October 2013 ~ Route Alto 80

2013 Trip 11: another season draws to a close

Posted on: October 20, 2013 No comments

Oct 2013- Cedar Cove, White Lake

Friday
An absolute beautiful fall day today, and the forecast calls for the same all weekend. Dale had the day off and I took the afternoon off work to be able to enjoy as much of this weather as possible and to get up to our site early. This was our close up weekend, where we prep the Alto for winter.

Beefed up dolly

The little dolly was taking a beating as it was rolled into the garage. The combination of the tongue weight and the concrete driveway took their toll on the relatively light weight construction. We have replaced these guys a couple of times now, so it was time to beef the dolly up a bit.

I found some larger wheels to replace the tiny plastic ones, drilled them out of the frame, then bolted in the new ones. To stiffen the dolly itself, I made aluminum bars to tie together the wheel bolts, and thus strengthening the frame. As you can see, it looks and is much better. Worked like a charm this year, and I suspect many more years to come.

Extra Security

Over the years we have stayed in a few unsavory spots. Not intentionally mind you, it just turned out that way. Looking closely at the door, it is somewhat lacking in robust security. Once inside, the only lock from the inside is a little deadbolt mechanism integral to the latch set. Turning some thought towards improving this, I figured some srt of rod could be used to slide through the door flange and into the wall. I came across a nice looking hitch pin at a local hardware store, so I figured I would give it a try.

I drilled a hole through the head of the pin and weaved a split ring through, making a nice loop handle. I then drilled through the aluminum side flange of the door, and right through the wall. A nice stainless steel washer finish off the hole in the wall, and once inserted, makes the door a lot more secure, for those times that we think it a good idea. There are actually 2, one at the top and the bottom. A simple and handy little mod.