10/22/2026
A little back story for the new folks.
Barry and I have been camping off and on for years now. We purchased the 1959 Aljo Canned Ham in 2013 along with Martin the 1952 Chevy Panel Truck that tows it. If you have been around long enough you can recall in 2016 Barry custom built the teardrop to match Martin. The reason being we wanted to travel faster and longer than what the vintage camper was capable of. The vintage camper is in great shape for its age - it's an unrestored original camper that we bought out of Austin TX. It just can't handle (or we don't think so) prolonged interstate speeds with the rough road conditions and then as much as I love the teardrop it is not something I want to travel in for weeks at a time. (We have actually already done that.) The teardrop has toured the Blue Ridge Parkway twice, Skyline Drive, Outer Banks, The Smokey Mountains, Land Between the Lakes, The Ozark Mountains all the way to Oklahoma not counting the multiple trips to SC, NC, TN, AL and regular trips throughout Georgia as well. We have had a great time. However we are wanting to go farther up north and out west. Possibly to Alaska/Canada. We want a full bathroom and good size indoor kitchen. Not to mention not having to worry about the canned ham being damaged by road conditions and the teardrop is not ideal for inclement weather.
Hence, the Airstream. Barry and I have been looking for months at campers. Plans are to still replace Martin's ('52 Panel Truck) engine with a newer/bigger one. Where one day Martin too should be able to tow the Airstream. Will it be what we take out west and up north? I doubt it. We will still probably tow with the GMC for those trips. ��We looked at all sorts of campers. Mainly, cheaper more "modern" ones. Once Barry mentioned that Martin should be able to pull a bigger camper with the new engine my brain started clicking and I knew whatever we purchased needed to look good and more period to either truck (that's just us) plus we discussed if we wanted to once we were done with traveling out west and up north selling the "modern" camper. Well, I think everyone knows you just about can't beat Airstream for holding their value. We actually doubled our budget once we figured out we wanted an Airstream. It wasn't on either one of our radars. I don't think either one of us had even stepped in to one until the day we bought ours. We camped 3 days coming home and we both love it and already looking forward to our next trip!��
I shared yesterday's post on my two Instagram pages plus my personal page and I thought it was funny about everyone already asking how I will decorate the Airstream. I do have plans but I will also be keeping it simple. For those of you that don't know, the '59 Aljo Canned Ham's theme is vintage 50s, Turquoise, Yellow, White and Green. The Teardrop is the same color combo but it's dachshunds. I made the dachshund quilt that I posted a few weeks ago for the teardrop but it actually fits either camper. The galley in the Teardrop also has vintage postcards epoxied into the countertop as well.��
I am planning the Airstream being in 1950s "travel" memorabilia. I am sure you have seen the old Yosemite posters and such. I am going to dig around and see what I have. I know I have some neat postcards and brochures to frame. As for the colors I am thinking brown, green and cream maybe a touch or orange and yellow. We really will just have to see. ���
(I'll attach pictures of all the rigs below)
This is our new to us 2008 Airstream Safari Special Edition. This thing was hardly used. It has always been stored indoors. I don't think the oven has ever been used and the stove top only a few times. Barry and I have some upgrades we want to do that I will share as we go along. Barry was very please with how well it towed on the way home too.
