The one and only Augusta, my inimitable niece, as captured by Michelle Warren.

My sister and I have a fascination (obsession?) with well-designed trailers, starting and ending with the Airstream.  They are the holy grail of trailers, with their brilliant trademark aluminum siding that makes them forever the coolest and most-recognizable trailer.

You can’t get much more Americana.

We’ve discussed using them for everything from actual tours around the states to stand-alone hotel rooms clustered on a piece of land to inspiration for packaging for… well.. I can’t actually tell you because you might like the idea so much you’d take it. 

Much to our delight, Airstream continues to turn out new models that have that retro appeal without getting too kitschy about it.  Through collaborations with everyone from Design Within Reach to Victorinox, I’m pretty sure there’s an Airstream out there for everyone.   (The one above was retro-fitted by Ralph Lauren.)

Click through for the latest and greatest from Airstream…

From largest to smallest…

Above, the enormous Panamerica, in which you’re essentially towing a hotel suite plus your own garage behind you (it has 11 feet reserved for motorcycles, atvs, etc), below, the more compact and tricked out Victorinox Swiss Army special edition.

And finally, the cute little Basecamp, below, even has a pop-out tent, in case you were feeling a little guilty about pretend-camping in a trailer. 

There’s also a pretty cool version for the Mini Clubman that I posted back here. 

And here is the DWR version.

Airstream website here.

I don’t know if it’s that I live in California now or what, but surfing and surf culture seems to be a much bigger part of my concept of summer than ever before, and I can’t get enough of surf videos and photos like these.  

But I swear it’s not just me, or even California, and I point to Saturdays Surf NYC as evidence… when before has surfing ever been a big deal to Manhattanites?  

But even still, it makes me excited to be a Californian, where surfing seems to be everywhere you look in the summer– surf boards strapped on cars, being hauled on bikes, stacked on people’s balconies, etc.  The other day I drove up the Pacific Coast Highway from LA to Santa Barbara, watching hoards of surfers all along the coast, and relished it thinking, “Where else? Where else can you watch surfers from the highway as you drive home?”

[Secret Forts]

LOVE these photos by Laurent Nivalle of the Le Mans Classic 2010.

I like the black and whites and the colors equally, and they each take on certain aspects of the event.  The black and whites are crisp and have an immediateness, engaging you with the high-speed action and precision of the event.  The colors, meanwhile, have such wonderful romantic tones that make them cinematic and retro– perfect for capturing the elegance and nostalgia of the classic cars.

Click through for more…

Even though Joe Cocker looks pretty possessed in this video, it’s still pretty great.  The song is a classic.  …As is the man.

via A Continuous Lean

Here’s to a weekend of such moments…