Fall Camping in Watkin's Glen, and a Kimbo Experience

Our last camping trip of the year is usually a long weekend In early October someplace in New York’s Finger Lakes area. 

This year we were able to get out for an early October trip with the Avion to Watkins Glen in New York’s finger lakes region. This was a good test for how well Avion would work with little prep work, other than food and some clean clothes everything was pretty much ready to go from our previous trip. The weather was good, but we did make use of our Olympic Wave propane heater which seems just right for fall camping here in northeast US. We visited a few different wineries to do tastings, and bought a few bottles of our favorites to take back home. My brother was racing in a sailboat regatta nearby, and was able to join us for part of our visit and a nice hike in the gorge. The number of people hiking the gorge has been pretty crazy the last few years, if you go choose a weekday and plan hit the trail early in the day to avoid the crowds. 

While driving between wineries we saw a new Kimbo truck camper and pulled into a parking next to it and met it enthusiastic owners. We had some good conversation and then did quick show & tells to compare the two rigs. From a distance the Avion and Kimbo almost look like they might be related, but up close they are quite different. The Kimbo is a lot smaller allowing its use with a smaller half-ton truck, but the interior space is also significantly smaller. Inside the Kimbo has a very contemporary feel and has simpler water and power systems, and a multi-function modular approach that is more like a modern camping van, the Avion is more classic camper. One way to think about it is that the Kimbo is like a super fancy tent and Avion is more like a tiny home. Stepping into the Avion after looking at the Kimbo our camper seemed huge inside. We liked the removable fabric panels that the Kimbo uses on it walls, and the small mud-room floor area just inside the entryway. The tiny Dickinson propane fireplace/heater is super cool, so cool that we may look into to incorporate something like that in our camper someday. It was really great to have to chance to see a Kimbo in person, and meet its owners who host a website called Kimbo Experience. Hopefully someday we’ll run into them on the road again and can share more stories of our travels! In addition to Kimbo there’s several new companies, including Scout, Supertramp, and Radica Moonlander that are building small contemporary truck campers, and while we love the size of our Avion and being vintage. We also think this new bread of small truck campers is also very cool and relevant today, an amazing resource for these types of rigs is Truck Camper Magazine, check it out if you are looking for more info truck campers of all types.

1,600 Miles & 5 States: New England trip with the Avion Truck Camper

 

In late September our second time out with the Avion was a good test of how it would do in different situations. We drove over 1,600 miles across 5 states and slept 12 nights in the camper. We spent the first night mooch-docking in a family members driveway near Syracuse, then spent a few days in the Adirondacks staying one night at a small state campground, and then at a free site on state land near Indian Lake. From there we drove into southern Vermont and boondocked for a night at Vermont Distillers where we also did a tasting and then purchased some of their maple liqueur. The distillery is located in a building that used to be the main lodge for a small ski area, and has a great scenic view. This was our first time overnighting in a parking lot, there were 3 other rigs camping there and it was a quiet night until the road construction crew that was using the lot as a staging area. Showed up in the morning. We got some apple cider donuts and maple soft serve ice cream for breakfast from the Hogback Mountain Country Store that is right across the street before getting back on the road. We headed south into Massachusetts and drove diagonally across the state on small roads, then spent several days visiting family on Cape Cod while moochdocking in their driveway. While there we made use of a free dump station run by the town of Barnstable which which was set up for commercial pumper trucks but worked out well. After our visit we made our way north, driving through Boston then taking in the sights and spending a night near Gloucester at Cape Anne Campsite . The sites were small and tight, and it may have been the most we have ever paid for a campsite, but our one night stay was good and the location was perfect. We were making our plans on this trip as we went, so when we needed a campground we we would just try to figure out where to stay the day before for each night. We thought we would stay in a state campground but discovered that Massachusetts State Parks charges an exorbitant extra fee for out-of-state residents that made the cost ridiculous for one night stays. As someone who was born there and spent much of their life in Massachusetts this makes me a little crazy. From there we headed north to Maine, had a couple of lobsters for lunch at a roadside stand then spent the night in a parking lot in Freeport near the Outlets. We did a lot of browsing in the shops picking up a few small things for the camper at both L. L. Bean and at a few of the other stores. The lot we stayed overnight in had a dozen rigs of all types that were packed in pretty tight. Even so, it was amazingly quiet and worked out perfectly for us. The next morning we drove out on one of the nearby peninsulas to Bailey Island “lands end” to see some of the Maine coast. This is a nice area and I’m sure that we will be back again sometime to spend more time along the Maine coast. After lunch at the beach we headed over to New Hampshire to spend a night at Bear Brook State Park, and then met up with some family members that had just relocated to the area for dinner. Being pretty late in the season the campground was mostly empty, the most exciting thing was a visit from a porcupine just as we were setting up in the dark. The next morning we walked around the lake then hit the road headed west, back into Vermont. While driving we saw some signs for a National Historic Park, so we stopped to check out. Marsh-Billings Rockefeller NHP has a focus on the beginnings of the “conservation” movement and would be good stop if you are looking for some easy walks on trails in the woods. After cutting across Vermont we spent the night just across the state line into New York at Moreau State Park near Lake George. The next morning we walked around the lake there, then hit the road for the 5 hour drive home. 

Overall the Avion and truck did really well on this trip. The truck behaves well when driving, and actually rides and handles better when the camper is on it due to the camper suspension package. For gas milage we got 12.5 MPG which is pretty good compared to what we hear folks are getting when towing a trailer. One of the things that we really like about this rig is that it’s a lot easier to stop anywhere compared to towing a trailer, fitting into most parking lots without much trouble. Also both of us are comfortable driving, which makes a full day of driving more comfortable. This trip proved out a lot of “firsts” with this rig, and we are super happy that the Avion is working well for how we expect to use it, it’s perfect for the two of us, and works well with and without a firm itinerary. For this trip we only stayed at places where we had to pay for 4 nights out of the 12, and we were never uncomfortable. We also love that it keeps us in the “vintage camper” hobby, but is mounted on a reliable vehicle and ready to go at any time!