Author: Richard

Waiting Out Earl


We were planning to take the Airstream to MA yesterday to see Rich and Bronson who just flew in from Ohio. The prospects of camping in the oak forest at Jennifer’s — known for dropping branches in windstorms — was not appealing even if Earl stays out by Cape Cod. Forty to fifty miles an hour winds tonight still could make the aluminum habitat interesting — so we’ll wait a day.

We’ve charged the battery, filled up the propane, loaded some fresh water, and put the brand new foam mattresses on the beds. I’ll hook up tonight and we’ll be off first thing in the morning — along with many others delaying their trips because of the hurricane. Better safe than sorry.

Here are the grandsons [Bronson (left) Mac (right)] that we can’t wait to see tomorrow.

Trip to Jennifer’s

We took the Airstream down to Merrimac, MA for a three day visit to see Jennifer, Ben, and Mac and to help a bit with painting the house. It’s been a while since we’ve hooked up and moved so it was a good summer excursion. Leaving on a Monday and returning later in the week avoids some of the weekend travel — the trips down and back on I-89 were pretty uneventful.

The parking site at Jen’s is tricky to get into. You have to stop on a busy road, back in with about a 90 degree turn and then navigate a ways down a narrow driveway before angling off into the woods where we’ve cleared out a spot to set up. I had just stopped and started to back up when a car came — so I pulled ahead to let him pass. I then started the tough process when Mary’s voice was replaced by a guy’s, who gave me pretty detailed instructions. “Got a boulder here, pull ahead and cut it more. No, the other way.” He guided me down and into the spot and it turned out, it was the guy who had passed in the car. When I thanked him and complimented him on staying in view in my mirrors and giving great directions, he told me that he had worked for carnivals for years and backed up all sorts of trucks. He saved my bacon — I’d probably still be there fighting with the stonewall and the oak trees.

The visit was wonderful. Got a lot of work done but also had time with our grandson and just hung out some with the family. The weather was very sunny and warm but the oak trees blocked nearly all the solar rays where the Airstream was situated. I had to monitor electrical usage closely but was able to run the overhead fan to cool things off at night.

We’ve pretty much decided to forget trying to camp at campgrounds during the summer — too crowded and too much hassle. For example, the big state park at Salisbury, where we stayed last October, is completely filled every day until Labor Day. We’ll wait until then for Vermont parks as well. In the meantime, it’s nice to use the ‘Stream as a bedroom for family visits — both here and away. Here we are back home.

Searching For Muffler Men


”In 1984, a ten-year-old boy encountered a mysterious 20-foot-tall fiberglass statue named Louie in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Eight years later, he spotted an identical statue in Tucson. A third sighting outside a run-down convenience store in California made it a trend. Thus began a scavenger hunt to discover the origins of Louie and his brethren. Only one rule applied: No searching for them on the Internet! Read More“

Author Gabriel Aldaz is an email acquaintance of mine. I’ve followed with interest the development and publication of his book and blogged about it last year. You can now order it here from Amazon.

Lake Carmi State Park


We just spent several days at Lake Carmi State Park in northern Vermont and got to experience summer camping – with all the warts as well as the positives. We had reserved site 16, one of the nicest ones along the lake, and found it a challenge to enter with our 25′ Airstream. We ended up heading down the one-way road the wrong way so that we could angle into the lot.

The weather was muggy and the first day/night was pretty noisy and smoky. Of course, everyone has to have a fire and the combination of charcoal lighter and wood smoke and country music made me wonder why folks bother to come to a beautiful site — but to each his own.

The lake is shallow and has a mucky bottom so the swimming areas are great for kids but not much for adults who swim. This was the first days after school let out so kids were everywhere — and enjoying themselves. It’s a good park for kids — very light traffic and safe swimming sans lifeguards.

Vermont state parks are not set up for rvs with lots of leanto sites and many tent arrangements. There were a few dozen rigs but many of the sites could handle only small units. No Vermont parks have hookups. In the case of Lake Carmi, even the dump station seems like an afterthought. It’s on the right side of the road which means, when leaving, you have to turn around and back up to use it.

There were a number of sites with a conglomeration of tents and popups and three of four carloads of people — generating a lot of noise and seemingly there for the summer. It was a lot different from camping in the winter in warmer climes where you tend to get quieter couples (such as us.) The kids amused themselves at night by shiny flashlights on our silver Airstream, stirring up the dog big time. It reminded us of the stuff we’d be likely to do when we were kids.

The birding was great — lots of yellow warblers, American redstarts, and other warblers. The park has some lovely features and has one pet-free camping area (what’s up with that?) and many forested sites that are hardly used and thus pretty private.

We plan to go back — probably in the Fall after school starts. With less activity, it will be a great place to kayak and bird.

photo courtesy of Vermont State Parks

Renovation Project About There

After pulling off the mouse fur, ripping up the carpet, removing the couch for recovering, cleaning off the glue from the walls, polishing the interior wall (for what seemed like ages, and cleaning up all the dirt and powder from polishing, I have spent the last week laying the new floor, installing the fittings for the curtains, installing the couch and side table, and hanging the curtains. The project is nearly done — and looks pretty nice. Here’s a shot of the couch area:
We hooked up a flat screen TV to replace the decade-old unit that came with the Airstream.


Now it’s time to hook up and head out for a short stay up at Lake Carmi State Park this weekend.

Renovation Going Slowly

Having removed the carpet and much of the “mouse fur” from the walls in the dining/living area, I fried a few brain cells removing the glue backing with a solvent. Then, I began polishing the interior aluminum with mixed results. Have to get some more aggressive Nuvite polishing cream to work on the roughest areas but getting there slowly. Here’s a progress photo.

I took a break from polishing and worked on tapping into the propane system and connecting up a catalytic heater to use when we are boondocking. My brother Barry had advised me on fittings and a general scheme and with patience and some “measure twice/cut once” technique, I got it installed on the front of the gas stove with a swinging door so that we can aim it rearward as well. Leak checks with soapy water and we’re good to go.

The couch has been delivered to an upholsterer for recovering and should be ready by late June. Camping season is here — time to get these projects buttoned up.

Running light wiring problem identified

Yesterday we did some trouble-shooting on the Airstream problems — focusing on why we did not have running lights. With the couch removed and the wiring exposed, it made life a lot simpler — and having my knowledgeable brother leading the effort was the key.

We had known that the power off the tow vehicle was fine and that we had power to the running lights inside the trailer. However, as Barry had suspected back in Texas, the circuit seemed to die in a little black box under the trailer. Sure enough, when he bypassed the box, there was power to the lights — and in fact, all the lights were working! So now it is a process of finding a replacement for the fried box. (I fried a lead on the box at some point with all the problems of loose leads in the 7-pin connector).

So here’s what I’ve posted and sent to a couple of potential suppliers:

I have a 1999 Safari and have had trouble with the running lights. I just found out that I fried a breaker or relay that is between the battery and the lights. It is a small black box with four paddle connections — one for a hot wire, one for ground, and two for the blue trailer light wiring. It says SC-906 on it and is 12v, 30 amp. The connection points are marked 85, 86, 87, and 30.

It’s nice to get an answer to this nagging problem — now to find the part. And here’s the answer I just got from the Airstream Forum:

It’s a generic auto relay, should be able to find one at any auto parts store. You can see that one of the pins is burnt, with all the black plastic around it. Curious why it would fail but I would get a new one and see what happens.

What a resource the Internet can be. Off to Advance Auto Parts.

Mouse Fur Be Gone

Having removed the Airstream couch, I’ve started a project to remove the carpet and replace it with some sort of wood laminate flooring. Of course, the more you open things up, the more “projects” reveal themselves.

The cream-colored covering on the Airstream walls, affectionately called “mouse fur” because of its fuzzy nature, is pretty dingy. A dozen or more years of wear and tear shows — and I’m thinking seriously of removing it in the front half of the trailer and getting down to the aluminum walls. We’ll see how that additionally work feels in the next few days.

Meanwhile, I’ve started ripping out the old carpet (which looks better than it is in the photos). It’s grubby work and I’m going through razor knife blades fast. From the debris I’m finding underneath it, I think this trailer was built on a Friday afternoon. Loose nails, aluminum scraps from drilling, you name it. The staples holding the padding in place are hard to pull and all in all, it’s slow going.

One bright spot was the uncovering of a channel through which many wires pass. Hopefully, that will allow us to identify the problem circuit for the trailer running lights which still are out of service.

My brother Barry is coming by in the next day or two to give some guidance on floor materials and the wiring. Next week, we hope to get a line on some fabric to recover the couch.

I’ve got half a trailer floor of exposed plywood so I guess I’m committed. Stay tuned.

Portable Solar


After a lot of discussion with Airstream owners, we decided not to mount the solar panel on the unit but rather, set it up manually so as to better capture the sun’s rays. So far, so good.

Installing the controller involved disconnecting and removing the refrigerator (to be able to snake wires alongside it) and cutting an opening in the wall. Everything went well until I went to close the cupboard over the refrigerator, and the arm hit the controller unit. Too late to move things so I moved the arm to the other side of the door.

I put on a quick disconnect near the hitch and ran enough wire to be able to move the unit around to either side of the trailer. When I first tried everything, I got nothing, even though the controller was reading battery voltage. After reading the instructions again (what a concept!), I realized that the leads to the solar panel were on the wrong contacts — a quick switch and we were in business.

It’s a great feeling to see that controller registering 4 amps of current or so in full sun. It’s almost easy to feel smug — sort of “take that, power company” feeling. The unit topped off the battery, shut down, and came on periodically as I used a little power for things.

The setting, with trees and intermittent clouds (as you can see in the photo), was not ideal but it was a great start to getting more independent energy-wise.

Off To Massachusetts

Having worked some on installing the solar controller and wiring up the solar panel, I tested it yesterday and it was great to see the meter registering 3 to 4 amps as the sun came out from behind the clouds. For now, I’m planning to use the panel up against a sawhorse, positioned to catch the sun — and not mount it on the roof. Several friends (and my brother) set it up that way and like the versatility.

We packed up and headed out today — still winterized — to visit our daughter and family in Merrimac, MA. We’ve set up a nice little parking area off their long driveway so Penny (the Vizsla) and I boondock out there. It saves a lot of hassle since Jen has an old cat and Penny is terrible with felines.

The trip down was uneventful — aside from the fact that our running lights still do not work. It was rainy and foggy the first hour and while not dark enough to require lights — they would have helped from a safety factor. Next week’s project.

The site here, as you can see in the photo, is pretty wooded so the use of solar is going to be iffy. Right now, the leaves are not out so there’s hope — but the forecast is for rain. I’m on a limited electrical budget and monitoring the battery with the new controller. I ran the old furnace with the blower for just a bit and saw an immediate drain. Fortunately, the catalytic heater is cranking and should take the chill off. Penny plants herself about a foot from it.

Being further south, the birds are more plentiful and active. On a walk with the dog just before dark, I saw about a dozen or more species including a lovely pileated woodpecker. Hope to do some serious birding tomorrow or Saturday at Plum Island.