Ever since pioneers arrived alongside wagons, Oregonians have been infatuated with homes on wheels, especially personalized camper trailers rolling with eye-catching character, from kitschy to cute.

Wally Byam, who founded Airstream in in 1931, was born in Baker City. The state’s other bragging rights in mobile abodes: Holiday House modern travel trailers were dreamed up by Medford’s David Holmes of Harry & David fruit basket fame, the canned ham-shape Alohas started in -- you guessed it -- Aloha and Timberlines hailed from Sandy.

Fast forward a handful of decades to find the new fiberglass silver-bullet Nest by Airstream originated in Bend.

Visitors to Oregon’s wine country and the coast can rest their heads inside gleaming getaways year round, but on Saturday, Oct. 19, they can also hop inside 60 cool caravans converging in Florence for the 2nd annual Goin’ With the Flo Vintage Trailer Event.

Will there be pink flamingos posing in front of capsule- or teardrop-shaped shelters? Sure, as well as a Halloween-themed trailer and Solarity Puppetry, a solar-powered literacy and puppet show on wheels.

The free Goin’ With the Flo Vintage Trailer Event, from noon to 3 p.m. on Oct. 19, takes place at the Port of Siuslaw Campground in Old Town Florence.

Owners of highly personalized campers will arrive in the town, overlooking the Siuslaw River, on Friday, Oct. 18. They will park and open their doors on Saturday, then chug to their next stop on Sunday, Oct. 20.

The on-the-go homes range in style from elegant to eclectic, from real retro “head-turners” to works in progress, says Terry Abeyta, who invented the event with Dan Hankins.

Abeyta and Hankins jumped into the camper culture a few years ago and landed in a field of fun.

At their Exploding Whale Beach Camp in Heceta Beach, they rent aluminum cocoons: a 1965 Streamline and two Airstreams, made in 1965 and 1981.

“We’re not here to be serious,” Abeyta says, underscoring that vintage camping is a relaxing alternative to traditional lodging.

After the couple met fellow “trailer nerds” at roaming events, they decided last year to add one more stop onto the end of the traditional rally season.

They see rallies and trailer tours as a way to celebrate the American custom of road tripping and camping in style, and to rev up interest so “these interesting historical rigs” stay "on the road and out of junkyards,“ she says.

“A lot of love, thought and creativity, blood, sweat and often tears go into restoring them,” says Abeyta, adding that owners have to hunt for authentic parts and theme décor at thrift shops and on trailer forums.

Plug into Oregon’s caravan culture

Airstream founder Byam officially started Airstream in 1931, building easy-to-tow travel trailers that would “move like a stream of air” and be packed with perks. Byam’s family donated more than 600 items to the Baker Heritage Museum.

The 100-year-old Tin Can Tourists club and Vintage Trailer Rallies and Events Facebook page lists rallies, campgrounds, restorers and trailers for sale.

While buying a new Airstream could set you back $153,400 or less, the price for an old one starts around $4,000. Or you can rent one in someone else’s backyard or at a trailer park near the water or wineries.

Oregon wine country’s trailer resort, The Vintages, has a group of renovated trailers. Reservations at the year-round resort between Dundee and Historic Downtown McMinnville start at $95 per night.

Exploding Whale Beach Camp in Heceta Beach has a 1965 Streamline and 1965 and 1981 Airstreams that rent for around $93 a night.

Tiny Tranquility in Waldport has tiny homes and vintage trailers. Fall rates start are $105.

And the Sou’wester Lodge, a five-minute walk to the beach in Seaview, Washington, has 20 renovated travel trailers from the 1950s and ’60s for rent, including the rustic Potato Bug, a 1953 Airstream Wanderer, starting at $88 a night.

Airbnb and other nightly rental services list vintage campers to rent.

The Vintage Trailer Show, part of Palm Springs Modernism Week, a fashionable series of “Mad Men”-era home tours, lectures and exhibits in February, was created by Portland’s Christy Eugenis.

--Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072

jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman

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