The ‘Fandango

The Alumafandango, as well as a number of similar Airstream rallies, including the big one that is held at the Airstream factory in Jackson Center, Ohio, are put together by Rich Luhr, who is the editor and publisher of the magazine “Airstream Life”.

Rich also wrote the book “The Newbies Guide to Airstreaming”, and led a question and answer seminar on anything you might want to know on RVing in general and specific to Airstreams.

We have gotten quite a bit of valuable information as we have attended the different seminars that are offered at this rally. One especially helpful talk was on maintenance of your Airstream, which included batteries, wheel bearings, tires, brakes, and even cleaning and waxing. Other seminars included info on solar panels, group discussions about great destinations, and even a round table on blogging about your travels.

The Airstream corporation was represented, via Skype, by their Vice President of Sales and their Head of Maintenance, who gave a talk on the current state and future of the company.

The Airstream dealer from Eugene Oregon, George Sutton’s, brought several different sizes of the newest models of Airstreams for display.

We took our time touring the different Airstreams and examining each from an experienced perspective.This was fun, and a good confirmation that we made a good choice when we decided on our 25 foot model.

The 27 footer has more room, which would be nice, but would also really limit our ability to get into some parks and some camping spaces. The smaller 19-21 foot models really just seemed too small for our longer trips, now that we know how we like to travel.

In the evening, there usually are opportunities, including ‘roving happy hours’ at the campground, to visit and socialize and get to know other Airstream owners. This has been fun, even for the socially challenged, like myself. We have met a number of interesting and like minded people. The average age of this group is considerably younger then we found at the Good Sam Rally in Phoenix last year.

Some of the activities and entertainment were held right at the campground. One evening, a local Indian Drumming group played for us.

I thought that it was a bit unusual for the group to be all women, except for one man. They sat in a circle and played, beating on a single drum, and sang their native songs. They never really introduced themselves, or spoke with the audience. It was as if they were just gathering for their own enjoyment, and we could listen if we wanted to.

Saturday had all the ‘wrap-up’ activities……a question and answer forum, and a buffet dinner. For us, wrapping- up also included doing a bit of laundry and paying bills, getting caught up with business and correspondence while we have good access to cell service and internet.

Sunday we will leave Canyonville, vowing to keep in touch with the new friends we have made,  and head about 100 miles east to Crater Lake National Park.