Excitement coursed through my veins as I attempted to convince my wife that we needed this 31 feet of marvelous, somewhat shiny, piece of aluminum history, a 1969 Airstream travel trailer...to be more specific, a Sovereign of the Road. Yeah, that's right...the shiny ones that look like a silver Twinkie on steroids!
The previous day I was driving through the countryside in southwest Michigan and there She sat, next to a garage with a weather worn "For Sale" sign leaning against her rusty propane tanks...the trailer of my dreams...an Airstream. Why was I driving down that back-country road that afternoon? Well, I have no idea...but I slammed on my brakes, skidded to a stop and threw my car into reverse. The old man sitting in his screened-in patio looked at me with an expression of bewilderment and curiosity as I drove up his drive-way.
As Arlen & Shirley Manning write in Polishing with the Manning's:
I think that anyone who buys an old classic trailer should pay their dues, and the story often goes like this: fall in love with the first one you find, put hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars into it, find out what a really good trailer is, sell the hopeless example you have invested everything in (usually at a considerable loss), and THEN go buy that exceptional example that you really want and rightfully deserve. It is a lesson usually hard learned...If only I had read that quote before I drove down that drive-way...Well as they say, you live and you learn...
As I walked up that drive-way and the Old Man stood to greet me, I knew that no matter what price was asked...I would pay. I would just need to convince my wife.
I knew this would take some doing...you see my when it comes to money, it would be easier to wrestle a banana from the hands of a wild mountain gorilla...but I am a resilient fellow.
I began my research...I googled "How to convince your wife to do almost anything"...no luck, unless of course I wanted to spend $49.95 for some self-help book. But then lo and behold, my Spring 2008 issue of Airstream Life arrived at my door that dealt with this very idea!!!! The article entitled, "Winning Over the Reluctant: Getting Your Spouse To Share The Excitement" seemed as if it had all the answers! Heck, the article even referenced the work of the great Harvard psychologist Dr. Howard Gardner. Still, I felt a little uneasy...you see,my wife...well, not only is she cheap, after over 13 years of marriage, I have learned she is immune to mind tricks. I would need to do something drastic...I would need to take her into the Airstream and appeal to her emotional side and be honest...a scary place to be for any husband. And you know something...it worked! I am not sure how, but it worked and I was able to purchase the trailer of my nightmares...err...I mean dreams.
I want to now refer you back to the quote from the Mannings...go ahead, re-read it...I'll wait...
After we got the trailer, the costs started to mount up and my wife was beginning to tire of hearing "a couple hundred bucks" and "Airstream" in the same sentence. After a replaced floor, a new refrigerator, and multiple other items with no end in sight, I knew I had also reached my limit. So I decided that we needed to sell the Sovereign of the Road only after my wife agreed that I could keep everything we sold it for and apply it to another trailer...one in better condition. I also had to take the trailer out at least once...so we did that...and boy did people stare...not the normal."Wow! It's an Airstream" stare, but rather the, "I don't want to drive behind them in case the thing falls apart" stare.
So a couple thousand dollars later, and a great weekend in the Sovereign, we sold it...surprisingly I even made a couple hundred dollars! It was enough for us to purchase our new baby, the Surfin' Safari.
Here I am, walking away from my first Airstream...a dark day
2 comments:
I think my wife had a twin sister that was taken at birth. She is still reeling from the money I spent this past winter and another month and a half I will start doing it again. The best way to win her over is to take her camping. The folks in our unit have been very successful in melting her down. So much so, that she is excited to be going to a rally this weekend. I really like what you are doing and your writing is excellent. Please keep posting frequently.
And please stop polishing in a tie.
I had no idea you had one previously!
You know, Frank and Rob and many others have me a hard time for spending a year searching, but for me, it was the right way to do it. It also helped that I bought a trailer that already had a 3-year-long thread on the Forums, so I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into! ;-)
Keep up the good work and the fun writing.
-Marcus
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