Summer 2025 - Squeglia Epic Airstream Road Trip Summary

Paul and I are now within 3 weeks of departing for our epic road trip on our Airstream.  Here is a high-level view of our itinerary:

April 23 - Depart Naples and partake in the South Florida Airstream Club Caravan (FUN!); that night we’ll boondock at the Sarasota Fairgrounds and then will spend the next two nights en route staying at Harvest Hosts in McAlpin, FL and Fort Valley, GA

Late April to early May - We arrive at the Top of Georgia Airstream Park, where we spent last 4^th of Juily (as referenced on a previous post) – we love it here and will stay for a week – the Airstream caravan will go through the week and then we will head west.

Early May - Buffalo Point Campground. Yellville, Arkansas– part of the National Park system along the Buffalo National River

Mid-May - Blowing Springs Campground, Bentonville, Arkansas – super excited about this destination – we have a long list of great ideas of what to do.

Late May - Salida RV Resort, Salida, CO

Early June - Ridgway Station Park Pa-Co-Chu-Puk State Park Campground, Ridgway, CO

Mid-June - Stay with friends in Evergreen, Colorado (beautiful area southwest of Denver) / Tickets to Sheryl Crow at Red Rocks

Mid-June - spending 6 nights with our friends Dan and Diana in the Lake Tahoe area 

Late June to early July - Tumalo State Park Campground, Bend, OR - we have good friends who live in Bend and are very excited to explore the area with them!

Mid July to early August - Oregon Coast, Willamette Valley, Mt. Rainier National Park

Early August - Fly back to Naples – check on house, doctor’s appointments, etc.

Mid-August - Back to Washington – we’ll keep the airstream at an all-airstream park southwest of SEATAC and then stay there for a week.

Mid-August - Log Cabin Resort, Port Angeles, WA (north side of Olympic National Park); planning to visit my cousin John in Port Townsend

Late August - Open time to get from Olympic National Park to Grand Teton National Park – thinking Deception Pass as part of this

Early September - Colter Bay Village – north end of Grand Teton National Park

September - Open time to get us from Wyoming to New Mexico

Early October - Hot Air Ballon Fiesta, Albuquerque, NM

Mid-October - Working our way east to FLA

Late October - Reservations at St. Andrews State Park in Panama City FL (we stayed here this past December and loved it)

Early November - Head back to Naples (1-2 days).  We were very fortunate to have lots of friends visit us this past season . . . perhaps you'll get your photo in front of the Airstream next year???

We are very excited for all of the great adventures ahead and will keep you posted as we roll along!

Cheers and Love, Jen & Paul

December 2024 Trips - Alabama and Panama City, Florida

We just posted all of the upgrades we have made, so I thought it would be fun to share a trip we took in December after our significant upgrade at Airstream Nuts and Bolts in Alabama.

After leaving Ronnie, we headed to our very first Harvest Host stay.  Harvest Host is an amazing option for RVers - you can join for $150 per year and you have access to thousands of small businesses throughout the country where you can stay for one night at no cost.  These locations are typically wineries, breweries, farms, and areas in more rural areas with room for an RV to spend the night.  Although there is no fee to stay, it is understood that you will buy something wonderful from their business - such as wine, beer, cheese, produce, etc.  For those of you who know me well, I will not have issues buying any of this, especially wine and beer!  Ha! 😁 It's definitely a win/win.  Our first experience was at Hodges Vineyard, and it was wonderful - the setting was beautiful (although quite chilly) and they had full hook-ups which is rare.  The people were lovely, and we had a great overnight stay.

We left Alabama and headed to Panama City, Florida where we stayed at St. Andrews State Park.  We are really loving the Florida State Parks, and this one was exceptional.  We also had our very first campsite on the water.  It is located on a peninsula and surrounded by water and a gorgeous beach - we loved it there and already have made reservations to end our 6-month trip there at the end of October.  We even had a front row seat for the full moon rise, which was spectacular!

Now we are caught up and more to come on our 2025 epic road trip adventure!  Stay tuned!

Cheers and love, Jen & Paul

Getting her Ready to Roll!

I have to give a huge shout out to Paul for managing so many technical and mechanical aspects of the Airstream and everything he has done to get it ready for our trip.  He put together the summary below outlining everything he has done to get us "Ready to Roll!"

In our vision of traveling the USA we love the idea of being as self-sufficient as possible.  We took a big step towards independence with our electrical upgrade.  In doing our research, we decided to have a company named Airstream Nuts and Bolts complete the design and installation.  Ronnie Dennis, who is the proprietor, is very well known in the Airstream community for doing very high-quality work.  Their shop is in Dadeville Alabama about 30 minutes from Auburn University.  So in November of 2024 Paul hooked up the Airstream to drop it off at Ronnie’s shop on his way to work in Port Fourchon LA.  At the end of Paul’s hitch, Jen flew into New Orleans to travel back to Ronnie’s shop to pick it up.  

What we had done:

·       We replaced our batteries from old school lead acid to Battle Bourn Lithium-Ion batteries.  We added 2 of these batteries rated at 270-amp hours each.

·       We added a 3000-watt Victron inverter.  An inverter converts 12-volt DC electricity from the batteries into normal (household) 120 Volt AC electric.

·       We replaced our two sad solar panels with 8 (100 watt each) solar panels.  We also replaced the solar controller with and upgraded Victron solar controller.

·       We added the ability to connect the electrical charging system in our truck to charge our batteries on the rig.  This was accomplished with a Victron Orien DC to DC charge controller that limits the draw on the alternator to 50amps.

·       We also added a 7-inch touch screen in the rig that controls all of these functions and monitors the state of charge and discharge so we can manage our power effectively. 

·       And finally, we added two soft starts controllers to both of our air conditioners.  We added these to help lower the power draw upon startup of the compressor.  Paul installed these prior to our appointment.

 

How these upgrades help us be more independent

These upgrades make it possible to not have to rely on an expensive campground to plug our rig into.  So when we are traveling, we can spend the night off-grid so to speak.  This includes spending the night in a parking lot (Harvest Host) or out on BLM land out west.  The limitation on this is that if we need to run the Air conditioning, the batteries will not make it all night.  But what it does do, is give us the ability to run the AC for a lunch stop or before we get to a campground where we know we will have a plug.    

Other Upgrades

·   Tires.  We decided to replace all 5 (one spare) tires on the rig as they were more than five years old.  This may seem to be wasteful to discard tires that have plenty of tread on them.  Tires that do not get used regularly can and do develop dry rot.  This is a problem on the trailer if and when they delaminate or blow out.   Along with the safety concern is the damage concern when these slabs of tire tread came flopping around and dent the panels on the airstream.  Replacing panels is very expensive.

·    Starlink. We are lucky to live in a time when internet communication has become so accessible.  Starlink uses low orbit satellites to provide very high speed internet connections virtually anywhere in the world.  We permanently installed the router in one of the cabinets above the TV.  To get on to the internet takes about five minutes of setting the antenna outside and placing it with a clear view of the sky

·    Bikes.  One of the biggest challenges we had was finding a reasonable method to carry bicycles either in the truck or in the rig.  Because of the layout of our airstream, a bike rack on the back of it was not a great solution.  We purchased foldable full-size bikes from etrailer.com  The brand is "Montague."  I ordered the mountain bike for myself as I am a bit sturdy, and I wanted to get a bike that could take a beating.  We got a road bike for Jennifer.  I built a couple of crude boxes to put on my bed slide and it all seems to work.

 

This is Jen . . . we are currently at Little Manatee River State Park after a productive trip to the Airstream of Tampa a few days ago to get our front AC replaced and our stabilizer jack switches replaced as well.  This was the last big repair we needed prior to our adventure.  It was cool to be at Airstream and read more about its history and founder Wally Byam.  They have been making Airstreams in the good ole USA since 1932 and 75% of them are still on the road - we are honored to be part of this great story.  Here are a few pics from our visit:

A huge thanks again to Paul for all of his hard work getting us ready!  

Cheers and love, Jen & Paul

4th of July 2024 at the Top

Well hello there!  Following up on Paul's initial post, I wanted to share some details about our journey to the "Top" which is a nickname for the Top of Georgia Airstream Park, located just north of Helen, GA (about 90 minutes north/northeast from Atlanta) and just shy of the South Carolina border.  It is beautiful and as luck would have it, will be our first major stop for our cross-country journey - more on that later. 

The Top is owned by the Georgia Airstream Club international and is for Airstreams only and the price is right!  We spent 4 nights there over the 4th of July and met so many fun people and thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful area - lots of great hiking.  Enjoy the photos!

Look at all those Airstreams and here we are at the Top's entrance!😀

We also did a ton of hiking while there to include Currahee Mountain - for those WW2 history buffs, this was featured in the very first episode of Band of Brothers as it was where all of our brave soldier paratroopers trained before heading over to Europe.  Talk about hallowed ground - it was a challenging hike, but we were truly motivated by those heroes who hiked it well before we did, and it was particularly fitting to do the day before the 4th of July.

From the top of Currahee - beautiful views!

Lots of other picturesque hikes too and of course a stop at a local brewery for a delish lunch and an iced cold local brew!  👏

We truly love the time on our Airstream and it is such a great place to come back to after a hike or adventure - truly relaxing in a beautiful setting as well as a few awesome meals cooked by Grill Master and Chef Paul!💙

Had to add a little patriotic decor for the 4th!

Thanks for following along - a few more posts to follow to include our high level itinerary of our big trip starting in a few weeks!

Cheers and Love, Jen & Paul

Getting our BRN!

What is BRN you say?  It's a highly technical term for those who join the International Airstream Club, which we did soon after we bought our Airstream.  It stands for - wait for it - BIG RED NUMBER! 

When you join the club, you can pick a number (if available) or they assign you one.  We tried a few numbers, but they were already taken, so they assigned us 4977 and that sure works for us!  

Here is a little history about the BRN:  For over 60 years, the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (Airstream Club International) has been assigning members numbers and it all started in 1951 with the first Airstream Wally Byam Caravan. Imagine leading a caravan of 63 or so Airstreams throughout Central America not now, but in 1951-1952. Without having the benefit of cell phones or GPS to connect with caravan members, Wally Byam assigned big red numbers which were placed on the front and rear end-cap of the Airstreams – making it easier to keep track of a large group of travelers facing rugged terrain and many weather-related problems. 

Here are a few photos (and one video) of Paul skillfully attaching the numbers - you will note that they are big and red!  😂

Ta Da indeed!  Joining the Airstream Club has opened a lot of doors for us and we have met so many nice people so far.  It is completely optional - there are many who don't join the club, but we are grateful we did as they offer lots of networking activities, as well as access to tons of great information about the care of our home on wheels.

Cheers and love, Jen & Paul