It's April!

Well, almost.
First 2 trips planned. First one will be to Top of Georgia Airstream Park. This is a WBCCI only park. We finally got our numbers in, so this first trip may be the one to place the numbers on Wally!

Top of Georgia's a nice little park! Nested in the mountains, there is a nice little stream running through it, a clubhouse, and full hookup (including sewer) hookups for $7 a night. WiFi available, and cable (7 channels). Good place to make sure Wally's up for the summer.

Next trip will be a family affair at Lake Lanier Islands Resort Campground. It will be for Easter, having our family out to enjoy (hopefully) a nice day at the lake, good burgers, an Easter Egg Hunt, and some other activities for the kids. Good Times!

See you on the road y'all!
Team JuJuMagoo

Aluminitis setting in!

Just sitting here waiting for the first week in April when we can get to start our adventures. Stopped by storage to check out Wally, the batteries are dead. ARGH! Not a problem, plug it into the truck and let it set for 20 minutes or so, will be good to go. Lots of adventures planned. Cannot wait!

Alive and well in GA!

We're finally here, and almost completely moved in. Boxes still hanging around, but thier numbers are slowly dwindling. Can't wait to explore my new piece of America!
Wally is nestled down in a secure storage area, but would feel better if it was in our front yard, solely for a place to temporarily escape to, outside of the house. Wouldn't hurt to be able to 'mess around' with it either, pack it up and have it ready on a moment's notice.

Still looking for a campsite in Florida(beaches,Gulf) for Memorial Day weekend, and not coming up with much. Maybe coastal Georgia? Or maybe the mountains?

Joined WBCCI, perhaps we'll go the the clubhouse this weekend to check it out.

On the road again...

Gearing up for the move to Georgia! Woot! Much still needs to be done, packing wise. One of the beautiful things about having Wally is..
1)Packing space! We'll be putting some stuff in Wally to make sure we have what we need the day we arrive.
2)A place to stay on the road. We'll be CrackerDocking on the trip down there. Nice to have a queen bed where we need it, when we need it.
3)We had to get a truck to tow Wally, and we'll be making use of the space there too. Anything that can stay outside safely (meaning it won't matter if it gets wet) will be in the back of the truck.

Did I mention the forecast the day of our move is rain/snow showers/high wind?
The adventure begins!

Rode Videomic!!

Well, USPS finally got their act together, and I now have the Canon Mini Advanced shoe adapter to plug my brandy new Rode VideoMic in. Now people will actually be able to hear me in all my glory.

First Trip Success!

Lake Lanier Islands Christmas 2008 from Richard Mageau on Vimeo.

Wow, why didn't we do this sooner? Our maiden voyage with Wally was to Lake Lanier Islands Resort Campground. Being Christmas, there were only 4 sites booked, the place was wide open! We had a spot reserved, but we didn't like it, so we changed it to something a bit more agreeable (1 spot over).

Campfire and cocoa was a success! Had a bunch of friends over, made burgers, had a big ole campfire, and never once turned on the TV!

Things we learned:
1) As long as you have chocks in place, the trailer "ain't goin' nowheres". My biggest fear is that the biggest toy investment I have ever made is going to wind up in a lake somewhere, or rolls down a hill and hurts someone.
2) Digital TV is an all or nothing compromise. Either you get a channel or you don't.
3) Grey tanks fill quickly when you take showers. Next time opt for a full hookup site if it's available.
4) WD 40 is your friend. Make friends with the magical powers of WD40.
5) The dinette converta-bed is indeed comfortable.
6) The TV mounted on that really neat arm mount will swing all over the place when it's not restrained. It will stop swinging when it makes contact with aluminum blinds on the windows. Side effect of this are big creases in the blinds, causing many vulgarities to come out of your mouth when you see it, and realize that it was your own darned fault.
7) Campfires are best experienced with friends. And cocoa. And marshmallows.
8) Sway controler hitches can withstand an enormous amount of weight. Just one half of the hitch managed to suspend Wally for about 2 seconds before gravity took over and Wally rolled from the inertia. Note to self: always restrain the hitch before cranking down, lest you go chasing Wally. wiki Potential vs. Kinetic energy.

Happy Trails!

we're in love.

lots to report over the past month on the airstream front. we picked up our mobile adventure cottage on wheels from colonial airstream in NJ a few weeks ago and are keeping it in a storage place we found about 15 minutes from the house. but not tonight. oh no.

this chilly willy winter evening, wally is parked in front of the house (which is a near impossible feat considering the parking around here) in preparation for our big first adventure to atlanta for the holidays. magoo is all over the "system tests" - heat, lights, battery, TV, DVD, etc - and has done a good job making sure everything works as it should. and boy, does it. that trailer is a work of art and we are literally champing at the bit to get out there and REALLY test it out.

we've got all the comforts of home in there and (naturally) have purchased a few strings of tacky lights to really do it up. we're even throwing a cocoa + campfire party the night after christmas to christen wally properly with a few friends. as we were in the trailer this evening loading in a few last minute things, i got a little teary. there i was, charlie brown christmas music on the stereo (that always gets me), standing in this piece of legendary american design on wheels, our new home away from home, and i looked at my husband and just felt this overwhelming sense of gratitude for all the good things in our lives. of course, on the surface, wally is just aluminum and rivets and wood and wires. but i think about all of the adventures we're going to have and all of the good memories that are just waiting to be had, and i think that there's no one else on the planet i would rather creating them with than my true partner in crime.

life is good tonight. and i suspect it will be pretty good tomorrow, too.

meet wally.

well, we did it. we bit the (silver) bullet and finally purchased our very own mobile adventure cottage on wheels! we've been dreaming of this big step in our lives for quite some time and firmly believe in not succumbing to the trap of "we'll do that someday", because all too often, "someday" never comes. yes, making the financial commitment was a little scary. yes, towing a 27 foot long trailer through jam-packed traffic, winding roads and pitch-black campgrounds is really scary. and yes, we are going to have some of the best times of our lives.

p.s. oh – if you're wondering who "wally" is: we have this weird thing where we name inanimate objects names that end in "Y". example: my iPhone is phoney. my mac is maccy. my passat wagon is waggy. (wow, am i a hipster cliche or what?) and our toyota tundra truck that tows wally is tundy. i know, it's really, really goofy and ridiculous and kind of compulsive at this point. but it's kind of fun. so naturally, when we purchased our shiny new aluminum adventure cottage, we named it...what else? WALLY..named for wally bynum, the founder of airstream.


Getting Our new Airstream, Wally! from Richard Mageau on Vimeo.