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Published: February 16th 2008
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We are assuming that the first leg of our trip will eventually seem pretty funny. We were leaving Newfield on Thursday the 14th of February, but we couldn’t get one of the two locks on the trailer door to work. However, the deadbolt lock worked find so we figured that it would keep the door closed. We began driving west on I-86 toward Erie PA. Part of the road in the western part of New York was in very bad shape; it felt like a washboard. A snow plow pulled up beside us and kept honking its horn and pointing at the trailer. In the rear view mirror we could see that the trailer door was open.
We pulled over to the shoulder and saw that it had blown back and opened with great force and smashed the window directly behind it. Also, the door was rather distorted by the force and air could pass through it at either end. There was some debate about turning around and going home. We were probably a couple of hours from home. We had planned on camping that night just south of Cincinnati in Kentucky. The Airstream factory is in western Ohio in
Airstream, Jackson Center, Ohio
Airstream's terraport for visiting customers--parking lot or skating rink? the center of the state probably three hours north of Cincinnati. We called them and they could repair it first thing in the morning. We bought some heavy plastic sheeting and tape and taped the window closed and the door. The lock still wasn’t working properly. Luckily the weather was clear although cold and windy.
We started west once again. We stopped after 30 miles and discovered that the window plastic had blown off partially. We decided to ignore that since there was little traffic and clear weather. As we proceeded, however, the door blew open again. This time we taped everything with genuine duct tape (originally we used something sold to add storm window insulation to houses) and we made it to Jackson Center that evening.
It was a very long and tough day for us and, even more, for Moxie, our dog. The Airstream plant has a place for visiting Airstreams to hook up to water and electricity. This parking area was like a skating rink because of the previous day’s ice storm. We were hesitant to take on water because outside temperatures were in the teens so we brought a bucket of cold water aboard for washing up. Friday morning at 7:00, the service department came to take the trailer. They had it all fixed by 10:00, including bending the door back into shape and fixing the lock. We drove on to Bowling Green Kentucky for the night.
At last, in Kentucky, it seemed warm enough to use the water systems. After several false starts, we eventually got everything working and at last were able to clean our dishes and ourselves.
This morning, there is lots of hazy sunshine and spring-like warmth (50’s F). Titmice, cardinals, and Carolina wrens were singing and there were large flocks of robins and red-winged blackbirds in the campground. The campground that we stayed in, on the Barren River, is in a lovely area surrounded by fancy horse farms. It was a potentially lovely spot but we couldn’t imagine what it would be like in warm months. Part of the property was an amusement park complete with a huge roller coaster and many rides. It was very quiet last night; in August, it is probably crazy!
Our next stop is an RV park located on the Mississippi river in West Memphis, Arkansas.
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