Getting Ready

This is our 8th year of Airstream travel.  The "getting ready" part has been pretty consistent each year.  We normally know well in advance where we're going and when we're leaving.  Not this year.

Carol was very ill from late winter until early summer.  It was a spring she'd prefer to forget. 

We didn't even consider a trip until the 1st week of July, and then only as a possibility.  The trip plan kind of bubbled to the surface in pieces.  A travel window of August 15th to September 30th seemed to make sense.  A northern route to Portland, OR had some appeal.  Concern for Carol's health kept us on the fence.

Dick did trailer maintenance during the spring.  Some of the work was normal stuff like washing the trailer and installing the main batteries.  There was a trip to the local Airstream dealer to get the tires, brakes, wheel bearings and shocks checked.  Then, for a little fun, he converted all of the internal lights from halogens to LEDs and installed a trailer tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS).

About the LEDs
Our 2007 Airstream was manufactured with 17 puck style inside lights. They used halogen bulbs at the time. The lights are small and provide great lighting, but they get pretty hot. We've replaced a number of the bulbs over the years at a cost of about $4 each.

We converted all of the halogen bulbs to LEDs at a cost of about $12 each. The financial decision looks questionable until you consider that LEDs last up to 20 times longer, don't get hot and consume less than 20% of the power of an equivalent halogen bulb.  The change is significant when we're operating on battery power.

    Halogen                       LED 

About the TPMS
Tires play a major role in travel safety. We try to maintain proper air pressure in the tires because over and under inflation is a major cause of tire failure. The TrailBlazer makes the task easy ... it provides individual car tire pressure displays from the driver's console.  

The trailer, however, is another story.  We've had to read the trailer tire pressures with a tire gauge ... when we remembered to do it.  The TPMS simplifies the task significantly. It provides a real time display of individual trailer tire pressures and temperatures. Sensors are installed on each valve stem and the dash-mounted monitor receives their signals. Our system is designed to handle up to an 18-wheel semi trailer plus the cab. Our 4-wheel trailer should be child's play.

Sensor on the valve stem

The monitor displays readings for each tire

Dealing with What Ifs
Our preparation includes a lot of "what if" decisions.  What if something breaks?  What if it rains?  What if it snows? What if it gets cold or hot?  And so it goes.  Answers to the "what if" questions always seem to result in taking more stuff.  More tools, more clothes, more spare parts, etc.  More stuff means more weight and more weight puts more load on the tires ... and we've returned to tire safety again. Overloaded tires can fail. We have to watch our weight.

The trailer weighs 4,000 lbs (empty).  Then we add 30 gallons of fresh water, 21 gallons of gray water, 18 gallons of black water, clothes, groceries, dishes, silverware, appliances, computers, games and other stuff.  The weight adds up quickly.

The TrailBlazer has a 5,400 lb tow capacity so we always leave the Total Gym at home.