Alumapalooza is an all-Airstream event sponsored by the good folks who bring you Airstream Life magazine, held on the grounds of Airstream, Inc. 

Like a giant rally, but more, Alumapalooza crams back to back activities into a too-short six day event, presented by those who own and love Airstream: gear, technical and safety classes; workshops on interior design and vintage restoration; tax tips for fulltimers; morning yoga; numerous maintenance sessions; cooking and sketching demos; a short session on bucking rivets (“Buck Rivet”—best porn name ever) before the annual team competition; vendors with expensive, must-have goodies; professional entertainment; and daily happy houring, grilling and socializing with the big names at Airstream and fellow travelers from all corners of the nation. In short, it’s a blast.

Replacing what was once called Homecoming Week at the factory, Alumapalooza is cheap for all you get; $300 per rig buys a week at the Mothership and field parking with water and enough electricity to keep your laptop charged. (What wasn’t cheap was the gas it took to get here. Let’s see…2500 miles, $4 per gallon, average mpg…Gah! I don’t even want to add the receipts.)

Already memories:

Visiting the mothballed trailers (including Stella, the Byam’s gold Airstream) in the production lot with @whereisKylenow; finding a corny map of the US on the side of one—the kind with the stick-on states—and pointing out where we’ve been, and where we plan to go

Meeting other online acquaintances in person, like the delightful @Weaselmouth team (perhaps their blog will mention their performance at the Rivet Masters contest)

Learning to cook (sort of) using hot coals and a Dutch oven

Conversing with Maxine—a lovely lady at the Methodist church dinner—who shared a few stories about working as a curtain seamstress at the Airstream factory, fifty years ago

The lively couple with two miniature dachshunds who dress them in twisted costumes

Pink bursts of lightning reflecting off the mirror-polished vintage trailer parked next to the DWR

Michael Depraida’s ice machine. (Agreed: “The ability to make ice is what separates us from the animals.”) 

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