Day 1610 – Airstream!

Well, i did it. Like everything i do this was brought on by a confluence of events. First, Apple stock was within a normal day’s trading of my sell price. Second, our first choice Airstream got away from us. Third, Annette was visiting in NYC and with quick work i could roll in to the arrivals bay at the Boise airport towing the trailer and surprise her.

I have no idea what inspired me to call Colonial Airstream in Lakewood NJ on Monday, Aug. 17, but for whatever reason i rang them up and inquired about their stock number 8667. I’d already spoken with Patrick earlier last week, but this time i got Lauren and was told, with little ceremony, “sorry we took a deposit on it.”

“But, but… i spoke with Patrick last week… and it shows in stock on your website.”

“Yeah, well, we took a deposit on it this morning and we update the website in the evening.”

Silence.

“Ok, then. Well… ” i was grasping at straws here, “Patrick has my contact information. If the sale does not proceed, please have him call me.”

Well, that was that. Our first choice, after months of back-and-forth and discussion and thinking and pondering and predicting, was gone. I decided it would be better to act now and go with our second choice rather than risk letting another one get away and then being forced to either wait until next year or engage some kind of a broker to find the model we wanted. Besides, i’d steeled myself for the massive expenditure; in my brain the money was already spent, that the object that money would buy no longer existed sort of didn’t compute.

I called Airstream of Spokane, verified the 19′ Flying Cloud “Midnight Sun” interior was indeed still there… and bought it. I admit my first thought after saying “i’ll take it” and giving my credit card number for the non-refundable $2,000 deposit was from the original Trek when Scotty points out “ay, the haggis is in the fire for sure now.”

The rest remains pretty much one big blur. They faxed the purchase agreement, i confirmed my insurance with Progressive, i went to the bank and got a cashier’s check for the balance, drove to Spokane and stayed at a rather gross Motel 6, got up and drove to Lake Coeur d’Alene and waited for the husband/wife team of Airstream of Spokane to come to work, drove back to Airstream of Spokane, met with the owner, did a solid 4 hour get-acquainted session, hooked the trailer up to the Nissan, did a test drive around the neighborhood, then drove back to Boise arriving back home at about 9:30 p.m. About 900 miles covered in two days.

Then on Friday i went to work and got a ton of stuff done, left to pick up Annette’s birthday present, dropped it at home, switched to the Nissan with the trailer still hooked up and drove back to work. At 2:30 Annette called from the airport to say she was off the plane and i should come get her. I rolled into the arrivals bay pulling the trailer to see a great big smile, and that brings us up to date.

That was on Friday. Today is Sunday. We’ve done very little with the trailer thus far. It’s hooked up in the driveway at the moment. We’re still getting acquainted with all the systems and noises and quirks. It is a beautiful thing… and we intend on having it forever, so there’s little purpose to rushing off on a short trip. Hell, i just drove it over 400 miles, so i’m not all that hot to haul it even more.

Editor’s note: as of today Colonial Airstream still shows stock number 8667 as “in stock.”

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