Day 66 -- More repairs of the Airstream at the factory

Friday 8/25/2006

We got up a bit earlier this morning and tried to adjust to the time zone we have back in New Hampshire, which we share with Ohio. The tractor came by at 7am and picked up our trailer and pulled it into a service bay. We were ready and had already eaten breakfast. We headed over into their waiting area and continued using computers and did some more reading.

Posted on the front door. Not sure if they've had issues with customers reporting quality concerns in a more pointed way?

Pretty cool to use a Bambi body for a front desk

After sitting in the waiting area for a while, I took the truck over to the local gas station and filled it up. The kids wanted to do some school shopping now, since they would not have much time to do that between us getting home and school starting. Isabella took the truck and headed down to the town of Sidney. Meanwhile, I walked over to the shop to see how things were going. Work was proceeding with the stairs to get the tracks back in shape. The rear panels were being wrapped up as well.

Tracks for the stairs are getting some fresh weld material added, to make up for what had worn off.

Several other Airstreams are in for service. We are clearly the dirtiest of the bunch. But I think we've had the most fun!!

After I had checked in with them I walked around by the front of the building, where they keep several vintage Airstreams parked. One of them stands out: Wally's golden trailer. It would appear as if the factory actually experimented with that color for a while, through anodization, but realized that it did not hold too well. Nevertheless, looks like a one-of-a-kind.

Several vintage Airstreams parked in front of the Airstream factory

A close-up of Wally's golden trailer

Another super-vintage Airstream: the Clipper

After looking around outside for a while, I went back inside the waiting room. The kids came back from their shopping trip and all had worked out well. There was even cash left! As many Airstreamers know, getting parts can sometimes be a hassle, since you are obliged to go through a dealer in most cases. You cannot simply order it directly from the factory. But once you are at the factory, you can buy whatever they have for sale. There is a shop by the waiting area that has lots of mainly Airstream specific parts. I looped through that store a couple of times yesterday and today, looking for things I might need. Towards the end of the day here I started to collect the things into a basket.

Inside the Airstream factory shop

There is plenty more gear in their back room. And, on top of that, you can purchase pretty much any part directly from the factory floor. There is one caveat to keep in mind with that. The factory closes for the weekend sometime around 10:30 on Friday morning. Plan your visit to the factory around that, if you intend to ask for special parts from the factory itself. When we were done, I paid for the repairs to our trailer. The bulk of the cost was labor. The job looked professional. Only time will tell if the repairs will last. We went back to the trailer and did some preparation work for tomorrow, when we are leaving early to head up north into Michigan. We ate back at the trailer.

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All Pictures (c) 2006 Hamnqvist, Background features the Yukon Sky.