The first weekend in December found the Garinns camping at Jellystone Park Camp-Resort near Burleson, Texas. The park “caters to family fun offering numerous activities and amenities on-site.” Our experience: screaming children, sputtering golf carts, nearby construction work and overly commercialized characters at every turn. Finally, around mid-day on Saturday, the winds calmed, the campers chilled, and the interstate highway traffic stilled. For a time, at least, it seemed like a real camp-out rather than a theme park experience gone awry.

This was our second event with the Heart of Texas Camping Unit, our local chapter of the Wally Byam Caravan Club International. In addition to being Airstream enthusiasts, the group’s members are also a brain trust. They’re generous with advice, support and encouragement. You might say they’re smarter than the average RVers.

And we’ve got plenty of questions. Our new, bigger Airstream is being constructed at the factory in Ohio, with delivery expected in about seven weeks. Our current rig has served as a sort of classroom for us, so we’re ready to graduate to the next level. The new trailer will be three feet longer and about a foot wider. The added space will give us greater storage capacity, a more functional kitchen (with a peninsula sink!), a separate toilet and shower, and a bed with accessibility on three sides. We’ll also have a quieter air-conditioner, dimmable LED lights throughout the cabin, a gas oven, a bigger fridge with a separate freezer, window shades (we now have blinds), an more. Outside the rig, we’ll triple our storage capacity, double our battery count, add an axle, and gain an automatic jack. The new trailer is better in every way, with bigger water tanks, more windows above and around, and, our favorite ammenity: black ultraleather seating.

Our only concern is keeping our current trailer trade-in ready. We’re reluctant to venture too far afield because we don’t want to incur any damage, but we are planning a Christmas trip to Huntsville State Park before making the two-hour trek to Dublin in January to make the swap.