Leaving Merced like a bat out of hell I was on the road and heading south to Los Angeles first thing in the moring. My final destination of the day would be Bellflower where Miss Perception and Ed were waiting for me.
The olive groves and sunflower fields have made way to almond and peach orchards, dairy farms and avocado groves as I headed south. There is a heat wave this week which means the little Canadian would be melting if not for a climate controlled space. I don't think I would fare well walking outside for more than 10 minutes in the noon-day sun. As the morning approached the afternoon I was heading through golden fields of ripe grains before approaching the hills and heading through the Grapevine (where all the good gossip is born apparently).
I've been driving my car imagining that I was towing my airstream already, thinking to myself "what would it feel like, how would my driving change?" I've been doing this for a couple of weeks already, sort of living in the reality of the future I've dreamed of. Like all expectations though, they're often romanticized and misaligned so although they're fun to toy with, I will need to wait on reality.
I arrived by about 1pm and got the first glance of the Miss Perception at the far end of Ed's driveway, he had pulled her out and angled her so that I had nice view of his orchard from the back window. Well, it was surreal, I saw her as "an airstream in the driveway" at first. It was great to see Ed and we had our hellos and then headed out back to let me have my first real visit with my little Miss.
She is beautiful, perfect in my eyes and everything that I wanted. She's also complex for a novice like me so it will take me some time (and a bit of studying) to get to know all her intricacies and foibles. Ed had been working on her for a few days, cleaning and detailing the exterior and getting the interior swept out, the previous owners were surfers and so sand in every cushion and crevice and it just keeps coming!! They also had a dog so there is sand and dog hairs, but luckily no smell; nothing a good cleaning can't fix.
So the afternoon and late into the evening was spent cleaning, wiping and scrubbing, vacuuming, sweeping and getting to know each other. Like GyPSy, Miss Perception is patient with me, she's happy to have a new owner, someone to pay attention to her and she's willing to wait for me to get to know all of her, there's no rush and it's fun to leave some surprises for a bit later, they're more appreciated.
So with a power connection back to Ed's grid I was able to have lights on and fans running, windows open, and by the time bedtime came along a fairly clean, fresh place to sleep. I was exhausted from the trip and the cleaning and the excitement; it was fast and easy getting to sleep.
The next morning, I awoke and was excited about the day, it's a long weekend so an extra day is welcomed in any form but espeically awesome when it's more time to get to know Miss Perception. There would be a trip to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) to get the title transfer started and then a bit more cleaning/organizing and learning. We made a new dump hose and stored the excess, I learned about chocks and torsion bars and many other parts/pieces that I need to be aware of. I messed with the awning a bit but didn't have the space/room to pull it all the way down but I like the pattern on it. I will spend some time describing her in detail in a future entry.
Ed was extremely patient and supportive of helping me get all set up and organized. He pays attention to detail and has taken every little peice of "stuff" that came with Miss Perception, laid it out, cleaned it up, degreased it and explained it all to me and make recommendations of what to keep where and helped me understand when I'd need it etc. He helped me make a basic checklist and was the perfect person to help me to get all setup and get to know Miss Perception. Thank you Ed !!
So on Day 6 of the ROMP tour I hooked up Miss Perception to Ella (my ride... Dodgerella has received some mixed feedback so I'm shorting it to Ella for now but if you have recommendations for a "roadname" for my car feel free to leave them in the comments section ... I'm open to suggestions. She's a 2001 white Dodge Durango) and headed south to Orange County to see my friends David and Brion and introduce them to Miss Perception.
The term "baptism by fire" comes to mind. Nothing like hooking up an extra 3600 pounds to your car, never having used trailer brakes before and heading out onto the LA freeway system at rush hour. I knew where I was going but I decided to turn GyPSy on anyways because I didn't need to make any wrong turns and GyPSy takes away a lot of stress for me so she was right there with us. I'm glad I did this because for some reason I had thought I should be taking the 91 West when the interchange came up but it was actually the Eastbound 91 I needed and when GyPSy said East and I thought West, I just said "I have to trust GyPSy and went east and immediately knew it was the right direction, my nerves had me a bit disoriented.
When Ian installed my trailer brakes he showed me how they'd work and told me that I could adjust them until "they felt right". I'm sure I'll get there but I honestly don't know what feels right yet. I may be relying too heavily on my car brakes right now and the stopping is a lot slower (obviously) than just the car but I have the trailer brakes set on 2.0 (on a scale of 1-10) any comments/suggestions here are welcome as well. I will need to play with the settings a bit more but I think I have to get over the nerves of having the trailer behind me and feeling a bit more comfortable before the brakes get fully dialled in. There's a lot of pushing/pulling going on when I drive that I need to get used to but I'm sure by the time we reach Powell River that it will all be second nature with brakes fully dialled in.
At one point during the drive I did say to myself "this is the dream little girl, this is what made your eyes sparkle" and really reveled in the moment doing 55 down the 91 freeway (east!).
A safe arrival in the city of Orange came about 40 minutes after leaving Bellflower, there was a fair amount of traffic. Miss Perception was happy to host a few tours and let David, Brion and Yvette get to know her. She makes a good first impression and I'm delighted to be able to share her with my friends. David and Brion indulged me earlier this year when I came down for a visit and we all went to Palm Springs together for an Airstream show as part of the Modernism show. We all walked in/around/through so many airstreams that it felt very normal to all walk into an airstream together again.
Even though it's a heat wave here, Miss Perception cools off quickly with the front/back windows open and the fan sucking out the hot air through the ceiling - great airflow. Tonight there will be some "street sleeping" as I head to bed parked out front. At night I close everything up except leave the back window cracked open a bit for some fresh air. She's very sound proof even with the window cracked open. I sleep so well, the bed feels spacious and cozy at the same time and the. I feel very safe inside, the door has a tight fit, a handle lock and deadbolt. With the curtains closed front/back and the kitchen shade pulled down it's totally private and feels quite roomy for 1 person. It even felt comfortable with all 4 of us in it earlier too, there is comfortable seating for 4 at the table and then at least one person can sit on the bed and still be part of the conversation or 2-3 people could cozy up on the bed and have their own conversations as well. As odd as it may sound I'm the most appreciative of the bathroom, it's the comfort that makes self-contained truly a reality. So no potty-talk, I'm stopping here.
A delightful success, the ROMP tour is underway. We do have a slight paperwork technicality at this point but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can get that sorted out in time for the completion of the ROMP tour as we cross the border... if not, I have a contingency plan and we'll get things figured out, nothing to panic about, it's all part of the adventure and will work itself out, give or take a day or a week. I'm greateful to have so many supportive friends who are helping me through this process. Nothing like a good ROMP with good friends !!
Pictures will be coming shortly.
Trippy facts
Airstream Sightings: 2 more on Day 5 and 1 on Day 6 so we're up to a total of 6 so far.
Shout Outs:
these are signs that remind me of someone I know. When I’m reminded of people on the road I think they should know that they were thought about. Maybe you're in my list for today...
Betty Drive, Buttonwillow Drive, Olive Drive (you'll have to let her know ok mom), White Lane, David Road.
Enforcement: just the usual, a few poor souls getting tickets, but no accidents.
Gas Prices: Southern California gas prices are a bit higher than OR (where they have full service I might add). I filled up for $3.89/gal on the outskirts of Burbank on my way south, noticing it's a few cents more expensive in OC.
