Shop shopping. Shopping for Airstreams. (Part 1)

A man and woman walk into an Airstream dealership.

The man kicks the tires, makes sure he can comfortably sit on the commode, and carefully inspects the cost breakdown spec sheet.

The woman opens all the cabinets to try to figure out how all of her their stuff will fit, notes the color palette, and tries to imagine if a pack ‘n play could be squeezed next to the dinette.

The salesman gives us his forewarned ‘two-minute spiel’.

He tells the man that an Airstream is for a ‘lifetime’. He tells the woman how pretty these cabinets look at night.

Oh man. Are we really that predictable?

***

Dan and I did a lot of window shopping online. Dan didn’t really care which model we got as long as we got a good price. Sure, I wanted a good price too (who doesn’t?) but I wanted it to feel like home. My home. Especially since it will be more than just a weekender. So, I put my foot down and said that I prefer the International line and that’s it. (Dan loves it when I am flexible with my choices.) And on top of my preference for the International line, I definitely did NOT want the cheesy Ocean Breeze model. No way Jose. Over my dead body. It’s my or the highway. You hear me, Dan?

***

We had no idea what size we would feel comfortable in or what floor plan would work for us… until we saw them in person. We decided that the 25 foot model would work best for us since it had a permanent dinette and a couch. The dinette would work perfectly as a traveling office area and the couch would give Ava ample stretching room. Perfect. I really didn’t want to set-up and break-down the eating area every night as we did with the T@b.

The 25 foot model had two floor plan options. The FB (Front Bedroom) floor plan had the shower and toilet/sink areas separated, a gaucho couch and a more spacious bedroom.

The SS (Six Sleeper) floor plan had a more traditional couch and bathroom but had a cramped bedroom and a flimsy shower door that I could guarantee Ava busting through within a week.

So after a few minutes of touring actual Airstreams, we agreed that we needed to focus on looking for an International Signature Series 25FB (non-Ocean Breeze) which was not one of the newest model years.

I never said I wasn’t picky.

***

To be continued…
marlene