Archive for Uncategorized
April 27, 2006 at 10:56 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The rain has gone, leaving behind a blustery sky and a few sandy puddles on the roads. People emerged from their cocoons today to get on with rally business, even though we are on the cold side of the front and the air was a cool 61 degrees most of the day.
Brett and I presented our seminar on Mobile Internet and Internet Security. It was a big hit. Over fifty people attended, and we got a lot of compliments. We brought a projector for our Powerpoint presentations, and demonstrated mobile Internet in the room using my Internet In Motion system connected to a wireless router. Everyone who brought a laptop was able to get online while we talked.
Eleanor and Emma tried the jewelry-making seminar next, while I caught up on work and interviewed some people for future issues of the magazine. Emma came back with a little bracelet of beads. They also went out to buy some new dishes for the trailer, since we are tired of the plastic plates we have been using. I’ll show you a picture of those in a future post.
We spent some time discussing ideas for the next six months. We have a pretty solid plan through July, but then things get murky. With rising fuel prices, it makes sense to try to limit the amount of criss-crossing the country we will do, so instead of driving east we may choose to fly east for a family visit and come back to the trailer in a few weeks. As always, flexibility is key, and so right now we haven’t made a decision on exactly what we will do.
Tonight may be one of the coldest we’ve seen since we left San Antonio in February. No sleeping with the windows open tonight — it’s already down to 52 outside. Tomorrow we were planning to serve frozen lemonade for the Open House, but with the change in temperature it may be hot chocolate instead!
April 26, 2006 at 9:36 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Everyone here at the rally has been watching the weather carefully over the past few days. We’ve known since Sunday that rain and cooler air were coming on Wednesday. That’s why we went straight for the beach and the warm-weather fun these past two days. It will be only in the low 70s through this weekend.
The weather forecasts have become more and more dire with each day, finally culminating in threats of severe thunderstorms and possibly even tornados as the storm front approached today. This morning was sunny, warm and humid, and as we sat under the awning having lunch with Renee, Fred, Brett, and a few other Airstreamers, it was hard to believe what was coming.
But when you live in an aluminum house, you take thunderstorms seriously. Everyone knows about the hailstorm that damaged hundreds of Airstreams at a big rally in the 1980s. Everyone knows that if the Weather Channel starts talking about “tornadic activity” in the vicinity, it’s time to exit the trailer and head for the cinder block buildings.
Sure enough, the weather turned from benign and balmy breezes to a strong cold wind this afternoon, and now it is pouring rain as line after line of thunderstorms march in from the west. The streets are partially flooded in our little community and the sky is flashing with lightning. We had the weather radar on constantly this afternoon, but eventually it got dull and we switched to “Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit.”
Unlike when we lived in a conventional house, we aren’t concerned with a power outage, of course. Being self-contained, we have battery power and water to last for several days at least. And while a lightning strike wouldn’t be much fun, the aluminum shell will protect us quite well. Our precautions have been limited to taking down the awning, and securing a few loose items outside.
Dozens of trailers have arrived today for the first official day of the rally. About 150 are expected in total. Ocean Lakes Family Campground is now dominated by silver trailers. It’s a rally at last, and we’re looking forward to the activities of the next few days. Tomorrow Brett and I will present our Mobile Internet seminar and Eleanor will go to a jewelry-making class. On Friday we are expecting more than a dozen people to drop by for our Open House (that’s how folks many signed up today), and on Saturday we’ll be busy with the Flea Market and checking out the Vintage Open House. Bert Kalet is here, and he will be talking about the proposed Capetown-to-Cairo caravan in 2009.
I’m looking forward to meeting Fred Bothman too. He made the cute “Globehauler” toy hauling trailer that you see in the picture above. I interviewed him for the upcoming Spring issue of Airstream Life, along with a couple of other guys who have made personal toy haulers out of old Airstreams. Fred will be here conducting a polishing seminar. As you can see from the picture, he knows something about it.
April 25, 2006 at 9:53 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Last night we once again were able to sleep with the windows open. It has been balmy and breezy, with sounds of the ocean at night. Emma slept to nearly 11 this morning, so she’s either in a growth spurt again or she’s really getting worn out with all the activity. I love camping near the sea.
I can tell people are getting in the rally spirit, even though the offical start is tomorrow. The awnings and grills are out everywhere. People are having happy hours at 4 pm all over the campground. Sociability is just breaking out all over the place. From here on in, I expect to be overfed all the time. Brett kicked things off with some chocolate fudge cookies after lunch, and chocolate ice cream bars after dinner. (“But they are non-fat!”)
Today, Brett and I geeked out. We bought a Linksys wireless range extender (model WRE54G) and experimented with using it to connect to the campground wifi at long distance. See, usually when we get to a campground with “wifi at every site” I can’t actually access it inside the aluminum shield of the Airstream. With the range extender, I hope to amplify the signal so I can access it inside the trailer.
So we made a minor spectacle of ourselves as we marched around the campground, plugging the range extender into various power outlets to test the range of the device. At one point we even had it mounted on a flag pole. Our tests were not conclusive but so far things look good, so I’m going to keep it for further testing at another campground.
Eleanor and Emma spent half the day at the beach again, and this time Eleanor came back with a marvelous swimsuit-patterned sunburn on her back. That’ll be a souvenir she won’t soon forget.
This evening before we headed out for a round of mini-golf, we had a visit from blog readers David & Denese Lee. They are parked just down the way from us. We are hoping to be able to courtesy park at their place in North Carolina someday.
It’s been another beautiful day in Myrtle Beach. And now, at 10 pm, I’m paying for it with a couple of hours of work at the computer. It’s a good trade.
April 24, 2006 at 6:53 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
We’re spread out now. Bikes are off the roof, the big red numbers are hanging off the front of the trailer, the awning is out, tablecloth is on the picnic table, and the beach toys are sitting by the entrance. We’ve got sand on the floor, and cold drinks in the fridge. Beach time!
Sadly, even though the weather has been just fabulous, I’ve spent most of the day working. But I did manage a few breaks in between projects, and some visitors have dropped in, too. People are arriving for the rally every day, even though the official start isn’t until Wednesday.
Eleanor and Emma hit the beach in the afternoon and found that while the sand is warm, the water is cold. Making sand castles, kite-flying, and straying knee-deep in the water are probably the optimum uses of this beach.
I haven’t been able to locate a flag pole holder kit here yet, but I do have three flag poles and two flags. We set up the new Airstream Life flag as a test just to see how it looks. What do you think?
We don’t intend to do much this week … by our standards, anyway. It’s just too comfortable and lazy here in the warm breeze. Cycling around the campground, walking the sand, playing games, and grilling outside are the priorities of the week. I have some work to do but I’ll try to do it when the sun is down. There are small pleasures in just puttering, whether that’s with a sand bucket and plastic shovel, or a recipe in the kitchen.
April 22, 2006 at 8:27 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
We met up with our friends Renee and Fred this morning, fellow Airstreamers who happen to live in Charleston, and they gave us a quick tour of the historic district this morning. Charleston has a vibrant and large historic residential area, filled with glamorous homes and quiet tree-lined streets and tourists in horse-drawn carriages. It’s something like a cross between historic Savannah and New Orleans’ Garden District.
Renee and Fred in the pink
There are a tremendous number of things to do in Charleston. If it wasn’t just a stop on our trek to Myrtle Beach, we’d spend a week exploring all the good stuff. Across the new Cooper River Bridge in Patriot Park is a riverside floating exhibit of an aircraft carrier, a submarine, and a destroyer. In town, dozens of fine eateries, including the one we went to for a local specialty called “Shrimp and grits”. (Worth trying even if it sounds awful to you. We loved it.)
Then there are the tours, the parks, the marketplace, Fort Sumter, tons of Civil War history, beaches, and plenty of other things. Renee is going to write up an article for the magazine about it, sometime. Charleston is much more interesting than I expected.
At the market
We hit the marketplace, and managed to come out with only a little bag of local cookies called “Bennes”. They’re pretty good — sort of a thin sesame seed sugar wafer about the size of a quarter. I could eat the whole bag in a few minutes if I was left alone with it.
We browsed downtown Charleston until the thunderstorms arrived. Renee and Fred headed home to pack their Airstream motorhome for the rally, and we went to Marble Slab Creamery for birthday ice cream. Today is Emma’s official birthday, after all.
Playing in the rain
And it’s been a while since I gave you a Sign of the Week. Here’s one from today’s walk … a warning against public hula-hooping?
April 21, 2006 at 7:46 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Not wanting to leave the Little Talbot Island area too quickly, we went to visit the nearby Kingsley Plantation. It’s a National Park site, so we scored another stamp in our parks passport. It’s a beautiful spot on the river, with some fascinating history related to slavery, but unfortunately the two main buildings were closed for renovation (termite damage).
Still, we spotted a bit of wildlife along the trails, including some venomous-looking spiders (probably not in reality), and this salamander. He was about eight inches long. Anyone know what species this guy is?
The ride up I-95 was uneventful, except for the alligator on the highway somewhere in South Carolina. I hadn’t realized they lived that far north. It’s a shame we weren’t quicker with the camera, but it was all I could do to swerve out of his path without hitting someone else on the highway. I-95 was crowded enough without six-foot gators wandering around on it. I was glad the Hensley hitch was on the rig … the abrupt swerve was a non-event.
I got one of those lucky wifi breaks that happen when you’re on the road. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant off I-95, but I wasn’t hungry, so I went into the trailer and found the Days Inn next door had a wide-open wifi network. That’s always good news for getting work done quickly.
But overall, it was just another day. 250 miles covered, and here we are in Charleston at a commercial campground. (The park has Tengo wireless Internet “at every site” but of course the signal doesn’t penetrate the Airstream’s skin, so I’m still using the Internet In Motion system built into the trailer.) Tomorrow we will tour Charleston and whatever else seems interesting in the area.
April 19, 2006 at 10:19 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The fates took retribution on me for taking the day off yesterday. Yesterday one of the back-office systems we use for the magazine started outputting errors, and I only found out about it this morning. Apparently the software went haywire somewhere around the time I was watching Cleo the sea lion.
Then I discovered a bug in one of the database queries, which would have resulted in even more errors if I hadn’t fixed it today. So the whole day was spent glaring at my laptop computer, mumbling to myself, and occasionally pounding out emails to our programmer. No wonder the keys on my computer are wearing off.
Meanwhile, the Florida sun continued to shine, the heat again rose to nearly 90, and the humidity became so thick that you could iron shirts without plugging in the iron. Florida would still be a largely uninhabited place if air conditioning had not been invented. Between the programming problems and the intense air outside, it was a day to spend at the dinette working.
I also invested about an hour in pre-planning. I don’t want to give away too much about what’s going to happen next, but from our Schedule page you can tell we’re going to be doing a lot of traveling in the next month. We’ve got a lot of things we want to accomplish, so every day I can, I’m spending time researching places to go and calling people to make various arrangements. I only mention this because when things start happening quickly, you’ll know what went into making it happen.
But it wasn’t all work today. I finally cured the last computer problem by 6 pm, and Emma and I headed off to the pool. It’s a great stress reliever to play with Emma in the water and watch her progress as a swimmer. Now she swims 25 feet or so unassisted, either under water or above water. And she dives for things on the bottom like a much older kid.
In keeping with our plan to celebrate Emma’s birthday all week since we might be in the car on the actual day, Eleanor and Emma made a cake together. The frosting was Eleanor’s own marscapone cream frosting, which is really superb stuff. The middle layer of the cake contained a chocolate ganache, by Emma’s request. You should have been here for a taste … it’s a great cake. There won’t be any left over in a day or two.
By the way, we are going to hold a Happy Hour or some sort of get-together at the Region 3 Rally in Myrtle Beach, next week. It’s for any blog reader or any subscriber to Airstream Life. Anyone who is planning to go to the rally, check this blog in the next few days or the bulletin boards at the rally for information on when and where. We’re still trying to work out the plans right now.
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