McCreary's Beach, Mississippi Lake - Oct 2010
Well, looks like the last outing of the season is upon us. This fall has been very cool and wet, so we decided that Thanksgiving weekend, weather permitting, would be the time to get the Alto ready for winter. Luckily, the weather is fabulous this weekend... still a little cool, but there is not...
A place for the Mags
Lots of stuff accumulates on the little table...mostly maps and paper. We (Dale) saw this magazine rack in the Solutions Store, and figured it would be perfect to create some storage holders. It was metal, the right size and colour, and easily hacked apart. It yielded 3 separate...
2010 Trip 10 - Campfire = Heat...
Bonnechere Provincial Park - Sept 2010
Headed out Friday afternoon. On the road by 4:30, and as usual, the traffic was heavy. Took us a while to just get outside the city. We are going to Bonnechere this weekend, and our friend Sandra is coming along to pitch a tent on our site. She is waiting for us to go by her while she sits on the side of the...
2010 Trip 9 - Outdoorsy Girls Weekend...
Fitzroy Provincial Park - Sept 2010
In early summer I (Dale) and Nancy thought up of arranging our annual girls getaway weekend using our two trailers to go camping. We picked Fitzroy Harbour because of it's closeness to Ottawa and that it would be an easy reach for both Jim and Drew (Nancy's husband) to drive out with the trailers and set them...
2010 Trip 8 - Bike rack...what a great idea!
Bon Echo Provincial Park - Sept 2010
Long weekend, yippee! Although the Labour Day weekend usually bookends the wrong end of the summer, there is still lots of weekends left before the Alto season is over. On the road Friday night by 6:00, sort of on track. Pissed down the rain shortly before we headed out, and now it is only off and on. Traffic heavy...
2010 Vacation Day 14 - Heading home...
Pulled out around 8:00. Coffee to get going, then a quick breakfast at Timmy's in a near by town. We are heading cross country to Sherbrooke, then will hop the 10 into Montreal. Our penchant for traveling off the main highways has provided us with some amazing sights along the way, from the scenic to the quirk...
2010 Vacation Day 13 - The Factory Tour
On the road by 7:00 am. We are not totally certain how long it will take us to get to St. Frederic and the factory, so we are allowing some extra time. Drove right up Hwy 201, on what is called "The Old Canada Road". Apparently Benedict Arnold and his troops, in 1775, followed the Kennebec River, on their way to Canada. The highway follows the river...
2010 Vacation Day 12 - Where's the bridge?
The alarm woke us as planned at 5:30. I was however, already awake a bit before that, listening to the pounding rain and gusting wind. The last thing I wanted to hear. It was so bad, that if it continued, we would have delayed leaving. It did let up though, a little before 7:00. We listened to the weather report, and decided to hitch up and move out....
2010 Vacation Day 11 - The best fish and chips ever...
Headed over to Grenwich this morning, a part of the national park that contains the dunes. It is about a 45 minute drive from Stanhope. Stopped at St. Peters Bay to check out the shops and have an ice cream. Grenwich has a number of trails, and we wanted to walk to the dunes....
2010 Vacation Day 10 - Where's my life jacket?
Woke up early, so we both headed for a shower to beat the late risers. Not too windy this morning, we think we may have lucked out on a good day for a paddle. Dale and I walked along the beach for a long ways, taking pictures and looking for beach glass. I found a piece that is clearly from a beer bottle, part of the top. It is well worn and smooth...
2010 Vacation Day 9 - A reel or a jig?
Started off the morning with a breakfast of steak and eggs, and some fried potatos. Yummy. Low key morning, did a load of laundry, worked on this blog, and showed a few other campers the Alto. Apparently there is a resort nearby that does not mind people utilizing their wifi, so I went over there to do some blog posts and to check the email. Dale walked...
2010 Vacation Day 8 - Fox 1 Crocs 0
Up early to get a start on the packing up. Poked away at it between cups of coffee. Apple crisp for breakfast, which we did not have room to eat last night. Went over to say goodbye to our crokinole friends. Steve brought his banjo to sing a little ditty he wrote about our new friends, which summed up our crokinole experience quite humourously. Such...
2010 Vacation Day 7 - Is there anything we have not done today???
Rained overnight, hard at times, but the whole thing only lasted a couple of hours. Love the sound of rain, I guess compounded by the fact we are no longer in a tent on the ground. No rush to this morning, very dull and overcast, and a touch cool. Made up the requisite coffee, and once again, granola with fresh peaches. Steve wandered over to...
2010 Vacation Day 6 - The boards were fast...
The day started out rather overcast and cool. Slept in a bit, then got the coffee going. Breakfast was Nova Scotia peaches, granola and yogurt...very yummy. Poked around outside a bit, then we wandered over to check out the crokinole boards we heard about around the campfire....
2010 Vacation Day 5 - Hermit crab racing...
Packed up and on the road by 9:30. A little later than expected, but no biggie. Heading for PEI, to a provincial park called Panmure Island. Weather and traffic both good today. Made it to the bridge in about 3 hours. Got a little sidetracked nearing the bridge, 3 of us, 2 trailers and a pickup truck, took Hwy 355 to the bridge. or so we thought,...
A few changes to the trunk
We noticed right away that after travelling, some object that normally resides in the trunk, will inevitably make its way into the living area upon arrival. This is not surprising, given that the Alto can bounce around a bit, and the only divider between the two areas is a small...
2010 Vacation Day 4 - Fog, fog and more fog...
Rained all night. Very damp and clammy this morning, but nothing the heatpump cannot cure. Got us dried out and toasy warm in no time. After getting squared away with the morning neccessities, I went up to the comfort station for a shower, while Dale braved the fog and utilized the outdoor shower agai...
2010 Vacation Day 3 - Return of the pan roll...
Bit foggy and overcast this morning. Got the coffee going, then slowly started to get active. After an hour or so it started to clear and get much brighter. Dale decided that as we have a water hookup, that it was time to try the outdoor shower. She pulled out our little enclosure and set it up. Then she got the shower hose out and once settled in,...
2010 Vacation Day 2 - Trees as far as the eye can see...
Up early, grabbed a shower and a bite to eat, and pulled out around 9:00. Probably have about a 5 hour drive into St John. Drove Hwy 2 to Newport, hopped the 95 into Bangor, then caught the number 9, the Airline Road as it is called. We speculated why it may be called the Airline Rd, as it cuts straight across the eastern part of Maine, as the crow...
2010 Trip 7: Vacation, NB & PEI
On the road at 7:00am, which in itself is remarkable. Heading to Skowhagen Maine, via Sherbrooke QC. Traffic not bad at all, through Montreal, passing the confusing urban landscape of Longueuil, and straight down Hwy 10. Very nice countryside in the Eastern Townships. Lots of farming and then hills once we get close to the border....
Now this should be standard...
.JPG)
We installed an extra electrical outlet on the door side of the Alto. There is no existing outlet there, and we found last year that when powering the TV, the AC adaptor cord had to be stretched across the trailer to the other side, just waiting to be tripped over, which...
2010 Trip 6 - Sardines anyone?
Algonquin Provincial Park, Lake of Two Rivers Campsite - Aug 2010
On the road a little before 4:30pm. Was able to hitch everything up last night, which probably saved about an hour today...perhaps not a whole hour, but all the little last moment stuff that needs to be done to get underway, sure seems to add up. Traffic was heavy, and it started right...
2010 Trip 5 - Breaker Heaven...
Sandbanks Provincial Park - July 2010
Extra long weekend trip to Sandbanks. Headed out Thursday morning. Travelled Hwy 15 to Kingston, then hopped the 401 to Hwy 49 into Picton. Pretty hot day, so we had the air on a lot, which in combination with pulling the trailer and the 401 part of the drive, really seemed to kick the hell out of the gas mileage....
A place to hang our hats...
Found these great folding hooks at Lee Valley, and in a finish that is perfect for the Alto. We put 3 on the wall at the door, a perfect spot for rain coats and ball caps. When working with a smaller trailer, anything that optimizes the space available is a good thing.
...
2010 Trip 4 - A quick overnighter...
Big Rideau - June 2010
A short excursion to a cottage on the Big Rideau. Friends of ours have a little cottage here that is on the property of friends of theirs. We took the Alto down there Saturday for an overnight stay. Got a little lost on the way in, but eventually asked for directions from a couple of guys at the dump, then after a bit of a drive...
2010 Trip 3: Old Stomping Grounds
Bonnechere Provincial Park - June 2010
Headed out late Friday, traffic pretty heavy as it is rush hour and everyone is probably eager to start the weekend. Weather for the weekend calls for it to be rain, but we are going regardless, and will deal with what appears. It's not difficult to head out when the weather is fine, if it was really pouring...
A little extra engineering
We decided to beef up the centre of the bench frame by adding a square tube cross brace. When pulling across the curtains, there is weight put right in the centre of the bench, quite often. So we put in the cross brace. Over engineering yes...why...because I can.
One thing...
A bunch of little projects
I added number of zip ties to the wiring harnesses throughout the Alto...not that there was a problem, but I guess I just prefer it all to be a little more organized.
I found the original hole in the weight distribution hitch bar caused the ball to sit quite far from the bumper. As it is optimum to have the ball as close as possible to the vehicle,...
2010 Trip 2: Perhaps a bit less challenging...
Silver Lake Provincial Park - May 2010
Headed out late Friday afternoon. Not a long drive, and the traffic was not bad at all considering it was a long weekend. Took us about 1hr, 45min to get here. Once again pleased with the way the SF pulls the Alto...at times as if it was not even there. Just the way it should be. Being the long weekend, we were...
2010 Trip 1: And so it begins...
Ivy Lea KOA - May 2010
So here we are, the Alto 80's first outing. Heading to a KOA in Ivy Lea, just east of Gananoque. A nice close trip for the shakedown cruise. As is the case when a weekend arrives, the weather is only just OK. A tad cool, possibly only getting to 6C, with on and off showers.
We chose a KOA as we have some de-winterizing to...
