One evening about a year ago my mother called from Florida to tell us that she saw an Airstream camper in her neighborhood.  She asked if we were interested in buying it.  My wife, Angie, had mentioned that she would like to upgrade from tent camping to trailer camping.  Angie had shown her pictures of old Scotty campers, small teardrop trailers, and Airstreams.  Little did we know that not long after expressing our interest my mother, the expert shopper, would find a small Airstream for sale.

I didn’t return her call right away.  Angie and I talked about it that evening and then went to sleep on it.  Mom called the next day and said, “Well, do you want this thing or not?!”  Never having owned a pull-behind camper I asked a lot of questions.  She had a friend take a few pictures with her phone and send them to us.  My stepfather gave me a fairly detailed description.  He summarized the trailer’s condition by saying, “It looks like it’s in good shape.  It’s not a new trailer.  It’s old and it looks old, but in good shape.”  It was a 1964 Airstream Bambi II.  It had only a couple of minor dents in the body, had been lightly used over the past few years, and it was road worthy.

I called the owner and asked more questions.  He told me some of the trailer’s history.  It was built in Airstream’s factory in California, which has since closed though the factory in Ohio continues to make trailers to this day.  It was one of only around two hundred Bambi II’s made.  It spent many years in North Dakota.  The current owner had been in possession for 4 or 5 years.  He had done some work on the interior.  He covered the floor with Pergo hardwood, replaced some of the original copper plumbing with PVC, reupholstered the gauchos, and hung blinds.  When he told me that he would haul the trailer to me in New Jersey for the price I had in mind, the deal was sealed.  We were going to be the proud new owners of a Bambi II.  We sent him a deposit and waited for his trip north.

A few months later he pulled the trailer to Scranton PA where we went to pick it up.  We had bought a used Chevy Blazer in the meantime and had a hitch installed to pull the trailer.  We pulled it home to New Jersey without any problems.  Once we got it home it was time to start learning what I had gotten myself into!