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, the new hole allowed it to be about 2 inches closer.

Our optional external shower had a hose that was too short and very stiff. We got a longer and more flexible extension. Seems they are a universal fit.

We found the screen was always coming off on one side. I changed the velcro to a stronger industrial version, but this only improved it slightly. The reason it is happening at all is that the screen is kinda twisted...I suspect a function of how it was formed into shape. I used nylon cable retainers, upside down to hold the screen in place. as per the photo. works great, and an easy fix.

We doubled up all the existing pieces of coroplast in the trailer. As a single layer they are no that strong, especially when cloths or food storage bins are pressing up against them. For the cost of a 4x8 sheet of coroplast ($10 bucks) we glued an extra layer to everything, and had lots left over for all sorts of other uses. No weight cost either.

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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 definitely not the only trailer on the road...there was a whole line of us heading out Hwy 7.

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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 do and wanted a campground with full hookups. We have spent a good part of the last 2 weeks getting the Alto ready for the season...doing a few mods, organizing the storage, getting some foodstuffs together. We want to keep it ready to a point where we can throw in some perishables on a Friday after work, hook up and head out.

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2009 And then it was ours...

So...a little update. Turns out that the adventure was so much fun, we ended up wanting our very own Alto. Renting it for a vacation was a great opportunity to really experience the Alto first hand. We placed an order when we got back and waited for delivery. On Nov 7th, we met our sales rep Pierre in Hudson, and it became ours.

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Now how do we get it into the garage?

Kneeling Alto 
One of the first things we had to resolve was the issue of getting the Alto into a garage for the winter.  As we ordered the optional 13' wheels, we were a little concerned that this would raise the overall height of the trailer enough that it would not be able to fit through a standard garage door.  Our delivery date was early Nov 2009, and in anticipation of storage for the winter, we had already rented a private garage space.  We were told that the overall height of the Alto with the 13' wheels was almost 86" high, where a standard garage opening was 84".
What to do?

Giving it some thought, I realized that I could take advantage of the Alto's teardrop shape.  If one was to really lower the tongue as much as possible, you would also be lowering the overall height.  A quick test proved this theory, knocking almost 3" off the height.  Now there was the problem of moving the trailer with the tongue lowered.  Wandering around Home Depot, I happened upon this little guy...

a little 3 wheeled dolly, probably intended to place under furniture pieces so they could be moved around easier.  This would be perfect.  I added a 2" pvc end cap to ensure the jack post would stay in place while the Alto was being pushed.  All this of course being theory until we got the Alto and actually put it to test.

Did some tests in the driveway before putting it into storage.

You can actually see that it is lower, so we were quite confident that the theory was valid. And it was.  The Alto was easily wheeled into the garage on the little dolly, with lots of clearance.  Anyone notice the big tape measure sitting on the ladder...

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2009 Vacation Day 15 - Lost in Longueil...AGAIN!

So this is the last day of the Been There Dumped That blog. All posts earlier than this one chronicle our first trip in the Alto... a 2 week excursion to Cape Cod, in a rented Alto. All posts after this one are under a new blog called Route Alto 80... which is where you are now. 80 is the production number of our very own Alto.

What to hell is with this...granted, I did miss the exit...which was not entirely my fault as the signage is the shits...however, going one exit further should not land you in what may as well have been another planet. Now, my internal compass is pretty good, but in Longueil, all it seems to take is a few blocks of travel on what is definitely totally disjointed urban planning to throw me right off. Crazy.

So we arrive back at the start point and drop the Alto off. The end of an amazing foray into the world of travel trailers.

We saw a lot, talked to a lot of great people, the little Alto attracted a lot of attention and through the whole two weeks we had a lot of fun. Pretty much sums up this vacation.

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2009 Vacation Day 14 - Odd...Very Odd

Off to the top of Lake Champlain today. We want to be very close to Montreal for a short drive tomorrow. Once again hopped the freeway as the scenic route originally planned would have been really slow. Really not much in this area at all...but there is a campsite. So we pull into the little office/store and there is no one around. Peeked in the windows...not much activity at all...the "store" had literally two lonely Cokes in the fridge and the usual assortment of kids camp toys...although they could have been here since day one. The whole place was definitely odd feeling.

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2009 Vacation Day 13 - Are We in Niagara Falls?

Big drive today...from the very tiny NH coast line to the very large Lake George. Given the distance, we had to hit the freeways...our normal scenic route would have taken us all day. One thing I have noticed is that travel time while towing a trailer is about double. Although I am doing the speed limit or slightly below...it all just seems to take longer. There were some fabulous vistas coming across NH & Vermont...long rolling roads.

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2009 Vacation Day 12 - Walking the Beach

Not a cloud in the sky when we woke...tons of sun, but it was a little cool to start. Wanted to check out the shower facilities. They are housed in a complex near the beach...we had heard from other campers that the showers were only cold water...no biggie...it's the summer...how cold could the water be? Nice and clean, individual little shower rooms...all very civilized. I have noticed, more times than not, that the pressure in these showers is generally pathetic...sufficient, but certainly not what one would call invigorating. Having been lulled from past experiences, I naturally expect the same.
So I give the tap a healthy twirl...and am immediately greeted with a firehose worthy blast of ICE cold water...pounding out of that little shower stall and drenching my previously civil little change space. Damn cold water. Mountain spring water...with nary a mountain to be seen. I am now officially wide awake.

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2009 Vacation Day 11 - Shoparama?

Hit the road relatively early...need to use the freeways to skirt around Boston. Was planning to use 495, but discovered through conversations over the weekend, the 95 will be much shorter and is not the "urban" freeway we assumed it was. We did not want to get into an congested city traffic type situation. On the 95, you could think you were anywhere...pretty much connected surrounding little cities outside Boston through the forest. Good drive, definitely what you want to be able to say when you are pulling a trailer.

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