ALUMAPALOOZA 2012 - DAY 2

Yet another great day! I got up early to take care of Roxy before going to a yoga class first thing. How often do you have an opportunity to do yoga outside in the grass under a tent. It was a great way to kick start my day. 

As far as a trailer count we have about 135 Airstreams here so far and another sixty arriving tomorrow then more on Friday. My guess is that's close to 275 people. Some trailers only have one person in them, some have three to four kids plus the adults but most have just couples in each Airstream.

This is a short run down of todays seminars ... SkyMed, Yoga, Running Gear, Service Demos, Living Aboard, Dutch Oven Cooking, Wally Byam's History, Happy Hour, Open Grill Night and the Roving Happy Hour. In between
getting a few Airstreams settled today Tim and I were lucky enough to be able to hit the end of the Dutch Oven Cooking Class where they were cooking cobbler cakes. Perfect timing on our part. (wink, wink)YUM!

The weather has finally cooled here. Over the weekend it hit 95' for a couple of days here with a heat index over 100'. The days are now in the 70's and  nights in the 50's. A first for us this time of year here. Tomorrow will be even cooler and Friday may only be 59 degrees for a high. 

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

ALUMAPALOOZA 2012 - DAY 1

What a long day. But a good day. We started out with a bang ... Big storm. After a bit of a delay the gate was finally open.  It was really great meeting everyone as they parked their trailers. Then we got them hooked up to water and electric. Everyone is always so excited. The ones who have been here in prior years are even excited to see us again.  

A good number of folks we have met previously in Florida either at a Airstream orTin Canner event or at the Can Opener in North Florida or here. It usually takes us just a moment to figure out where we have met. The ladies from Oregon arrived this afternoon. Our friends Randy & Pat, who are in our Florida WBCCI group, are here. Jojo and Rick from Canada have come along with their three black labs.  And the list goes on. 

Roxy was not so happy about being cooped up all day due to us working. But I made up by sneaking away and got her to the 'tail' end of Yappy Hour to meet & greet all the other dogs. We were  finally able to get dinner around 9:30 pm. Exhausted!!!

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

MEMORIAL DAY IT IS!!!

Our morning was full. We spent most of it out in the field checking all the power connections and pressurizing the water system to make sure it's all working. We only have a few things to get fixed and this will make our first load-in day, of close to 100 Airstream trailers arriving on Tuesday to Alumapalooza , much easier. 

Tim then spent part of the afternoon helping finish getting the field ready and I spent time at the laundromat & cleaning the interior of the Airstream. After today we won't have the time to get clothes washed this week. Late in the evening we grilled some hot dogs and then Tim began our packing/loading in preparation for our move from the Terra Port to the field first thing in the morning. The organizers & helper bees get to load in at 8am then the gate will be open to attendees at 9am. The Tera Port is full and we have a good number of over flow Airstreams boone docking in the back service area lot/our temporary bull pen for the night. All awaiting the start of Alumapalooza in the morning. 

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Thank you to all the men and women of our armed forces who fought for our freedom. 

Stay tuned for Day #1 .... ALUMAPALOOZA!!!!

Woo-Hoo!!!! Bring it on ...

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

STATS FROM THE VILLAGE

Of Jackson Center: 

Since we had a pretty low key kinda day with only a few things to do in preparation for Alumapooza ... like stuff welcome packs inside the service center. Here are just a few pictures of the day. One picture needs no introduction and the second picture is of an older Airstream located inside the service center here. Airstream has completely re-done this trailer ... The interior is totally new as if it just came off the factory assembly line. 

Here are your local stats:

Nearest Starbucks - 21 miles North in Lima OH or 30 miles South in Troy OH .... Gzzzzz ... Really?

Nearest  corn field - 150 feet

(Look'n good.)

Nearest factory - 50' ... Airstream!!!

Nearest gas station - 407 ft East

(I hope they sell PBR in a 30 pack)

Nearest place to eat - 400 ft West ... Heidout. Good grub & cold beer. 

Nearest grocery - 0.3 miles East Phil's Cardinal Grocery (size of a small CVS ... Otherwise ya go'n to the Wal-Mart) Ooops ... They are closed for good. Hmmmm? Now what am I going to do?

Nearest Pub - 0.3 miles East  ... Pub on The Corner (no sign ... Just gotta know it's there)

Nearest Wal-Mart - 17.7 miles in Sidney OH (Thanks. But no thanks. )

Nearest Hotel - 8.8 miles NW in Botkins ... The Budget Host Inn (woo-hoo)

Nearest auto factory - 8.1 miles East ... Honda (I think Honda is the most American foreign car made)

Nearest Lowes - 11 miles NW in Wapakoneta OH (I love that place)

Nearest museum - 11 miles NW in Wapakoneta OH Armstrong Air & Space Museum

Also 

18 miles W is the Bicycle Museum of America ( I wonder if Mike & Frank have been here?)

Nearest hospital - 13 miles SW in Sidney OR 16 miles E in Bellefontaine (Good to know)

Nearest cemetery - Take your pick. There's two ... each  located on the edge of town ... One to the east and one to the west. 

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

WHAT A DAY TRIP!!!

It was an early start to Dayton on Saturday to visit The National Museum of the United States Air Force. This is the largest and oldest military aviation museum in the WORLD. What an amazing and appropriate place to visit on this holiday weekend. 

Thank you to those who have and who are serving our great nation.

The evening ended with a nice  dinner and good conversation  with my Aunt Martha who lives nearby. Her friend owns the Heidout just on the edge of the Airstream factory property. The food is good and the beer is cold. 

I think today's pictures will speak for themselves . . .

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

CRISIS AVERTED . . .

This morning we had planned on driving an hour south for a day trip to a museum in Dayton. However as things turned out it was not meant to be. Instead the morning was spent making repairs to the water heater on the Airstream. If there is any place to be for repairs on your Airstream ... It's the Airstream factory. After purchasing a new thermal cut off ... Tim had us up and running in no time. But the repair made getting into Dayton too late!

Plan B was to drive about twenty minutes due west to New Bremen. We had a fabulous lunch at La Piazza and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at The American Bicycle Museum. WOW! Throughout two floors there are over 300 bikes on display and probably at least more than twice that waiting clean-up/restoration  and display in the basement. What a great little town to look forward to visiting again in the future. 

AND Roxy continues to be the happiest dog in the world! She makes us laugh every day. If she is happy ... We are happy. Life is good!!!

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

GET OUT OF THE WAY ...

This morning started early and we were out of camp by 8:30 and at the Starbucks in no time. Ahhhh ... triple grande.  Tim had me tow today. We left London and headed north through Lexington (horse capital of the world), Paris then Cincinnati and on through Dayton. Lucky for me we decided on the  bypass for Cincinnati. I absolutely hate being jacked-up on caffeine ( 3 expresso shots) towing in the center lane and semis on each side. I only said the F'word one time but we arrived in one piece, safe and with all of the upholstery on the passenger side of the truck still in tact. 

The afternoon found us arriving earlier than anticipated at the Mothership in Jackson Center. We will  be docked here for a few days in the Terra Port. Hopefully we can relax and do some sight seeing prior to the prep for Alumapalooza. Roxy already has two new friends. Meet Puss & Boots ...

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

ATLANTA!

I know. I know. We have said numerous times in the past ... 'Never again will we ever tow through that city.' And somehow there we were approaching Atlanta. I checked an app on my tele and it showed both I-75 and the bypass with free-flowing traffic. So we held on tight and took I-75 straight through downtown ... We made it. Easily. No traffic. Piece of cake. Phewwwww!!!

Our day consisted of another six hour drive north through  Tennessee to London, Kentucky. We have stopped at Levi Jackson State Park in the Daniel Boone National Forest for the evening. Last year on our return home we stayed here. It's not the best park but just knowing we can get in and out without unhooking goes along way for a quick overnight stay. Oh and I'm sure the Starbucks at the exit helps as well. At least I'm in for a good coffee in the morning. Flying J's coffee is for the birds. No pun intended. The section and site we are in this year is way better than last year and I might just upgrade that star rating now. We enjoyed a really nice campfire even with all the kids in camp running around having a great time. 

For those who have been  inquiring about Roxy. She seems to be walking so much better today. Sometimes I think she is like a little kid ... Knowing if they are sick or hurt  ... more attention is to be had. 

Tomorrow we have yet another leg of our journey continuing to head north. We hope to land at the Mothership (Airstream factory) and get a nice spot in the Terra Port. Stay tuned ...

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

Early Departure ...

It seems that on the last few trips including this one we have been able to leave early. On Sunday we accomplished more than anticipated to prepare for this trip. Originally the plan was to leave tomorrow, Wednesday. When Tim got home this morning from work we finished up the last few things and got on the road by noon. 

We made it all the way to High Falls State Park in Georgia. It's located north of Macon and south of Atlanta. The ride was easy ... Six hours & barely any traffic. The weather seems just a bit cooler here. Traveling through Gainesville we drove through a bad storm where the temp went from 93' to 78' then 72' in just a few minutes.  Then once past the storm it took no time to return to the 90's. 

Once at High Falls we settled in .... Sitting outside bird watching. Yes, bird watching. We observed flycatchers, swallows and my first sighting of an Eastern Bluebird. At nightfall the birds stopped and we had fire flys, bats and a few random ducks fly over. 

Hardly ever do we turn on the TV while traveling. Most of our headline news and weather arrives through email, tweeting and apps on cell phones and our computers. This is what works best for us ... Keeping us outside to enjoy as much of the outdoors as possible. 

Tomorrow we plan to get back on I-75 to head farther north ... Closer to the Mothership. 

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

It's All The Same

But different. Tim and I will be departing soon for our annual trip to Ohio for Alumapalooza at the Airstream factory. We love helping out at this event ... There will  be close to 200 Airstream trailers out in the field this year. Even though it's the same event the schedule there will be different and our journey there and back will be different as well. With stops in Georgia & Kentucky along the way. It will be a quick trip there but we will slow the trip down on our return. 

And of course just like clock work all that can go wrong will go wrong as we prepare to leave. Household items begin to fail, vehicle maintenance  never ends and of course there's Roxy. We had to make an emergency visit to the vet yesterday. Yet another cyst in her paw. It's the same thing she had last year just a different paw. The vet aspirated it and wrapped her up. Antibiotics for a month.  Here we go again ....

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)