
As I mentioned in my first post, Brett surprised me with a road trip to Glenwood Springs, CO in a rented Airstream over Labor Day weekend. He always teases me about how I usually guess the end of a movie about halfway through, how I solve the crime shows around the 30 minute mark, and can usually put two and two together to ruin any surprises he is trying to hash out. This time I hinted heavily about wanting to go to Glenwood Springs when he had a guaranteed break in his work schedule (Labor Day weekend) and was pretty sure he'd sorted that part out. When he asked me the name of the town and then quickly texted someone I knew he was up to something.
He gave me three guesses. My first was that he was planning to get my friends in town. The second was that we were going to see them. The third was that he'd rented an RV so we could camp. He replied no to all three so I was stumped. There wasn't anything else I'd wanted so I figured I'd just have to wait and be surprised. A week later he told me that I'd kind of guessed right but he was waiting on confirmation from the rental place before he told me that if I'd been a little more specific about the KIND of RV I would've technically have guessed right. Ha!

We didn't get to see an photos of the inside before we got there but I was pleasantly surprised that the decor wasn't crazy. The other trailer that he'd just brought home had original carpeted wall coverings, mexican blankets as curtains, and fantastically kitschy vinyl seats. It was in bad shape and smelled of horses but it was fun to peek into a little time warp. This one had been repainted and had new countertops, a mosaic tiled bathroom sink, and possibly new flooring. The stove was original and charming but we couldn't get it to light despite smelling gas after turning on the propane tank. We decided we shouldn't blow ourselves up and borrowed a neighbor's grill instead.

The lounge seats pulled out into full size beds and were really comfortable. They had been reupholstered in leopard print so I just threw some quilts over them and all was well. There were plastic blinds covering almost all of the windows and a curtain to shut off the back bed area from the front. It got pretty cool at night so we closed almost all of the windows but left one open for the white noise from the highway and the river down the hill. I could see the moon between the mountains and so many stars from where I slept.


A few people on Instagram mentioned loving the heart-shaped braided rug. It's totally late 80's when everyone had blue ducks and hearts in their decor. It was charming! For being such a confined space, the trailer had a ton of storage. There was a built-in closet with shelving (see below) along the side, pull out drawers under both of the beds, cabinets with shelves under that window below and cabinets above and below the sink. We brought our own dishware, bedding, and cleaning supplies so it was nice to be able to store things out of sight.
There were plenty of electric outlets for charging our laptop so we could watch a movie at night or plugging in an extra lamp but we noticed the whole trailer would start to smell like burning heaters after about 10-15 minutes so we had to use our electricity usage wisely.
The bathroom space at the end was pretty tiny. We were parked so close to the camp site bathroom that we didn't bother with the one in the trailer. There were no showers taken on our trip, either. I'm not sure Brett could've fit in ours if he'd wanted to!

One thing that made our trip more enjoyable is being surrounded by some of our own things. It's a lot of work packing bedding, cooking supplies, etc. but it's like bringing a piece of home with you. It's a little more special than having to hide ugly bedspreads and crop out the generic artwork nailed to the walls like in a hotel room. However, you get to do a LOT more laundry when you get home! Totally worth it on this trip.

We lucked out with a cute canopy, too! I brought solar-powered string lights to hang up at night but they decided not to work, either. Really though, the stars were all we needed as far as twinkle lights. I thrifted the cooler the week before and found the fold out table earlier in the summer. The gingham covered patio chairs were a previous project I haven't shared yet and the vintage kids' lawn chairs were finds in Missouri.

Pancakes courtesy of McDonald's the first morning we were there. The kids didn't mind at all.
They also had pancakes for dinner once a friendly neighbor lent us his second propane grill. There was a fire ban except for a communal fire pit up the hill but we didn't feel like hauling our gear up there for every meal. We'd planned on making S'Mores our last night but the kids crashed in the car on the way home from the springs so I plugged in our microwave and made one for myself after we tucked them in. Talk about roughing it, huh!

There were some serious RVer's there. They brought multiples of everything! One family had five large dogs sleeping inside with them. One family brought a vintage wooden pedestal table to eat on. Most had caravaned with another family and there were lots of other kids and dogs for our kids to play with. Everyone was friendly without inviting themselves in for coffee and everyone obeyed the quiet time after 9:30 rule. It was my first adult experience at an RV park but it was a good one!

Despite a few hiccups, we really did enjoy our little Airstream weekend. I kept picturing how I'd want to decorate our own and Brett and I decided we needed a trailer of some sort in the future to park in the backyard for everyone to enjoy as a little work space/fort/hang out. I imagine it's not easy to revamp a camper to use on the road, and like anything old there are going to be signs of age (umm...50 year old wiring) but I applaud this company for providing this service.
Check your local big city to see if you can find an Airstream rental for your next road trip. My only advice is to ask a lot of questions about it in order to plan what you need to bring and to be flexible when even your best laid plans don't work out. Ha! At least there were no bears involved, right?
-Rachel