Summer 2016:
We didn't do so much camping this summer due to other travels. right after I finished teaching we took the A-Liner South to Wilmington NC, stopping for a night our favorite half-way campsite Front Royal Campground. It is very reasonable at just $37/night with a hook up and we have always been comfortable there. It is not fancy, but the showers and toilets are clean and the owners try to please. We then drove on to Wilmington and had 3 nights camping in my brother-in-law's yard before packing up the camper and flying out for 5 weeks in New Zealand. We came back to pick up the camper, the last week of August and drove North again.
the drive South was "interesting". The car (2014 Subaru Forester) was loaded more heavily than usual and, even though the camper was at its normal towing weight, we had tire problems. Part of this was due to the 90+ degree heat, and part to the load and the nature of the tires. it was all too much and we had significant wear on the outer edges of the tires. We will be replacing them soon with a better quality and stiffer tire. We are also considering getting a mid sized truck with a 6 or 8 cylinder engine as the camper seems to be just a bit more than the Forester should tow and our gas mileage is only 19 on the highway.
More on this to come in the future.

Summer 2015:
We had a busy summer this year, and, with any luck, will still get another trip or two in before the snow flies.
First was a week in a time share just East of Quebec City, then a week at a time share in the Berkshires, next a camping trip South to Wilmington NC, and finally a weekend trip with friends to Prince Edward County in Ontario Province. So here are a few shots taken at various places.
1.  Locust Lake
A nice little campground in Southern PA that we found. Just the right distance to stop at the end of our first day of driving. Not many photos here, but I can recommend it as a clean and pretty campground.

2. Peaks of Otter:
 Yep, really odd name. It's a federal campground in the Blue Ridge Mts, and well worth a visit. The campground is "primitive" so we were off power, but that is no problem. If you have had enough camping by the time you get to this one, there is a resort beside the small lake at the foot of the mountain. The campsites were clean, paved, and very pretty, and the bathrooms adequate. If you are into some strenuous hiking there is a good trail all the way up the peak, or if not, then there is a bus that takes you 3/4 of the way for $10 each. It is a spectacular ride, but not one for those who don't like  small winding roads. The views from the top are spectacular, even though it was very hazy the day that we were there.

No, this last one by the bus is not us, just some other folks that we met along the way.

Here's the latest mod that I did.
I screwed a length of 1/2 x 1/2 aluminum angle to the front edge of the front roof section. It runs right across and extends an inch either side of the camper body. The idea is that when the camper is up, rain coming down the roof will follow the track off to the side instead of flowing down over the front roof hinge and front storage compartment.
I saw this idea on Tea Haus Camper's blog and copied it. Of course I made a slight mod to the mod though. Instead of putting the track straight across the camper I put a small cut in the flat face so that I could form the track into a long shallow V shape. The sheds the water even faster than if it were straight. The whole thing just works great!

Last weekend we had our “shakedown cruise” for the season in the A-liner. Two new additions (mods) were well tested and proved to be just great. First was the futon frame that I made for the bed so that it could be pulled up into a couch during the day. This worked out just fine and was very comfortable. The only small glitch to is that the little prop legs on each side that hold it up do not swing into place freely and have to be persuaded down by hand. No big deal really.

The next addition was an idea that Pat found on another A-Liner blog site. It is an “Over-the-toilet” rack that we have shortened to fit into the space over the stove to hold daily-sue items such as coffee, tea, sugar, cups etc. When on the road we simply take these items off the shelves, stow them in boxes, and put the boxes between the shelves where the rack is put on the floor under the front table. It worked out just fine and is one of the handiest adaptations that we have made so far.

We camped at Sampson State Park on the East side of Seneca Lake in NY. A nice State camp ground, and a huge lake right there. Learned that for old fogies like us it is WAY better to do our camping during the week days rather than at the weekends. Thursday and Friday nights were pretty quiet, though there was considerable more noise on Friday than on Thursday, but by Friday afternoon most of the campers of our age group (60+) were heading out due to the expected noise that the younger group would make.

We were woken up early each morning by the #$%^*$#%#@ crows! There is a healthy and boisterous group that must be employed by NY State as clean up detail, judging by the efficiency with which they patrol every unattended camp site for scraps.

Here is one of our favorite additions to the A-Liner…..a hanging lamp. We saw some really nice lamps in a bar in Old Forge, NY, when we were camping there during the fall of 2013 and thought that one of those would look and work great in the camper. However, we could not find one anywhere. We bided our time, knowing that we would eventually find the right light, then out of the blue one day we found it at Home Depot. At least we think it is the perfect light for our camper. I did a little more wiring and added a toggle switch at the front of the sink and it was done. It ruins on the 12V side of the system and takes a regular large base screw-in bulb, but in 12 V and 40 watts. It gives tons of light for cooking, entertaining, reading etc, but when we are just sitting talking or relaxing, we still use the smaller ceiling lights.

Summer of 2015 is finally here!

Wednesday 7/1/15

What a long, long, winter we had! But we are now into summer and the Aliner is all prepped and ready to camp. Finally have the clearance from the Dr. for Pat to travel after rotator cuff surgery so we are now planning some trips. The big addition to the camper this spring was the Futon frame that we made. So far, testing only in the driveway, it seems to work just fine. It pulls up into the couch configuration with a nylon strap attached to the top center and a small prop leg at each side drops down into a slotted base to hold the back in position. Putting it back down into the bed configuration is achieved by pushing the props back out of their notches with a short dowel. Not the best arrangement, but it works and gives us much better use of that area as a couch, especially when we have company to visit.

A winter cover for our Aliner
we have had so many problems with reoccurring leaks that we decided we just could not chance leaving the camper uncovered for the whole winter. After looking around at various off-the-shelf covers we decided to try getting one made. We went to Marcellus Canvas Repair on Paul Street in Marcellus NY, and had one made to fit the camper. Pat Reap did a super job of making it, and did so at what we think is a very reasonable price. So now it is sitting in the side yard, getting covered in snow, but at least sure not to leak.   Roll on next spring!