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Mike and Elizabeth Smith took delivery of Setting Sail yesterday. I have made many good friends through Oliver and want to remain part of the family (at least as an Airstream cousin). See you on the road somewhere in America.

John - don't be too hard on the house. It didn't ask to be built. It's a work of art and can be appreciated on it's own. Though, personally, while I think the craftsmanship and detail are incredible, the house as a whole doesn't do much for me. It feels poorly proportioned and has an odd rhythm to it. I've always thought the first story was too short - it looks to me like the whole house sank about five feet. Story time - If you are into the social significance of buildings like this, there's a richer background than just rich people being rich. My great grandfather was an artist and interior designer back when these houses and many of the public buildings that these people funded were built. His parents were immigrants from Germany and he had studied classical architecture there, as did my grandfather after him. They both worked, in succession, as chief designer for a company called Hayden, out of Rochester, which was responsible for many of these homes. They designed and constructed all of the interiors - basically everything you see once you're in the front door, from the wood moulding to the floors to much of the furniture. I don't think that the Biltmore is on the list, but I believe that the Vanderbilt mansion in NYC is. He did the Library of Congress, the NY Public Library, Art Institute of Chicago, etc. in addition to all these houses for people with names like Dodge, Eastman, Rockefeller, Scripps, Woolworth, etc. Lots of stuff. Anyway, my story is this - over time, the industrial revolution had quite a toll on old world crafts, as you can imagine. Faster, better, cheaper meant that the old craft traditions in Europe were all but dead by the turn of the century and many of the people in those trades, who had learned their craft from generation to generation, found themselves with little or no work. So they came to the US, and hundreds of them ended up at Hayden and hundreds more went to similar companies doing similar things throughout the US. Wood carvers, stone masons, metal smiths, furniture builders, etc. And they built all this stuff that was the product of American industrialism - the houses, libraries, museums, theaters, etc. All the landmarks of the classical era in US architecture were built by these immigrants in the same tradition as it had been done in Europe for centuries, with the next generation working alongside the current, learning as they went. Then the depression came and it all ended. The money dried up and tastes changed. Building these great monuments, both public and private, was no longer in vogue. Eventually even public appreciation for architecture in general waned. The would-be next generation of craftsmen went on to other professions - my grandfather went to work as a salesman. So I've always found it ironic, a bit poetic, that these people's final work, and the ultimate expression of their centuries old craft, was building houses and public structures that were funded by the men who had put them out of work. That's something, isn't it? Anyway, that's the context in which I wish people would see these homes - not just awe or indignance, but but a bittersweet appreciation for what the world both lost and gained in their construction. This is sounding more like an essay than a forum post, so I'll stop here. If you guys can go to the Expo, then please do, with or without a visit to the mansion. I went to last year's expo out west and it's really worth the trip. In fact, if you really want to get the most out of one of these expos, sign up for one of next year's and do the full package with all of the classes. You'll be amazed at what there is to learn from people who have spent their lives travelling.

Trip planning is half the fun of traveling. Printed National Forest maps are stellar, but the cost can really add up in states like Idaho that have many different forests. Plus your map collection may soon become out of date. Who wants to buy new maps every few years, as they get torn or borrowed or lost? Who wants to carry around a huge stack of maps? My truck stash is six inches thick, and that is just for a couple of states close to Spokane. I have a big plastic box full of NFS and other visitor/recreation maps for further "destination states" like Utah and Colorado.... http://www.nationalforestmapstore.com/category-s/1830.htm .... The last time I bought paper maps I was uncomfortable paying $6.50 for them.... This new interactive site has all the detail of the paper maps, plus you can save to PDF (reportedly, I have not tested this). I plan to spend a lot of time checking out the features. The BIG benefit is that the road types are shown accurately, as well as the name (forest number). Typically your GPS will not show the road type correctly and often the name is wrong. Federal Interactive Visitor Map: .... http://www.fs.fed.us/ivm/ I am hoping that I can save PDF maps and view them on my iPad mini, which will be a great companion to the MotionX HD GPS app and my Benchmark Atlases. BTW the site is "Beta" and a little slow. I am sure it will get better as they work out the kinks. Please try out the map and comment here. Combined with Google Earth, it should be a great way to digitally explore an area far from your location. John Davies Spokane WA

I have gone over to the Dark side and bought a 2007 Airstream 28 International. It needs some freshening up but I got a great deal so I can afford to spend some dollars. I will say that if Oliver made a larger unit I would have spent whatever it took to buy one. The quality and ease of maintenance is far and away the very best. We needed a larger, more arthritis friendly trailer and Airstream fit the bill. So maybe it's the Gray side rather than totally dark. Number 64 is in good hands now and the new owners are terrific folks who will enjoy many trips in her. Please don't unfriend me. We love Olliver and their owners.

We thank the Kemp's for going over and beyond their "duties" during the exchange. They came out and helped us set up for the night at Ft Pickens campground. Looking forward to fun trips in my near (next week) retirement with hull 64.

I grew up in hail country. A few years ago, in North Carolina, we drove back to our campsite with hail covering the road and banks. At the campsite, the Oliver was surrounded by really large hail, and shredded leaves. Not a single ding. Sherry