It sounds odd, but we cry a little bit when we return our Safari SE to Airstream, as agreed, at the end of our loan period. The nice folks at Camper Clinic II in Buda, Texas, where we’re dropping off our trailer, make it as easy as they can. They even try distracting us by letting us poke around in their massive inventory of Airstream models and wandering through the cavernous new Pan-American very nearly takes our minds off the pain.

It really isn’t until the paperwork is done and we pull away from the lot without that iconic silver bullet behind us that it sinks in: our Amazing Airstream Adventure is over.

But what an adventure it’s been! Nearly half a year of full-timing in a 23’ 2008 Safari SE has given us access to places and people we never would have encountered otherwise. It’s also meant that we’ve greatly extended the amount of time our Trans-Americas Journey has been able to spend exploring the US by saving us a ton of money we’d otherwise have had to shell out on motel rooms and restaurant meals. You’d be amazed how much that all adds up.

So our Trans-Americas Journey has lost its temporary travel trailer team mate. We’re sure there are going to be many times we’ll look into our side-view mirrors and long to see our Safari rolling along behind us, but the Trans-Americas Journey will roll on—into Mexico, then further south through all of Central and South America—as planned.

This blog will roll on too as a kind of living memory of some of our best Airstream Adventures. Feel free to pop by anytime you feel like checking out The Alabama Hills, or the Bonneville Salt Flats or the Black Rock Desert or the life on the rim of the Grand Canyon or the best campsite in all of Mount Rainier National Park or any of the other amazing places we’ve discovered in our Airstream.