We are in Jackson Center, Ohio, which is north of Dayton and south of Toledo near I-75. It is near not a lot. The bicycle history museum isn’t far away, so maybe we’ll check that out tomorrow. We’re here at the one and only Airstream factory. They are made nowhere else. Our trailer came out of the plant in November of 2004, I believe. It’s one of only about 78 Safari trailers with bunks, and they don’t make ‘em anymore!
Our main reason for coming was to have the alignment checked. When we got to Denver I noticed one of our tires had an unusual amount of wear and needed to be replaced. We replaced it there, but the shop could not do the alignment — neither could the dealer nearest us in Virginia. We decided it was best to take care of it at the factory and here we are.
Our trailer is still under warranty for most things, and we are taking care of a few smaller items too: the front exterior compartment binds just a little (they fixed it); the windows we had repaired in California weren’t done completely right (they fixed them); a drawer under our sink wasn’t rolling on its track properly and I couldn’t seem to get it right (fixed it); a strip of vinyl in the bathroom was peeling (they’ll replace it tomorrow); and our refrigerator was recalled for a repair to keep it from starting a catastrophic fire (!) (they’ll fix it tomorrow).
After the technician finished for the day, I asked him about the axles. He said they were a little out of alignment, but nothing compared to what he’s seen when folks come in — that’s good. Now we are all set for our last 16 days. That’s all we have left! Yikes!
We’ll visit friends near Cincinnati after we leave hear on Wednesday. Meanwhile we are hanging out in the Terra Port. That’s Airstream’s little RV park (24 spaces) with full hook-ups and Wifi. It’s free for customers. Makes me almost want to vacation here. ‘Cept there isn’t anything here, which is a drawback.
We did take the factory tour and Elise got to come too! It was pretty cool to see heaps of Airstreams in various stages of construction. They are changing the branding of the Safari line and calling it “Flying Cloud” starting in 2009. That’s an old Airstream name, but I’m not sure why it will have more impact than “Safari.” Also new in 2009 is a 34-foot, triple axle “toy hauler.” Toy haulers are the trailers with garage doors for your motorcycle, ATV, or other loud motorized thing. We’re kinda disappointed they decided to make one. Nosing about bright and shiny homes on wheels makes us want to keep ours, but that doesn’t look like it’s in the cards. Unless everybody wants to pitch in to the Shackleton Loan & Maintenance Fund. Feel free to donate!
