WELCOME!

Welcome to The Interstate Blog!  If you are underwhelmed by its simplistic, unimaginative title, I assure you that its content will be more interesting than the name suggests!  My husband and I are new to the Airstream Interstate world but I am a blogging veteran, and I've found over the years that the KISS principle works best when conveying information about online resources.

My inaugural Airstream meme.  Airstreme meme.

Base vehicle image courtesy of Airstream.  

Let me give you some 411 on our intentions here.  This blog will be strictly a noncommercial information-sharing resource.  We are not affiliated with any commercial entities.  We are not out to make any money from any person.  Consistent with my policy on my other blogs, any assertive attempts to supply us with products, perks, or other commodities of value in exchange for potential exposure will be redirected to an appropriate charity.

Do not even think of commenting or emailing if you are trying to sell something or promote yourself.  Emails will be deleted, comments disallowed.   

My husband and I decided to buy our first motorhome after taking ourselves, our child, and our dog on a 6,000-mile, I said SIX THOUSAND MILE!! road trip from Texas to the Canadian province of Nova Scotia in the summer of 2014 in (*gulp*) my minivan.

This is what the poor thing looked like after the first 3,000 miles.  We built that wooden cargo platform to help ease and organize the load, but this is not a cross-continental vehicle.  

So after that eye-opening experience, we said to ourselves, "OMG, there has to be a better way!!"

I like memes, so you better get used to 'em if you plan on being a regular reader.  

After a lot of soul-searching and a lengthy vetting process during which we looked at every model of Class B and Class C ever invented by mankind, my husband and I both agreed that the Airstream Interstate (aka Airstream Sprinter) was the best choice for our needs.  There was just one really, REALLY big problem.

A HUNDRED AND FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS?!
HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!?!

Image screengrabbed from this Colonial Airstream link which will probably be broken by the time you click it.  

My husband and I are not wealthy people - we are ordinary working stiffs.  We realized right away that a brand new Interstate was completely out of the question for us.  If we wanted one, two things were going to have to happen:

1. We were going to have to buy a used model.
2. We would need to do a lot of the care, maintenance, and upgrades ourselves, on a DIY basis.  We could not afford to pay Mercedes-certified technicians more money per hour to service the thing than we ourselves were making in our own employment.  

After about six weeks of searching, we found our Interstate, but that's a story for another post.  Suffice it to say that, in the first few weeks of our ownership, we have already benefited substantially from the collective wisdom offered by the online community, and it is our intention to reciprocate where and when we can so that we are able to support the other DIY-ers just as they have unknowingly supported us.

We welcome ourselves to your Interstate world.  Glad we could join you.

No, that would not be us - ours is going to be well-used and well-investigated.  We didn't own it more than about 2 weeks before we started pulling stuff apart and upgrading it.  But you'll have to wait for those forthcoming posts.