Vagabond photographer in an Alto trailer
I’ve been to this state park twice, and each time I wonder why I didn’t stay longer, always on my way to somewhere else. It’s a nice park, quiet, smallish, and right on a lake. A lake with gators. Big gators. In 2019, this lake made the national news when someone pulled a 700 pound gator out of the water. In case you’re wondering that works out to 13 feet and 4 inches of gator that came out of Lake Blackshear here.
[Read more…] about Review: GA Veterans Memorial State Park
It might have an odd name (there’s a Big Pee Dee and Little Pee Dee river in South Carolina), but this is a sweet little park. Mostly, it seems to get a lot of people who grew up in nearby Myrtle Beach area and a few vagabonds like me who are drawn to it being not really near anything cool or notable. It’s on a little lake, there are some good hiking trails, and it’s quiet and dark at night. What more could you ask for in a campground?
[Read more…] about Review: Little Pee Dee State Park
If you’re familiar with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) campgrounds, you know they almost always are near a big body of water, which makes for nice paddling if the weather cooperates. Watsadler, on the Georgia side of the GA/SC line, is no exception to this rule, and the two days of paddling I did were quite nice, exploring the edges of Lake Hartwell and, on one occasion, being surprised by a blue heron taking flight a few yards away. I guess I surprised it first!
[Read more…] about Review: Watsadler USACE Campground
I’ll admit it, I only picked this park so that I could tell my friend Paris that I was staying at “her” mountain. Hey, when you’re picking places mostly to wait out the month of March till you meet up with friends in April, it really doesn’t matter where you go. And since most of the tourist sites are still closed, there’s still not much sightseeing going on (Furman University gardens were a miss here, along with downtown Greenville).
The Garmin directions had me winding through back roads and then taking a right turn away from the actual park entrance, so be sure you map this site before you drive. It’s a fairly good approach from south or west, with two-lane roads and not much traffic. The real challenge is from the camp entrance to the campground. Those Campendium reviews weren’t kidding, it’s a bunch of tight curves with little visibility and a lot of traffic until you get past the vistor center. I was once again thankful I have a small trailer and not a 40-footer with a toad on the back. Still, the forest views from the road were definitely enticing!
[Read more…] about Review: Paris Mountain State Park, SC
Kalaloch is one of those campgrounds where planning six months ahead can really pay off. If you score one of the bluff campsites, you have pretty good privacy and a view of the ocean and beach 24×7. I did not have one of those sites. But I could still hear waves crashing all the time, so that was cool enough.
Kalaloch is remote and rugged. The nearest convenience store is 7 miles away, the nearest showers 28 miles. While there is the Lodge and a tiny grocery store 1/4 mile south of the campsite, be prepared for few choices and top dollar pricing.
[Read more…] about Review: Kalaloch Campground, WA
Continuing my November tour of Florida State Parks within driving distance of my home base of Gainesville, I stayed four nights at O’Leno State Park, about five miles north of High Springs, and maybe 15 minutes of I-75 and Alachua. If you want a stop on the way north or south, this is a pretty good park.
[Read more…] about Review: O’Leno State Park, FL
Editor’s Note: I started writing this 11 months ago, but then, well, 2020 happened. I finally finished it, mostly so I have a record of the changes I’ve made over time.
Sooner or later, most people modifies their living space, whether it’s a two-story house in the suburbs or a tiny trailer. It took me about a year to make ANY changes to my Alto 1743. The trailer comes with a 2-year warranty from Safari Condo, so I respected that and didn’t go drilling holes or changing much until that 2 years was up. And then this year, I definitely worked on making my tiny house a more comfortable home.
So in order of how much they changed my life, here’s the five biggest things I changed in 2019:
One of the big perks of the Altoistes Facebook group is reading about other people’s modifications and thinking if that’s something I could use. It took me about a month after the first Lagun mount conversion pictures were posted before I decided to go for it. I bought the kit and brought it to Colorado, where I camped with fellow Altoistes, including the designer of the additional mount supports for Altos. He installed it for me, which I really appreciated since I was still fighting altitude sickness and a slight case of bronchitis at the time.
This table mod literally changed the way I feel about my front area. It’s SO EASY to move it around, get to the storage areas, and clean the floor. The horrible tracks on the floor that used to hold the old table setup are gone and the floor is completely clear of obstructions. I’m so happy with this mod, I think everyone with an Alto would love it.
When I ordered my Alto, I hesitated about choosing the cushion covers and lost out on the last round of green fabric, so I went with the new turquoise that Safari Condo was offering instead. It was OK, but it took a beating over the last three and a half years of my vagabond life. So when a new blue fabric was announced, I figured that was my sign to go ahead and order new covers direct from Safari Condo.
It was change out the covers on the front cushions, except the velcro has reversed sides since 2016 so I had to buy some sticky-back velcro to put on the walls that matched the velcro on the new covers.
The hard part was the two long back bed cushions, where they are screwed into a long L-bracket. Thankfully, my clever and patient nephew, Kevin, figured out a few hacks to get things put back together, although we had to uncover the Truma to get at one of the screws and we both did a little swearing at screws and tight clearances. Now, though, worth it!
Thanks to another very talented and generous friend in Virgina, my Alto now has an onboard surge protector. It’s tucked into the front storage hatch, above the caravan mover and just to the left of the inverter/converter. It has a little readout for status, which I ended up mounting that right next to the big black box because it’s very convenient when I’m hooking up the power.
I’ve always had at least minimal surge protection, using a big heavy yellow thing I plugged into the power pole at the campsite, and then plugged the big heavy yellow power cord into that and then to the Alto. Now, I just plug the power cord into the power pole and Alto, then watch the Progressive do its thing to check the power is good. After 15-20 seconds, the click and display numbers tell me I’m good. And if there’s a low voltage or surge, the device turns off power to the inside of the Alto. The first night, as a matter of fact, there was a power dip, and it clicked off and the A/C went with it. About a minute later, power was restored and the A/C restarted too. So it definitely works!
If you have an Alto, you’ve probably directed at least a few strongly worded phrases towards the default hose holder, tucked under the left front area of the trailer. I know I have 😉 So when I saw this longer hose carrier mounted just behind the battery box on the tongue of a friend’s Alto, I HAD to have it. Picked it up a friends’ house the next month, installed it with some industrial strength sticky velcro, and I love it.
It easily handles the better, longer, Rhino hose I used to have as a backup. And it is SO EASY to pull out the hose and put it back. Oh, man, I should have done this about two days after picking up my Alto in 2016. It’s that much of a game-changer for “dump tank” days. (Note: the velcro had a hard time staying stuck, due to the curve of the coroplast, so I crazy-glued it on. Seems to be staying now…)
I probably wouldn’t have changed any of this except for ticks. The bathroom door on the Alto has a round mirror about face height, which makes it difficult to see ticks anywhere other than my head. After three tick scares in one year, I wanted a bigger mirror. So I decided to dump the door and get a better mirror at the same time.
I put up light curtains from Target, which makes the bathroom so much easier to get in and out of. I went online and bought a custom-cut glassless mirror and had it shipped to where I would be in a month. The wall next to the ex-door is actually the one place in my Alto that can take a decent length wood screw, so I mounted the mirror with some serious screws and then added decorative screw covers.
I also found (on Amazon) another of the book racks that Safari Condo uses and it acts as a bookcase or fruit and veg bowl, depending on the day.
The new mirror meant the coat rack that had been hanging out on that wall (sorry, bad pun!) had to find a new home. I found a nice straight four-hook holder from Target that easily screwed into the reverse side of the wall. Yes, it’s the bathroom, but it’s also the coat closet, laundry bag storage, and trash and recycling area. I make my bathroom multi-functional!
These changes means the coats are out of the way and I have a mirror where I can see every inch of skin for a tick check. And, yes, I know how to do a tick check now.
Making Changes…
Making modifications to your trailer is a very personal decision, just like deciding which model of trailer to buy in the first place. What works for me may not work for you or anyone else, but that’s the fun of customizing things. Don’t be afraid to make changes that will make your trailer feel more like home, it’s totally worth it.
The essence of interior design will always be about people and how they live. It is about the realities of what makes for an attractive, civilized, meaningful environment, not about fashion or what’s in or what’s out. This is not an easy job.
Albert Hadley
You know that saying, “It’s the journey, not the destination?” Well, this post is all about that because getting to Reed Bingham was definitely about the journey. I took all back roads because my brief foray with just the Ridgeline onto I-75 was enough to convince me I didn’t want to tow on that interstate: four southbound lanes of fast 18-wheelers, cars, and trucks and a lane repaving project that meant changing lanes involved a bit of a height change as well. And when I say fast, I mean I was going 70 mph and getting passed by almost everyone. So going 55 while towing on that interstate was definitely a non-starter.
[Read more…] about Review: Reed Bingham State Park, GA
This was my first time here, since I usually stay at the USACE Modoc campground about 2 miles south. Modoc closed Oct 1 for the season, so if I wanted a midway point between Asheville and my first Georgia stop, it had to be Hamilton Branch.
[Read more…] about Review: Hamilton Branch State Park, SC
I needed a two-night stop between Falls Lake, NC and Elizabethton, TN, so Fort Hamby fit the bill nicely. That it is also a USACE (Army Corps of Engineers) campground was a plus, since it gives seniors a serious discount on the daily rate. And it was only 15 minutes from Wilkesboro, where I could stock up and find some supplies at the hardware store that I needed.
[Read more…] about Review: Fort Hamby, NC
