Truck Camper Modifications….Generator & Bikes

Generator Frame Mount in the Works

When one travels with a truck camper or anything else one keeps his eyes open for ways to make life easier. This philosophy is what I’ve been doing this past year as we traveled from Alaska to Florida. This is not to say that life was not easy. We had a comfortable ride and living quarters. The need to improve things comes from my military training. It’s called position improvement.
Well, enough on philosophy! Here’s what I’ve been up too. On the road everything ran as it should and we were able to have electricity for the day and night demands. The problem encountered was when we stayed put for a couple of weeks in Key West at a Coast Guard RV campground.

The bug cover should help!

They had everything except electrical hookups. Our 50 watt solar panel wouldn't keep up with our heavy demand at night. With two laptops running, camera batteries, cell phones charging and camper lights it was a little much for the one camper battery and solar panel. Our generous neighbor (Lauren) graciously aloud us to plug into his Honda Eu2000i generator at night. This would be my "must have unit" addition for the camper. I spent a couple of weeks thinking…would I store this 46 pound generator on the roof? Would it fit on a bracket somewhere in the outside rear of the camper. I was thinking that would add additional weight which I didn’t need aft of the rear axle. I noticed that all of the other campers had there generators secured on the ground to there RV in one way or another. No, the way for us to go was  to mount the beast in the front of the truck.

Trial fit with mountain bikes

I already had fabricated a removable front hitch receiver which mounted on the existing Fisher Snow Plow mount. This receiver hitch mount is secured with two padlocks and two 1-1/4x8 inch harden nuts and bolts. The hitch was created for our two mountain bikes. I  wasn't impressed with bike racks in the rear of the camper. Back there the bikes get full of dust, dirt and they are always in the way when entering the camper. I have no problem wiping off an occasional dead bug. Back to the generator bracket. I had to design the location so it wouldn't interfere with the headlights and the bikes. I came up with a solution! It is strong, sits above the bumper and clears the bikes. The generator is secured to the truck frame and can stay in place at night. I just need to walk the camper electrical cable around to the front of the truck, plug in, set the choke pull the cord once and turn on the lights.

Well there is always a little more to the story! Remember position improvement. The existing bike rack worked flawlessly all the way to Alaska and back, but as I watched it on bumpy roads the bikes would yaw and roll gently fore and aft. (maybe I don’t have the proper naval wording) I discovered this movement was caused by an Aluminum H beam I used in the original fabrication to save weight (actually it was because I had the beam in the shop). This was the excuse to redo the bike rack and eliminate the roll. I would also move the bikes forward three to four inches further away from the truck. This made me think of possible additional stress on the hitch receiver. Ah! if the bike tube extended further back into the plow super structure it would double the strength and further prevent up and down movement.

I finally rebuilt the whole thing using thicker angle iron. Luckily I had all of the materials laying around the shop. Of course there is my time, but when your semi-retired you are suppose to do the things you want to do right?I’ve had the pieces on and off the truck a dozen times. Everything fits perfectly. One of the last things to accomplish is to spray paint the works with Hammer Rite paint to protect the project.
That is what I did!

“Baby” Boomers On The Move…Logo Update!

I added the “Baby” to the Boomers On The Move (Logo) on the truck camper today. Some people that we met on our adventure trips actually thought that our last name was “Boomers”. This should clarify that we are of the (World War II) “Baby Boomer Generation”.


The "Baby" added to the "Boomers
On The Move"

I also worked on increasing the lean-to height in back of the shop. That is where the camper sleeps when its not visiting across the country. The increased height is necessary because I added a couple of Max Air shrouds over the existing vents. Now we can leave the vents open for ventilation without the danger of rain coming in. My little modifications are not a must, but do make life a little easier.
I need to work next week on that front mount for the future generator. It will be June before I know it and I want to be ready for our little jaunt to the Northeast up into Nova Scotia, Saint Johns and possibly into Labrador. Several factors will decide if and when we try to accomplish this journey. Family health, future work commitments, weather and of course the unknown! I don’t expect to be gone for a long time, maybe a couple to three weeks. It’s always open to change, that’s what good about being semiretired.We could have sun, a rainbow or maybe arainy summer. We are in a canoe going down the gentle river without a paddle. We’ll see where it will take us!
That is what we are planning to do and see

Russia…The Trans Siberian Railway ~ Friends Update!

Two of our friends, who follow my blog, responded with pictures of their adventure on the Trans Siberian Railroad. Sean and Lee are world travelers. They have done all of the continents and have been to every major points of interest in the world. Helen and I met them on our trip to New Zealand and Australia.

Trans Siberian Train

They did not travel the entire length of the railroad, but enough to get a flavor of this railroad. Sean said that the railroad schedule and times are very accurate. In one of the pictures, a kilometer/stone marker reads 5613, which I believe is 3,498.08 miles to Moscow. His comments on the train follows…


Does anybody read Russian?

I just read your blog. I think we told you that we took a short 8-hour ride on trans-Siberian train from Ulan Ude to Irkutsk in the Lake Baikal area early September last year. Our portion of the trip on the train schedule is highlighted in one of the pictures. The fall colors were beautiful. Since we did not stay overnight on the train, we did not use the blankets provided in the cabin. The bunk beds (4) in our cabin were reasonably comfortable, but no one in our group (total of 11) wanted to nap or sleep. I think there are "business class" 

Railroad Crossing...Rusian Style!

or "first class" cabins, but not sure. We had coffee in the diner car. Almost no locals went there to eat or drink due to the steep prices. There are hot water dispensers on the train and most locals brought a lot of food and drinks with them. The are also food vendors on the platform at most stops.
The only person we know who covered the entire route was a good friend of our younger daughter. She was between jobs and she decided to do it about six years ago. Not sure how her father would have let her do it as a single woman. As far we are concerned, I don't know if we can survive the entire length in our current physical conditions. By the way, the train was on-time almost to the minute all the way while we were on it. There are small "kilometer markers" along the way and the "railroad crossings" are quite interesting. I think you will enjoy the ride. I wish we would be able to visit as much of the world as these two Texan friends have. They say that they are running out of stamina, but after all, they have seen a majority of this expansive planet! They should be slowing down a little. Thanks for the information on the Trans Siberian Railroad. Oh yes, we have another friend “George” who is also running out of stamina. I am trying to convince him to travel a little more and also see this great planet!   That is what we plan to do and see!

Russia… The Trans-Siberian Railway! May Be?

Well… I’ll bet the header might get a few people’s attention. Actually, the subject has come up a couple of times. Just tonight, as I was checking my stats and audience on the blog, I have noticed that I’m getting a small following from Russia.


Map Showing Military Installation with
RV Campgrounds

Russia, our cold war enemy. Now that the cold war is over, I often think of traveling from Vladivostok to Moscow by train. I met a fellow camper in Key West who did this trip. He gave me a lot of information about the train accommodations and what to expect. It is a far fetched idea, but it is doable. Once in the mid 80’s, on trip to Alaska, on a KC 135 Air Force Tanker, I had another long discussion with some people who were in the process of flying around the world. They would fly a good part of this trip on USAF “Space A “ flights. They had made connections to fly from Japan to Vladivostok , Siberia and board the Trans Siberian Railway all the way to Moscow. From Moscow, they intended to fly (commercial Russian Airline) to Germany and resume their “Space  A” flights back to the States. It is not a big money issue, but an issue of patience and time to catch the right flight. One needs a lot of time to accomplish this adventure. Time on the Trans Siberian Railway took this guy in (Key West) a month. He said to try  and get a top berth, apparently someone on the lower berths always seem to have a bottle of Vodka and no one leaves until its empty!  I know there is a “Space A” flight that goes to Europe four times a week and it is not full  most of the time.
Oh well, enough of that wild dream for now. I need to get back to America and explore around here. I am thinking of going back where we left off and continue the Civil War trail. One of the biggest things on the Civil War, this summer, is the 150th Anniversary. I’ve been told that there will be some major reenactments. Some truck campers are getting together for a jamboree centered on these reenactments. It might be very busy with tourist, but that only means that we would make new friends and hear more great adventure stories.
Today,

This "Live Oak" was about 150 years old
when the Civi War Started. It was 300 years old when cut down

I upgraded the camper. I now have a permanent TV cable connection on the outside. That means that I don’t have to snake the cable in anymore. It isn’t that we watch a lot of TV, but more and more campgrounds offer Cable TV with their full hookup sites. My next upgrade will be a new “front of the truck” generator mount. I want the mount to be closes to the truck grill. The two mountain bikes will be further outbound and the bike carrier will be removable without interfering with the generator mount. It sounds complicated, but I can tell you I’ve slept on the idea for a few nights and its coming together. The Honda EU2000i generator will make us more independent in the dry camp environment. The Solar panel will recharge the camper battery, but the computers are power hungry and unless I’m running the truck they won’t last more than a day. We are on them several hours a day. (Checking emails, blogging, searching sites to visit the following day and so on).
That is what we plan to do and see!
 

The Reality Sets In…Home Sweet Home…Where Do We Keep the Silverware?

It is always a mild shock to arrive home after a long stay away. I literally had to think for a second where we kept the silverware. We had been gone 61 days on this adventure… 77 days this past summer to Alaska. In a years’ time we traveled from 207 miles North of the Artic Circle (Inuvik, NWT) to Key West, Florida. 90 miles from Cuba (15,000 miles last summer and 5,105 on this winter trip) .God, there is so much left to see!
The temperature here in Berlin, NH is till cool, but in another week or so the leaves will start to bud. I will get back outside and tackle the yard. ( I love doing yard work) That is no joke! In the mean time, I have the truck camper to clean, the truck needs to be serviced and a special front mount on the truck for a future generator. Just maybe, in June, we’ll be able to sneak away for a couple of weeks up to Nova Scotia and into Labrador. Remember that new road from Happy Valley Goose Bay, Labrador posted in a  previous Alaska blog? I always have to have something in the planning stage. It keeps me young and crazy!


Home of the "Fried Green Tomatoes"

Back to the camper... I spent this morning emptying the rest of the clothes and everything else that we had packed. The rest of the day I cleaned all of the bugs off the nose of the camper. It is accessible now that it is off the truck. The sun was shining into the shop and with the radio broadcasting the man hunt in Boston, the afternoon seemed to go by very fast. When I called it quits for the day, I had waxed 3/4 quarters of the camper. The worst was done.
The weather this Saturday morning was again cool, but I did manage to rake a little in front of the house. The sand that is spread in the winter months, in the street that is, makes a mess on the lawns. That is all part of living in the North Country here in New England.
Now that we are home, I can reflect on our trip, re-read some of the blogs and realise that I didn't have time to include so many little details that made our voyage so interesting. For an example; in Savanna, GA. We had stopped at a "Whistle Stop Cafe" famous for their Fried Green Tomatoes. Some of you probably have seen the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" partially filmed in this cafe.

Fried Green Tomatoes!

That is what we did and saw!

 

The Bolt to the North!!

New York after the GW Bridge!

So far on this winter getaway, we have visited many friends and relatives. Visited countless attractions both natural and historic. I am glad that I took the time to write this nearly daily blog. I will in the coming months re-read the blogs, remember and possibly add more detail to the daily events. We have so many more experiences to recount with fondness. After all, with the type of  travel we do, meeting people and seeing places is our joy.
Now back to where we are today. The weather for this week so not looking too good. Rain and cooler temperatures. I didn’t want to spoil the first impressions that I get when we visit a new site. The cold and rain would not do it justice. Like a wild horse, I felt like bolting and hitting the road. That is what we did! I knew that I could easily drive from Virginia to somewhere in Connecticut in one day. We left Yorktown before dawn, around a quarter to six in the morning. The computer said we were around 850 miles from home. In a half hour, we were on I-95 North bound. I-95 is not my favorite route, but being close, I selected this path home. I did plan on diverting inland using I-81 and I-84 avoiding the New York area. The traffic wasn’t too bad going through the heart of Washington, DC and we shelved the alternate route and stayed on I-95. It proved to be a little costly in  road tolls, but the joy of seeing all that traffic, and especially the bumper to bumper traffic on the north side of the George Washington bridge was an adventure.

The George Washington Bridge... Upper deck!

After all, being in bumper to bumper traffic gives one time to get good photos of the New York skyline! Oh yes, then there’s the NY metro police that pulled me over on the Cross Bronx Parkway. He said to me "why didn’t you turn off when I pointed to you"? I actually though that he wanted to go to the right and I got out of his way. He said “you can’t be on this Parkway with your camper. The arched overhead bridges are to low”! I knew I *@#^ up. I asked, “How do I get out of here now”? He said, “Take the first exit, go down the ramp, take a left and the next left, get on the Cross Bronx Parkway ‘West’ get off on I-87 North, take the I-287 East and the I-84 East to Danbury, Connecticut. I think I lost him right after “Take”. I said to Helen, "give me the map"! He pointed you are here and repeated the above instructions. When I see it on a map I got it clearly in my head! No problems from here on. We stopped for dinner at the Blue Diner in Newton, CT. After talking to the owner, he said we could stay the night in his parking lot. It was a 24 hour diner and we didn’t get bothered with traffic the rest of the night. Newton, CT... remember was the town that was the site of that terrible school shooting!
That is what we did and saw!

Yorktown,VA…The War of Independence…The Battlefields

The first thing that we did this morning was to take the Colonial Parkway over to Colonial Williamsburg. Now you can make Colonial Williamsburg as simple or as complicated as you want to as far as visiting. Admission is free. If you want to just walk the town, you can see period dressed people who talk to you like you were back in their time frame of the Revolutionary War period.

Colonial Williamsburg

If you want to go into specific houses and get detail reenactments, then you need to pay the admission. We wanted to see the general layout of the town. This is no small area. One mile long by 3/4 mile wide. A 1/4 mile walk along working period farm and flowering forests will take you from the Visitor Center to the outskirts of Colonial Williamsburg. It was an interesting forenoon and about two and a half miles of walking and we had covered the entire town. It was interesting enough, but I’m glad we didn’t pay for the tour.


Matt our Park Ranger
standing next to a 24 pound cannon

Next, on our marathon day, was to get back on the Colonial Parkway heading in the opposite direction to Yorktown Colonial National Historical Park. The National Park Service never fails to do a good job in their presentations. The American Revolution’s last major decisive battle was fought here in Yorktown. I won’t go into details, but I have to keep reminding myself that this is “The American Revolutionary War” and not part of “Civil War”. Here is the twist… while visiting the battlefields in Yorktown our Park Ranger mentioned several times that the Confederate Army used a lot of Revolutionary War defensive positions. They simply reinforced and replaced whatever was needed. I was happy to have visited Yorktown and its history!
That is what we did and saw!