©Bert Gildart: Kayaks, bikes, and camping gear are all loaded and we’re off for a two-week trip that will include some very interesting stops.

High on that list is a rendezvous with an eight-member Italian film crew from the magazine Io Donna. The magazine is devoted to high fashion and they concluded before arriving that they needed to photograph an Airstream.

“They’re kind of iconic,” said Rob Story, the film crew’s location scout and the man who contacted me.

Because the magazine seems to be so glamorous and upscale, I thought the models accompanying the crew would be women patterned after Sophia Loren, and so I was particularly enthusiastic. Yesterday, however, Rob told me the models were male, so now Janie’s enthusiastic.

HEARTFELT THANKS

Though we’re not entirely sure how Io Donna got our name, Rob did say they checked out our website and that they had contacted some Montana photographers, who in turn had told them about us. Quite likely the photographers in question are from the Montana Department of Tourism as we work often with them. If that’s the case, we owe them a very, very big “Thank you!”

At any rate, if the wind doesn’t blow too hard, we’ll rendezvous tomorrow in Browning, Montana, with the crew for a day-long photo session. Because the theme of their story is “Into the Wild,” they wanted a vast and wide open setting, and the Heart Butte section of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation surrounding Browning certainly fills the bill. Depending on what else they might want we’ll either stick around–or we’ll head out for our own destination–to complete magazine assignments of our own. Those destinations include Banff and Jasper, Alberta.

ELK ARE BUGLING

We’re particularly looking forward to this segment of the trip as fall is a wonderful time to visit the Canadian Rockies. Elk are bugling and there should be many other signs, too, of fall.

As we head out, we’re going to be very aware of the brand new state-of-the-art Hensley Hitch I added this past weekend. The manufacture guarantees that because it can so effectively equalize trailer and truck loads that it will provide for a much smoother ride. More significantly, however, they guarantee that it will completely eliminate trailer sway.

REDUCING SWAY

In the past, sway has been a problem in prairie states particularly when semi trucks pass and there’s a significant cross wind. The sudden cessation of wind created by the trucks insertion–followed seconds later by an enhanced blast after the truck has passed–has created great instability that has been alarming. Hensley says that won’t happen any more. Because we will be driving through country with a reputation for wind, I should be able to form my own opinion as we travel along.

And now after one more check (and the posting of my best photo from last week of daughter Angie with friend Libby) to make sure we’ve got our Bruce Springteen and Ray Charles CDs, we’re off…

LAST YEAR AT THIS TIME:

*Fall Along the Natchez Trace

This entry was posted on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 9:58 am and is filed under Books & Stories, RV Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.