Don't lose Toby!

 

Toby holding Toby

Among the last things I say to people as they're departing for their adventures is "don't lose Chris." Chris is -- or at least was -- the crank that raises and lowers the roof and is, arguably the most important piece in the whole operation.

It's easy to leave the crank in the winch and drive away. Or leave it in the winch and have it stolen. That's why Chris gets special attention.

The crank handle is always named after the last person to lose one. Chris, a good guy as I recall, rented the camper in 2019 when he lost the crank, whose name -- Arturo -- it had for only a couple of weeks.

It's been a good run for Chris but somewhere between here and Prairie du Chien lies Chris.

Toby, a good sport, left Chris in the winch and the rest, including Chris, is history.

The other day Toby got to meet Toby.

Don't lose Toby

That's not camping

The camper, shown at this year's gigantic AirVenture in Oshkosh. Even with thousands of people camping, the place offers more space than a lot of commercial campgrounds.

 Even with the incredible heat this summer, demand for the Dutchmen has been the strongest ever. The biggest problem this year for people has been finding a place to camp. The most popular state parks are booked solid, which serves as a reminder to plan your summer trips during the winter for best results. I've already opened u, p the 2022 season for booking.

One of the illuminating aspects of renting the camper has been seeing the changing nature of "camping." When I was a kid, you put up a tent and lived pretty much by your wits. You quickly learned to do without the creature comforts and, despite our protestations, we found ways to entertain ourselves.

I fear that aspect of camping is disappearing fast, which is why I'm such a fan of Minnesota's state parks, which at least give you a little nature between you and the next campsite.

In early July, my wife and I visited her ancestral homeland of northern Vermont and we noticed that someone has built a new "campground" in the rural part of the so-called Northeast Kingdom. It's an area with mountains and spectacular views. This campground could've been a super place.

Instead, however, the developer basically created a large parking lot and jammed the big mobile rigs in side-by-side. Aside from the fact it wasn't an asphalt parking lot, err campground, it could've been a Home Depot parking lot.

Maybe that's not a big deal for the people in those big rigs with their slide out living rooms, bathrooms, showers and full kitchens, but that's not camping to my way of thinking. And it certainly isn't the environment to take a popup camper.

My guess is this will be more the exception rather than the rule across America, at least in campgrounds not run by the state or federal government. Too bad.

Do you have a favorite commercial campground that harkens back to your youth?

Are you too late?

McCarthy Beach State Park is north of Hibbing

 

It's already been a season of high demand for the popup in the last few weeks with folks taking mostly weekend trips. But yesterday a renter in August canceled her reservation. Why? She couldn't find a campground.

It's hard to tell whether this is a growing problem, or whether people are trying to jam in a few "popular" spots and state parks while ignoring the rest.  But anecdotal data surrounding the end of the pandemic at leasts suggests the demand for campground locations is outstripping their availability.

Coupled with a possible state shutdown, the post July-1 period could be rough for people who want to get away.

And that's another thing: Is it even possible to get away anymore at campgrounds?

I'm a big fan of Minnesota State Parks, not only because they're beautiful, but because they're respectful of the need for space. The private campgrounds? Not so much.

So a short article in today's St. Paul Pioneer Press is worth noting.

Too many campgrounds, it notes, are basically like Target parking lots with people jammed right into each other's personal spaces. This is even worse for people using pop-ups because the people who need to have air conditioning, satellite dishes, and a full-sized living room (the land yacht people) tower over their neighbors like midtown Manhattan skyscrapers.

Choosing the right place to camp requires plenty of research, which should begin in mid to late winter.

So campsitephotos.com seems to be a promising tool.  You can look up what a campsite looks like before you decide whether it's for you.

The site is separated into state park sites available for Minnesota  and a list of private campgrounds. But there are few pictures for the private campgrounds.

The site also has a Campground Assist function, which texts you when there are available sites. I can't vouch for whether it works.

If you plan on camping, I urge you to find a camping spot first, then book the Dutchman.

It's a new season!

 

The camper went out on its first voyage of 2021 yesterday, after an off-season of constant work (or so it seemed) on maintenance items and improvements. She's looking pretty spiffy for a classic gal, I have to admit.

As you're probably aware, the camper is rented through Outdoorsy, a site not unlike AirBNB that handles all of the heavy lifting leaving me to only worry about, well, the actual heavy lifting. On an associated Facebook page, I'm constantly reading stories from other owners of RVs and, mostly, their horror stories.

Granted Outdoorsy is almost exclusively dominated by owners of these big gazillion dollar rigs and not by people who have a pop-up and put the time into it mostly as a hobby and something to do, but I'm always amazed by the lack of respect and interest in making people happy and, most importantly, just meeting new people.

I spent a few decades in the public radio business, mostly interviewing and writing about -- as Amy Klobuchar once described her father's work -- "ordinary people doing extraordinary things." So maybe I'm just predisposed to meeting interesting people and renting out a camper as a facilitator.

But it's what brings me pleasure so no apologies and no horror stories here.

I always invite people who are renting the camper to come out a few days or hours early to get to know the camper, but, more important, get to know me and I them. I'm always thrilled when people take me up on it and from what I can tell, people really appreciate the human aspect of the transaction.

So yesterday, Mary and Tom came out and I gave them a full demonstration of the camper and asked questions etc. By the time they left, they were obviously pretty comfortable with the unit and I had no qualms about watching it leave.

I also always enjoy showing people the airplane building project that's going on in the hangar and describing the history of Fleming Field.

Mary and Tom aren't doing any camping. Some family is coming up for a weekend and they'll use the camper as a spare bedroom. A novel idea.  

Since I have to work the Twins game on Sunday, I'll save them the trouble of driving it back and I'll just go stop at their home and pick it up.

As always, I tell people, "you worry about the camping, I'll worry about the cleaning."

They seemed like lovely people and I feel pretty good having had the opportunity to have them in my life, if for only a few hours on a weekend.

You probably won't hear anything about it on Facebook, though.

Be well.

The Dutchmen gets a new tent

 As usual, I had big plans for the winter in terms of maintenance and improvements for The Dutchman. As usual, I sank into the Minnesota fetal position when the temperature dropped below 30 degrees. You know how it is, right?

Now that the cardinals are singing and the ice is melting, I'm quickly catching up.

As previously noted, the big project this year was the removal of the rear roof wood, which was rotted and leaking. That wasn't fun and all but before winter set in, that was completed. Today, I'm going to do a little more waterproofing of that section. Water and moisture is death to pop-up campers so, yeah, I probably have gone overboard on the waterproofing.

The big task this week has been putting up the new tent (the camper's windows and siding) which arrived from Canvas Replacements in Loyal, Wisconsin late last year, but which have sat in the box because I wasn't sure whether icy cold weather was a good time to be handling vinyl, which usually gets brittle in the cold. This product, I've since learned, is resistant to that sort of thing.

I couldn't be more impressed with the workmanship from this company and the replacement (so far, I've still got two sides to go) has fit perfectly. And, it's clean and gorgeous.

The other thing I wanted to do this winter was get underneath the camper and replace the steel cable that raises and lowers the camper roof. Maybe it could surive another year, but at 21 years old, do I want to take that chance? To me, it seemed like the cable was on borrowed time and I hate the thought that it could snap while a nice family was trying to have a fabulous weekend.

Yesterday, I decided that I'll let a pro handle it so I've made an appointment for next Wednesday for the nice people at Hilltop Camper and RV take care of it. 

That leaves the only other thing on the list: Flooring and painting the interior. I'm going to wait on the painting and next week  I'll see what the big deal is with peel and stick flooring (some pop-up camper owners seen to like it). That seems preferable to gutting the camper just to put down new flooring. We'll see. The only linoleum looks too much like, well, old linoleum.

I'm still on the fence about replacing the awning and am considering just removing it. Few people seem to use it. 

We've already got our first rental request of the year and with things suddenly progressing faster than I thought, I may open up rentals to May 1 instead of June 1.

Let the offseason begin!

After a renter this summer ripped the side canvas, I decided now would be a good time to have all new canvas and vinyl sides made. So once Labor Day ended, it was an easy decision to stop the rental season, take down the old canvas, and bring it over to Wisconsin, where a company will make all new custom sides.

And that's just the start of the off-season improvements. Over the last few months, I notice stained water had begun running down the rear corners of the camper onto the canvas, a sign that water was getting into the wood. In addition, the rear board of the roof, where the canvas roof over the rear bed attaches, felt soft. Rot. A common problem in popups.

So I removed some vinyl covering and had a look. Not good.

It took a little bit of time to remove the trim and get to the problem. At first, I thought water was splashing on the top of the bed's roof and getting up under a rubber gasket. But once I got a look at things, I realized it must be coming through a seam that runs down the length of the roof.

Fortunately, all of the other boards that compose the sides of the roof are just fine. Getting the rotted wood off was a bear, however. Eventually I sanded down the final layer of wood, still bonded to the aluminum of the rear side of the roof, and reinforced it with some .020 aluminum scrap I had hanging around from one of my airplane construction projects.

The trick now will be to get everything back together and bonded. Once that's done. I'll seal up that seam, then use a roof sealant to reskin the entire roof. It should be great!

That's only one of the off-season maintenance projects. I still want to strip the interior out and replace the old linoleum, paint the interior from the faux wood look (what color should I use?), replace the awning, and replace the roof lift system and cables. That's in addition to the usual off-season maintenance like wheel bearings etc.

The canvas production should take about four months, which brings us to January. It'll be too cold then to put the sides back up (you risk cracking the vinyl windows when it's cold) so I'll probably wait until March.

That should give me plenty of time to get all the improvements done in time for the 2021 camping season. Reserve your week now!

Update:  The inside is finished.

A camping supply checklist

Since no two people are alike, it's difficult to provide a one-size-fits-all camper checklist for things you'll need to bring to enjoy your camping trip with the Dutchman.

But in the theory that too much is better than too little, let's start with the list below, compiled by the Campers Inn RV blog. 

Remember, the tow weight of your vehicle includes whatever you pack in your vehicle in addition to the weight of the Dutchman (Gross weight of the Dutchman is about 1900 pounds)

Keep in mind, too, that if you're loading the camper for your trip, distribute the weight evenly, with the bulk of it to the front. Otherwise, you risk swaying problems. I recommend all items go in a plastic tub.

Kitchen:

• Water bottles
• Cutting board
• Utensils/cutting knives
• Can opener
• Tongs and skewers
• Dish soap
• Bowls, plates and cups
• Paper towels and napkins
• Garbage bags
• Plastic wrap
• Zip close bags 
• Potholders
• Dish towels
• Skillets and pots
• Disinfecting wipes
• Matches and lighter
• Food storage container
• Extra Cooler 

Food staples:

• Vegetables and fruits
• Butter or margarine
• Cereal
• Condiments, including mayo, ketchup, mustard, relish, etc.
• Grill meats, like hot dogs, burgers, brats, etc.
• Drink mix packets
• Eggs
• S’more ingredients
• Freeze dried meals
• Salt, pepper, herbs and spices
• Bread
• Canned foods
• Peanut butter and jelly 
• Snacks, including crackers, chips, pretzels, etc.
• Cooking spray or oil
• Soups

Clothing and bedroom items:

• Hat
• Rain gear
• Shoes, including sneakers, hiking boots, sandals, etc.
• Bathing suit
• Sweatshirts and jackets
• Socks
• Underwear
• Pants and shorts
• Short and long sleeve t-shirts
• Alarm clock (or smartphone)
• Sewing kit
• Towels
• AdditionalSheets and blankets and/or sleeping bags
• Pillows

Personal items and toiletries:

• Phone chargers
• Cash and credit cards
• Campground reservation confirmations
• Sunscreen
• Bug spray
• Batteries
• Medications and prescriptions
• Glasses or contact lenses
• Sunglasses
• Soap
• Shampoo and conditioner
• Brush and comb
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Floss
• Deodorant
• Hair ties
• Lotion
• Makeup
• Razor
• Shaving gel
• Scissors

Camping and outdoor fun gear:

• Camera
• Wood (best to purchase it at the campground. Don't bring any home)
• Camping chairs
• Hammock
• Frisbee
• Fishing gear, including rods, tackle, license, etc.
• Sports equipment, including football, basketball, baseball, mitt, etc.
• Yard games, including corn hole, horseshoes, hula-hoops, etc.
• Binoculars
• Books and magazines
• Playing cards
• Puzzles
• Radio
• Headphones
• Laptop
• Saw or hatchet
• Flotation devices (i.e. noodles)