The big day is finally here, and we are at Airstream,
Tampa, and we are picking up our brand new 2021 Classic. Got some fun, exciting
things that we've added on to it, so we can't wait to show you and get back on the road.
We showed up to pick up our Airstream and baby was in the bath getting all washed up.
So we decided we would just pop on down to Downtown Tampa, grab some lunch at Armature Works,
and then go back to Airstream and pick it up. Armature Works is home to one of our favorite
restaurants, Dixie Dharma, a delicious Southern-style vegan eatery known for
their hot dogs, fried chicken and Southern hospitality. Another reason we love Armature
Works is because it offers multiple restaurants, which is perfect for meeting friends who
aren't as obsessed with vegetables as we are. It also has a beautiful waterfront area where
you can take advantage of the delightfully warm weather most months out of the year.
Lunch is served. I got a fried green tomato sandwich.
Daniel did a traditional fried chicken. And we also tried some
corn bread. Hmmm.
They're like mini chicken tenders. It's really good.
They're made out of [inaudible 00:01:30], which gives it the same consistency
that you would get for a regular chicken tender. Hard to tell, but same consistency as chicken.
Really good. Oh my gosh. This is so big. Look
at how beautiful that is. I have no idea how it's going to fit in my mouth, though. Guess we'll try.
They're really good.
Great. Now that we're done with lunch, it's time to get the Airstream. Y'all ready for this?
And just like that, after months of waiting, it was time to pick up our new home.
Yep. That's her right there on the side of the building. Isn't she beautiful? We're going to do
a full walk through tour in our next episode. So make sure to subscribe and click the little bell,
so you'll be notified when it comes out next Sunday. But before we hit the road in
our beautiful new Airstream, there are a few important things that must be taken care of.
First, getting on that pesky license plate. This is ridiculous.
You having a little trouble, D? Yeah. I am not handy at all.
We'll help him out. Okay. Here we go.
Now I got to find the... Oh, it's been awhile. I'm like a newbie all over again.
Okay. It really is amazing how quickly you forget everything.
Getting my equalizer bars in place. That's good. So then I can lower it.
Much easier. Another thing I did was I purchased this thing on Amazon that keeps all of my chains
and cables all neatly aligned right here, which is pretty, pretty nice. If you're curious about
where to get it, we'll include a link. As always, always make sure to crisscross your chains.
Do you know why? Do I know why we crisscross the chains?
I don't know. It's a very good question. So if you're watching this and you
know why you're supposed to crisscross chains, please tell me. I really don't know. Yeah. So
hopefully somebody will tell us, and then we'll all learn. Okay. And we'll lower it.
I don't know why, but... Well, I know exactly why. This is the part I'm always most paranoid about.
It's making sure the hitch is on perfectly because you never, ever, ever want to skip,
not even one step here. So double, triple, quadruple check all your work
always when you're hitching up. After D double and triple checked his work,
it was time to set up the backup camera and tire pressure monitors in the truck.
So since it's brand new, we've got a brand new backup camera. Now I just have to put it
together. Shouldn't be too hard. Man, what am I doing? I am dropping the screws everywhere.
Trying to figure out which. Go like that. Trying to figure out how the arm be extended? Okay, cool.
I've just got to get these four screws in. So you were watching me with the license plate.
Feel like I make everything more difficult. Now let's check it out. Make sure it works.
Press and hold pair button.
I'd recommend to anybody picking up a brand new Airstream, make sure you get all this
set up before you leave the lot because you have any questions, you can run back inside and ask.
And that's a lot easier than going to Google and trying to figure it out yourself.
Shockingly, it's not working.
Here are the instructions. Obviously I have no idea what the heck I'm doing.
And I tried to set it up and didn't work. I'm just going to go ask.
As are most things in RV life that you learn as a newbie, this one was a simple fix.
We're rusty. I mean, it hasn't been that long, but literally I feel like I'm doing everything for the
first time. I forgot to keep the lights on. The lights in the truck power the backup camera,
and in daylight, the lights aren't on, so it's not going to work. So if you're in daylight, make sure
you turn your lights on before trying to sync the backup camera and the transmitter in the back.
The very next thing is the tire pressure monitoring system that comes with your Classic.
Because the sensors are on the rim of the tires, I don't have the sensors that I have
to screw onto the stem. So in theory, I should just be able to turn this on, and
it should connect to the tires automatically. Our truck is going to be a mess again soon.
A little secret. The real trick is where do I put it? I feel like right there would be good.
That was not a good place to put it. Wires. I feel like maybe up here. I don't know.
Then where do you put the wires that aren't awkward? Yeah. Maybe. The reality is,
at some point, these are going to fall off. You'll have to reposition them. So it's really
just a starting point because they will fall off. Okay. Let's see if the tire pressure...
Okay, you ready for this? I'm sitting here trying to set parameters and stuff, but you know what?
With this TST system, you know how you set it up? You just drive, and five minutes later,
everything syncs up to the monitor. That's it. You just drive. The people here are freaking angels
because I asked some of the dumbest questions, and I know they're thinking in their minds,
"The answer is so simple," but they never make you feel dumb. I've set the bar really low for you
guys. Don't be afraid to ask dumb questions. Does that mean we're getting on the road?
That means we're going to drive a few feet. We're going to jump out and make sure that nothing else
is connected. I'm putting it on tow mode, which is important. I got to put my mirrors out.
And just like that, we're back on the road. Ready for more adventures.
So what we learned from the last time we moved into our Airstream is that doing it in one day
is not only miserable, it is stressful and just something you should not attempt. So
we've booked a campground that's 20 minutes from my dad's place. We're going to get just
the essentials for tonight. So we can go and have a campfire and relax, which is what is the very
best thing about Airstream life to begin with. Okay. Since we've got it parked on the side road,
but the turning lane, we decided that would be the best spot to park it. Just to be safe,
I'm going to put out these cautionary triangles that are DOT approved behind it.
This lane is closed. The Airstream comes with its own bedding, but
it's a little more traditional than our style, so we're just going to leave it here with my dad.
Hello. Hi.
So we figured out what you probably already knew. Playing frogger to load the Airstream
is a horrible idea. We will not be doing it this way tomorrow.
All right. Off to the campgrounds.
We just got to the park, and I just nailed the backing up part first try. Becoming a pro at
this. And as I say that, just watch, at the next campground, I'm going to totally screw it up.
This is a new toy I've been looking to try. It kind of looks like a bucket, but it weighs so
much more than that. It's got built-in magnets to connect to the jack. It's called a Trailer
Jack Block by Anderson, which is also American made. Typically I would take my leveling blocks
that would stack like three, four, five, six of them, depending on the location, but with this,
that's it. Easy peasy.
So is it like riding a bike? It's not because I just tried to plug the power
into where the cable goes for cable TV.
And then twist. It's a brand new plug. There we go.
True story, the underbody lighting is 100% functional when you're hooking up at night,
because I can see absolutely everything, which is huge. It's usually you're in the dark. Sometimes
I'm holding a flashlight on my cheek while I'm doing it because you can't see anything.
All right. Just going to plug this in. This casing goes over the plug to protect it from all of the
weather elements. I'm going to do one last step. I'm going to secure this because I'm going to
be a hundred percent honest with you, these surge protectors are not cheap. And if you've researched
them, you know that. So I bought a special master lock that secures it to the pole. Now just have
to figure out how to work it. Ah, I think I can think I got it. Last step, flip the breaker.
Lot of numbers. A lot of codes. I don't know what any of those numbers or codes mean,
so obviously I'm going to have to do some research, but it looks like
EOL1 119. Probably the voltage. OAL2. Obviously. Anyways, I have no clue. Power
should be working. Let's check it out. The easiest way to tell the power actually is on,
is in this cool little monitor that tells you shore power's on. We're working.
So I hooked up everything, and then I went to hook up the sewer, and I realized
it's underneath Airstream. Yeah. So unless I want to run some crazy zigzagish train underneath the
Airstream, which I'm not going to do, I'm going to have to do it all over again in the morning.
And just for the record, we swear, we don't make this stuff up for the drama of it.
No. This is just really what
it's like being a newbie. Honest to God.
You find something dumb that you do pretty much on a daily basis.
I mean, I was so proud of backing in perfectly, and I was right next to the
patio and I'm- It looks good.
Yeah, I'm like, "Nailed it." Yeah.
But apparently not close enough to the patio. There's a big neon orange... They
spray painted the top of it because apparently, I'm sure, other people have done that, as well.
But to be a hundred percent honest with you, it's very oddly placed.
Excuses. Anyway, we feel like day one of picking up our Airstream went pretty well. We got it at
a camp ground. We've got a couple of days to go get our stuff from my dad's house and bring
it over here. So it's going to be good. I feel like our planning this time, was it a heck of a
lot better than round one? Oh yeah. I agree.
It's morning. We're well rested, which is good because with a fresh mind,
I probably never would have backed in over the sewer pipe. But these happen.
It looks pretty normal. As you can see, there's no drain. And that's because
it's way under there. If you're watching this,
you know how much effort it takes set it up, to get everything level, all your stuff hooked
up. Now I've got to undo it. Think I've got a plan to zigzag it back into place.
Just going to leave that plugged in for now. Going to turn the water off.
Next I'm just going to disconnect the tubing. Next is the power.
Last, the water. It's still on. Yes. You got me.
Okay. So might've had a little bit of splashage. I swear. I turned the water off before I
disconnected it. Apparently I didn't. I just splashed everywhere. You got a front row seat.
Taking the chocks out. Okay. Now we're going to have to put down these windows,
pull up the steps, and I think that should be it. Not going to go with a full-on hitch set
up. It's going to zigzag it in here. Hopefully we'll have this resolved pretty quickly.
Windows are super easy with this thing. On the inside, there's just a little knob,
and you just press it up. It unclicks and down they go. The very bottom,
they have little latches. They just push shut. Last, but not least, is a step. And I've actually
never done the step before. Oh
yeah. Check, check, check. Check, check, check, check.
I'm four feet away from you, but it's working. [inaudible 00:16:32] one, two, three, four.
You're a dork, but do you. You're about two feet away.
Now. I'm hooking it up with all of the sway bars and everything.
I'm just doing the hitch here. And that should be enough to back it in. We'll see.
Feeling a little rusty? Yeah.
That was good. Straighten out. You're about to hit the concrete floor. Other way. Other way. Hold on.
Stop, Daniel. You're going to hit the porch. Look at the porch, if you can.
That's better. Okay. If you can straighten it up from here, you're good.
You're only about three feet away from the power box. Daniel, stop.
You're going to hit the power box. You are officially two feet away.
What do you want me to do? Not hit the power box.
What do you want me to do? If you straightened it up and
pull it forward, you're good. Truck, so it's not straight forward.
You want to just come and get out and see it, so you can know what to do?
Okay. It's really
hard directing somebody to be able to back one of these things up.
Sometimes the best thing that you can do is just get out and come look for yourself.
Oh, that looks good. And we can now reach
the sewer hose. With our sewer hookups fixed, we proceeded to
continue packing. And after multiple trips between my dad's house and the campground,
we did it. We officially packed our lives for our shop-local, 50-state tour. That being said,
I'm feeling pretty sentimental about this whole thing. Not only have we moved into our beautiful
new Airstream home, but it's time to hit the road, which means leaving another home behind.
We've done the final test. We've even pulled the truck out to make sure that there's
no problem, and the craziest thing about this is as we're leaving St. Pete, which is our home,
this is probably the last time we'll be here in a year, which is a really,
really weird feeling, but an exciting one. Here's to wandering local.