Camping with different vibes during the pandemic....

 

Over the years the we’ve found that different campgrounds have very different vibes. This year we didn’t do any summer camping other than the "Not a Rally" due to the COVID pandemic, but by the time Fall came around we decided to take the Shasta out for another quick trip within New York state. First we headed to Watkins Glen, one of our favorite places and an area that we used to live in so it’s sort of like camping and going back home. We like this state park because many of the sites have some space between them and when you are there it is a bit like hiding in the woods. Being mid-week and early October we found the campground very sparsely populated despite the reservation system showing that it all the sites we booked. I wondered if the campground had artificially booked sites to keep population down, but after a few days folks showed up to claim pretty much every site. Overall we were impressed with how people respected the pandemic guidelines and generally kept to themselves. We hiked from our campsite to the gorge rim trail and found it fairly busy because the park was routing foot traffic to follow a one-way loop returning via the rim. Seeing this we decided to further upstream where it’s always less populated and we’re rewarded with a great hike into some areas of the park that we had not explored before including a small lake above the falls past the railroad trestle. We also spent some time hiking a few other less known trails near the village of Watkins Glen and Montour Falls and made quick stops on a couple favorite wineries. A highlight of our time in here was visiting a vintage camper friend who had just completed a full restoration a a Spartan Manor, it was great to see him and check out his amazing work before it headed out to its new owners. 

Before heading home we decided to keep camping for a few extra days and to visit family in the Syracuse area. We booked a campsite at Green Lakes State Park and headed north. When I made the reservation it was slim pickings with just two sites available, after we were there for about 2 minutes I realized that I should have probably chosen the other site. We had not been to Green Lakes before but knew that it was a popular place with a generally more “social open space” vibe than the “camping in the woods” vibe we typically enjoy. Our site was conveniently located a few feet from a large kids playground and also pretty close the bathroom house. When we first pulled up it almost didn’t look like a campsite but after checking it out we were indeed in the right place. When times are normal this is the type of site we would typically avoid but during the pandemic it was shocking, especially after having been in the woods for a week. Once we were acclimated we enjoyed visits from one of our daughters and our sister in-law and did some hiking in the park and along the old Erie Canal. The park has a couple of amazing lakes with unusual mineral deposits that make it look really green, it’s super super cool and unexpected in this area. So tend while this campground was definitely not our “vibe” we had a good time and it was great to see family and see something new.

Avion Tie-Down Points & Pigtail

 

Once again the blog is lagging far behind our progress on the Avion truck camper. I'll try to get a few updates posted, the mild winter and pandemic have been good for getting stuff done. 

I finally got around finishing the installation of the Tie Down points where the camper gets attached to the truck. I ended up using stainless steel U-bolts that are used on the bows of boats, they went in pretty easily except for one where I didn’t leave myself much access to back side by the water heater, it was a pain but eventually I was able to get the backing plate and nuts on.  It feels good to have this and the jack brackets both finally complete. 

I also installed a new pigtail wire connection to the truck along with inline fuses. I bought a long pigtail because on many trucks the 7-pin socket in the bed is on the drivers side, but on the Avion the pigtail is on the passenger side front corner. Once we get a truck we will install socket in the same corner as the camper but I wanted flexibility to be able to use a different truck if ever needed. I also added a bunch of inline fuses for pigtail leads that power the running lights, brake lights, turn signals, and reverse lights. Early on with our Shasta we had an electrical short in one of the running light wires that resulted in the tow vehicle needing a new control module only a year after it was installed, putting inline fuses on these lines is simple protection for the electronics in the truck. I put the connections for the pigtail and the fuses and in a new electrical box inside the wall that I can now access by removing a switch plate in case I ever need to get at them to troubleshoot. 

Not a Rally

It was supposed to be a mid-September  TCT rally, but all rally activities were cancelled so it became the "Not a Rally". Sampson State Park had recently opened to limited camping, and those that were registered for the rally were given the option of keeping their site registration - after being cooped up for months we decided to go! Camping by nature is outdoors and the distance between sites helps with distancing.  We are really glad that we went, we got to spend time sitting around a few campfires with our vintage camper friends and used the time differently than we would typically when camping in part of New York's Finger Lakes region. We did some hiking along Seneca lake, made a quick visit to a winery, and did a tasting at Muranda cheese company. The cheese tasting was a very cool experience, and their cheese is amazing! Back at the campground there was no open house or viewing of interiors of most the vintage trailers, but it was good to just walk the campground loop and check out the campers from a distance. There were a couple of rigs there that we had not seen before, including a great looking Avion trailer that was painted light yellow with a automotive quality finish, and a recently painted Shasta Airflyte that was very similar to our trailer. Also, some friends from home who are into vintage cars rented a cabin in the park for a few days and are now starting to catch vintage camper bug as well. We are hoping that things get back to normal next year, but this was a welcome break for us during the pandemic. 

Avion water and power upgrades

 

I've been spending a lot of time on power and water utilities... We decided to go with a new plastic fresh water tank instead of repairing the old aluminum one (even though it is super cool), the new tank is a perfect fit and off-the-shelf from VTS. A new water pump and about half of the new PEX water lines are now roughed in. I bought a new Atwood water heater, not plumbed in yet but a perfect fit sitting in the hole that’s been in the side of the camper since we bought it. I replaced the 30Amp 120v electrical inlet with a up-to-date one made by Furrion. I found that the old 120v inlet was an odd configuration made by Hubbell that looks like a common one but has one tab that is reversed, you can buy an adaptor (HBL3333C) but it costs as much as a new standard 30Amp inlet and I wanted to run new wire to the box anyway. I replaced 120v wiring to 3 outlets that I could do without removing any interior skin. I added a 2nd circuit breaker to to the box as we learned by surprise one day that only half the outlets were on the one breaker that was there, the other half were just hot all the time. I added an access panel on the inside wall where the truck umbilical comes in, crazy that you had to remove rivets to get the wire connections in there. I replaced the old glass screw-in 12 volt use box with a modern 12v one and installed a new Progressive Dynamics Converter/Charger to replace the old-school battery charger. I also ran lots of new 12v wiring for the appliance locations and some for lighting. I installed a small 12v to 120v Inverter so that we can run a laptop and other small 120v appliances off the 12v batteries if needed when boondocking. The fuse box, new electrical components, and water pump are all located in the cabinet under the front edge of one of the dinette seats, I spent a lot of time working out an arrangement so they would to be fairly compact so the 12v utilities only take up half of that cabinet.

refinished woodwork and interior wall paint

 

Here's some photos of the refinished cabinet frames and some paint on the interior walls. In the first photo above you can see the original finish on that was under the laminate next to the stove compared to the new darker stain and stripped wood on the fridge cabinet.  The original finish was very opaque, and while in good condition in some areas there were other places that needed a lot of attention. We decided to go with a darker but more transparent stain after looking at a lot of vintage interiors at a vintage camper rally last year. Our Shasta has amber shellac interior and while I like that, I also like that the Avion will feel different yet it still has a lot of wood inside. The light wall color has a great warm tone to it that really works well with the dark wood. 

Avion interior stripped

We've made a lot of progress on them Avion over the last few months with my wife and I continuously working on various tasks.  I'll try do a few posts with different stages of progress. Here's some photos of the interior with the original finishes stripped off the woodwork, everything cleaned up, and the walls in primer.

New Floor is In!

Over the last 4 weeks we did a major project to replace the floor in the Avion. The area in the corner under the propane cabinet & heater as well as just inside the door had severe rot issues. From looking at photos of other Avion truck camper restorations it looks like these are typically the worst areas for rot. I’m not sure if it’s related to condensation from the Propane canister, or a combination of that and the old Hydro Flame heater being so close to it, or perhaps it’s just an area of these campers that leaks consistently when it rains. Originally I thought that I would just piece-in a new area for that back corner, but once I had the water tank removed up front it became obvious that an entire new floor was the right thing to do. There were also some bad soft spots in the middle that we didn't like as well. Also once I pulled up the floor tiles I found that I could see light through a gap all along the edge at the base of the right wing. 

I built the new floor using 2 layers of 1/2” marine plywood and a middle layer of 1/2” polyiso foam core in the middle. The original floor was 2 layers of 1/4” plywood with 1” styrofoam core, so while new floor is about 70 lb’s heavier than the old one it’s significantly more solid and given the payload capacity of the trucks that we are considering this shouldn’t be an issue. For the runners on the bottom of the floor I used cedar 2x4’s. I used exterior wood glue and stainless screws to assemble the plywood parts and also coated the entire bottom, the outer edge, and some of the top edge with epoxy. Lastly we coated all areas of the bottom that will exposed to the elements with Herculiner pickup truck bed liner. We used Herculiner as an undercoating on our Shasta trailer ten years ago and it’s held up extremely well. We also put down some vinyl sheet flooring in the front area that will be inside a storage compartment and under the water tank, as well as some in the back corner by the propane cabinet in the old heater area that will become our shoe cabinet.
I built the new floor completely before tearing out the old one to minimize how long the camper sat without a floor in it. I initially screwed some temporary boards in to hold wings together before the tear-out, but later found that a ratchet strap pulling on the inside walls of the wings was better because the walls naturally pulled out, away from the floor, and with the strap I could adjust it. I found that a jigsaw with a long metal cutting blade used from the outside of the camper was the best way to cut the nails and screws that held the floor on the sides and front. I initially tried to pull them out but it proved impossible without destroying the outer aluminum edge. The rear bathroom corner proved to be the most difficult area to get out, with the floor coming out in small pieces using a Sawsall and hand tools. Once out most of the bottom edge was in good shape but I made some new aluminum pieces to tie the aluminum walls to the floor in both back corners and also epoxied the wood in a few areas that needed repair.

With the camper standing on its 4 jack stands I used our trailer-frame dolly to wheel the new floor underneath. We then carefully lowered the jacks while adjusting the position of the floor to get everything the line up correctly. I used PL Premium construction adhesive and stainless screws to permanently attach the new floor. Also with the camper in the air and no floor in it we took advantage of this unique time to work on some the interior wood-work while it as at a more comfortable working height. 

With the new floor in the difference is amazing, no more soft spots as we walk around inside and we are now confident that structurally the camper is ready to go full speed on the rest of the project!