For someone who has consumed more than his fair share of wine (just ask my liver), my palate is remarkably imprecise. I know what I like. I know the difference between a good wine and a bad wine. Thanks to the words “corporate expense account,” I’ve had a fair amount of experience with high dollar wines. While I’ll acknowledge that sometimes you get a standout, the differences are usually subtle.
With the more expensive wines, it appears you are paying for complexity. Although I recognize the tastes, I’ve never seriously spouted some of the adjectives we often hear applied to wine. I’ve never slurped from my glass and exclaimed, “It’s got compelling hints of mulderberry, high concentrate cocoa, and a stunning old growth forest finish!”
So now that we’ve established the fact I’m no Robert Parker, we can move on to Happy Camper. I like Happy Camper wines because they taste good, they are reasonably priced, and their marketing niche is unpretentious and fun. This is a wine label that celebrates RVs and RV-ing. There’s a cool little travel trailer on the bottle. What’s not to like?
When we’re camping, my favorite time to break out the vino is late in the afternoon, around five o’clock, preferably after a long day of towing. There’s nothing better than setting up camp, kicking out the Zip Dee chairs, and pouring a glass. Wine only heightens the sense of escape, relaxation and pleasure. And yes, it also pairs nicely with hot dogs and smores.
And of course, pouring Happy Camper wine into the totally unpretentious Airstream “Old Fashioned” makes the experience oh so much better! (not shown in this particular blog but seen in others – in case you thought I wasn’t paying attention or something!)
This is what I love about you two…you obviously enjoy the “finer things in life” and seem to be able treat yourselves with those things on a somewhat-regular basis (though of course I have no idea what your financial status is!!!).
Yet you don’t have the same “uptight stuff” that comes along with “the finer things in life” like I am sure many assume!
NO NEED TO PACK EXPENSIVE WHITE AND RED WINE GLASSES – or like some feel the need to have…two or three different red and two white! After all, they take up room, and to insure they aren’t broken – take up even more precious room.
So the Airstream “Old Fashioned” works just fine for Happy Camper wine!
HAHA – I made a rhyme!
Thanks for sharing yet another fabulous blog and insight into your travelling life. I just wonder what life is like when you aren’t RV’ing across the country. Have a blog for that? 😉
Brenda
Letus Mini? Magic Bullet? Beautiful shots…
Doug, guilty as charged! I love the Letus Mini + HV20 combination. Pretty much all of my 35mm shots have been handheld. I am still looking for a new camera, but haven’t made up my mind yet. It will either be an XHA1, or one of the latest and greatest prosumer releases (Panasonic HPX170 or Sony Z7U).
Brenda, I’ve said before that it’s pretty hard to act like a snob when you’re holding a sewer hose – LOL Camping is a down-to-earth activity in more ways than one. Good call on the Airstream old-fashioned glasses! That’s what we usually bring on trips. They were a wedding gift from from Airstreaming friends of ours.
Regarding a blog for our life off the road, well it probably just wouldn’t be as interesting. I spend way too much time watching movies.
After making about 18 phone calls this morning, I found ONE bottle of it that is within 2 hours of me! Im taking it to our Airstream Rally next weekend for our Happy Hour!
Sean…I cant believe it…today we drove from Amarillo back home to Tulsa and passed the RV Park in Shamrock. My eye is always keen to see Airstreams and I spotted (around noon) yours in the RV park (apparently all alone, as I didnt see any other RVers there. Now that I know it was you and Kristy Im kicking myself that I didnt at least stop and say “thanks” for your great website and videos. Next time I’ll be sure to stop and hand you a fine bottle of wine in person!
Roger, wow! Yes, that was us at the Shamrock park. I was probably uploading the video as you drove by (no joke). 😀 I shot, edited and uploaded this one pretty quickly, because we wanted to show it to the Schlegels before we departed.
We’ll be uploading a fresh version of the video in a day or so, once I insert a few shots of the “U Drop Inn Cafe” downtown. This was the place used as a model for the movie Cars. After we departed the Schlegels’ campground, we parked our Airstream out front.
Thanks for your kind comments about the blog! That sort of thing keeps me motivated. There will be more to come, now that we’re back on the road. For now, I’m signing off…from an Amarillo “Red Robin.”
By the way, Laura, I’m glad you’re checking out Happy Camper. I’m sure it will be a hit at the next Rally. In fact, you might bring along a sharpie or paint pen and have your friends sign the bottle! It will be a cool conversation piece and momento.