'll be the best thing on the road ever, or the largest waste of tarmac in Kent. Still, we'll all be having a good time!

I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that we're quite excited.

A quick catch-up before we head off into the sunset...

It's been a really busy couple of weeks. I'm sure many of you have lives that are constantly busy, but Having Loads To Do In A Very Short Time is a bit of an alien experience for us. The reason we're so busy? We're leaving the country.

Fear not, dear reader - it's not for good, just for a few weeks. We're heading over to Europe for a bit - more on that later.

In amongst all our preparations, we popped down the road to see Airstream Europe's launch of their new Service & Repair Centre near Cheltenham.


It also (more-or-less) coincided with the launch of their re-branding, so now you can call them "Airstream and Company." We wish them every success!

We've also been working on the UKAirstreamers September Gathering - details soon...

The long trip from our site in Worcestershire to the rendezvous in Kent was broken up by a couple of nights boondocking with our Airstreaming friends Glynis & Pete. And we couldn't have hoped for a friendlier welcome. They are two of the loveliest people I know, and while we were there we met up with another two of the loveliest people I know - Simon & Emma - former Airstreamers who have been part of our Airstreaming "family" from the start. It was a wonderful couple of days, though it is just possible I might have drunk too much.


Not a bad spot to park an Airstream!

And so we made our way to Kent, spending a deeply unpleasant hour or two on the M25 Orbital Car Park. Why Kent? because we're meeting up with eight other UKAirstreamers and all heading off on Tuesday, in convoy to a European Gathering in the Netherlands next week. At the last count, there were 49 Airstreams booked in for the weekend! You read that right, forty nine!

I wouldn't say we're excited, because that wouldn't cover it. Giddy might be better.

And I suspect there may be fairy lights.



P x

That went well!

The Gathering, that is, not the plan to blog about it every day. We were too busy having fun to summon up the energy to tell the blogosphere about it daily. Sorry if we disappointed you.

So, how did it go? Very well, I think! Wednesday and Thursday were filled with preparations and shopping during the day and drinks and laughs in the evenings. There were only a small handful of early-birds, but great company.



This is Eric and Bill arriving on Thursday, after pushing their 300 motorhome all the way with a bubble!


Friday was the big day, with almost everyone else arriving.


There were some really nice outfits...


including this one, which belonged to the site owners, Eddy & jackie.



We had some lovely trailers and 'vans, including this combo of a 1961 and a 2009 Bambi...


And FIVE Airstream motorhomes!




There were some smashing old British, European and American caravans too, thanks to some new friends from the My Cool Caravan Facebook page.












The weather was, shall we say, challenging at times. I managed to get a bit of a tan, but it could just be windburn. Strong gusts and the occasional horizontal rain made us run for the barn at times, but I think spirits were generally high, even for the poor souls under canvas!

This was our fifth Gathering and a bit of a departure for us. For the first time, we joined up with other caravanners and I think the result was spectacular. Everyone seemed particularly excited about the "open house" on the Saturday afternoon and the chance to have a nose around all these fantastic machines was taken up by almost everyone. Altogether we got 25 Airstreams and 11 cool caravans and motorhomes together, and they all looked amazing!

I don't know what it is that makes Airstreamers click, but they share a trait or two with vintage caravan owners. Everyone who came was a pleasure to meet, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank them all for coming and sharing their pride and joys. And I'd especially like to thank Eddy & Jackie of Victoria Farm for being so helpful and accommodating.

I can't speak for everyone else, but we had a great time.

Countdowns and Launches

It's only one day until the Fifth UKAirstreamers Gathering!

The fifth! I can't believe it's only just over two years since we put the word out on this blog, calling up any Airstreamers who were watching and getting them to join us. We had nine Airstreams that weekend. This time we have twenty five coming from all over the country to join us in Leicestershire.

It was from that first get-together that UKAirstreamers was born. We needed a way for UK owners to keep in touch, so I made a website, added a forum and, in the process, learned more about web programming language than is healthy. The UKAirstreamers Forum now has nearly 200 members while the website gets around three thousand page-loads a month! I must admit, I'm quite chuffed.

Here's what we achieved last September (photo courtesy of Skylens Aerial Photography and Airstream Europe)


So, we arrived onsite a couple of days ago and we'll be spending today shopping, prepping and otherwise arranging things so that (we hope) everyone has a good time. People often ask me why we do it. To be honest, it isn't hugely different from my old job, and who doesn't like putting on a party?

We'll try to blog throughout this one, just to see if we can. One day to go. Stay tuned...


Meanwhile, last week we popped up to Tebay to see the launch of Airstream Europe's new Series 2 684. And very nice it was too!

Wally Byam, the founder of Airstream, once said "We don't make changes, we just make improvements." Or something like that. And I can see that philosophy in the new Series 2. The layout is more-or-less the same with some changes in the furniture to allow a larger bathroom, more space in the bedroom, bigger lounge and (I think most importantly), improved systems (water and electrics).

There is another launch event over the first weekend in June. This'll give you Southeners a chance to see the new Series 2 and have a shufty at Airstream Europe's new Southern Service and Repair centre near Cheltenham. Details, as they say, can be found on their website.

If you can't make it to that, here are some pics of the new Series 2.

Spoiler alert!

The First Barbecue Of the Year

A few weeks ago we received an invitation to a party.

Nothing too unusual you may think, and we do indeed regularly receive party invitations from friends. But the conversation usually goes something like this...

Friend - "We're having a party. Can you come?"
Us - "Love to. When is it?"
Friend - "Next Friday. Where will you be?"
Us - "On the Isle of Benbecula*."
Friend - "Wear the fox hat?"

(* Substitute any point in the British Isles that is as far from Civilisation as possible**. I often wonder if our friends are somehow tracking our movements and waiting until we can't possibly attend before actually inviting us to anything.)

(**Wherever it was, rest assured, a motorhome got there before us)

So, it was with no small delight that we received an invitation to a party that, rather than simply being on a local continent, was actually in the next county at a date and time we could actually achieve. Of greater note, however, was the purpose of the party. It was to the launch of Weber Barbecues Airstream Roadshow.

I've been to many launch parties in my time, but since I used to work as a theatre lighting and sound technician, this was the first one I didn't actually have to do any work at. Even more gratifying was that we were invited simply as representatives of the Airstream community in the UK. Well chuffed!

So, one Tuesday morning in March, we made our way to the Weber Grill Academy in Oxfordshire. And what a brilliant day we had. As the only vegetarians in the village, I expected to be treated to nothing more than the smells of barbecuing meat, but we were made to feel very welcome and offered some very delicious veggie food.

The main purpose of the day was to show off the newly refurbished Airstream that will be travelling around the country promoting Weber's range of BBQ equipment while also teaching the world some great barbecuing tips and recipes. We were treated to a couple of hours of hands-on training in the arts of smoking, baking, roasting and grilling - all on a barbecue. Never again will our veggie barbie be limited to blackened burgers and rubbery sausages! In fact, we made a pizza (on a barbecue) that was so good it went straight into my All-Time-Top-Ten-Pizzas-Of-The-World list!

As for the Airstream itself - it was a beaut. A 1975 International Sovereign, painstakingly restored and converted. The work was done by American Retro Caravans in Somerset, and a very fine job they did too! The outfit will be a one-man operation - the set-up and break-down taking about an hour each. Dan, the man from Weber, will be appearing at a place near you soon...

There are more details about the restoration/conversion here.

If you get a chance, check the Weber Experience website and go and have a look at the roadshow. Not only will you see a very nicely finished Airstream, but you might even learn something new about barbecuing. We did.

Say "Hello" to Dan from us!

P