Two For Texas: A Tale of a 3,000 mile journey
This is an epic tale of how Jane and I decided to take a long trip in the renovated Avion truck camper over Thanksgiving. We were interested in some property in far west Texas, and our family was ...
Forum Discussion
Thanks to all of you who have commented on out trip report. Let me see if I can answer some of the questions and extend my remarks;-)
One commenter asked about the interior of the Avion that I have restored. Below are two photos - one photo shows the interior as I would like it to be - another one shows the reality of being cabin bound during rough weather:
If you'd like to know more our Avion restoration string on this site has over 180 pages of information. It is widely viewed as the most complete source of information anywhere on this truck camper. Take a look, though its quite a slog to start from the the beginning.
One of the commenters mentioned Jimmy Swaggart, Mickey Gilley and Jerry Lee Lewis who were related to his brother in law. They all came from Ferriday, Louisiana. Yes, its true that Ferriday apparently had a Visitation in the 1930s that produced an extraordinarily talented group of men. It was a huge win in the genetic lottery of the deep south that often misfires. Jerry Lee Lewis ("The Killer") married a 13 year old cousin once removed. Jimmy Swaggart lost his televison ministry after consorting with a lady of the night at a motel on Airline Highway in New Orleans. I am a fan of Jerry Lee and I occasionally enjoyed Jimmy Swaggart's soulful preaching. Mickey Gilley's club set the bar for high class country entertainment. So what's wrong with a little sporting on the side?
Some people mentioned the back roads and stops that we made on our journey. Well, we spent more time on the freeway than normal because of the distances. However, it is the countryside that draws us in - especially making sense of the past. Jane and I first were intrigued when we traveled to Ireland in the 90s. We came upon long rows in the hillsides that were referred to as "lazybeds". Turns out they were potato plantings from folks who did not survive the Great Potato Famine of 1847. There was much more to learn as we poked around disappearing Ireland.
We took that knowledge and begin thinking about and observing carefully the "built environment" of Downstate Illinois. I realized it was one long lifetime that transformed the prairie from a grass choked land into the most productive farming ground in the world. Just about 70 years. And then another 70 year lifetime for the land to be abandoned to the megafarms. The invention of the John Deere plow in the 1840s that finally broke the prairie land is what put everything into motion. Our research looks at that transformation of the land the memories of the people who lived there and built the remarkable institutions that are crumbling away. Its the hand of man upon the land that I want to understand.
And frankly, I really like the folks in our hinterland.
Our German friend Joerg mentions that getting caught in an icestorm is one of the reasons we go truck camping. Nope, Joerg, that was not my intention. Though I have learned a great deal about winter camping. Necessity is the Mother Of Invention. (Or as the Grand Whazoo might say, Necessity is the mother of Frank Zappa).
Seldomseensmith who along with the Whazoo is a nonpareil in terms of trip reports was kind enough to comment on my efforts. Eric, we probably will not buy property in Marfa. My opinion is that the market there is entirely too volatile for a small investor like me. Especially since we could not be in the town to oversee rentals throughout the year. Marfa is very high end or very low end. I renovate properties so my play was low end. We did find some properties that were actually bargains...but I felt it was too problematic. The truth is that Marfa is strictly for big operators, in my opinion. They haven't moved in yet, but they definitely will.
My Avion guys...especially you Garry. I think I wrote on the Avion string that I decided I had made a mistake in keeping the exterior original. Well, "original" in the sense that the reproduction lights made in the People's Republic of China were appropriate. They are not. I need to have much brighter and reliable lights on the outside of the coach...and I intend to do that right away. As I mentioned, I had some real issues with the Wave catalytic heater. You may remember that I mounted it on a door in the cabin.
I attached a long hose to the Wave so that it could be placed on the countertop. The thing never heated up all the way. However, our CO/propane detector sounded off continuously. As a result, I spent some quality time in Artic conditions.
Remember what I said about the People's Republic? Well, we also got fastners that are supposed to be "just like the originals". The first night we had a problem with an overhead cabinet. The fastener just cut loose firing a spring across the cabin. Then the door below the stove started having issues with closure. It eventually started swinging back and forth and broke off completely at some point spilling Sweet Jane's pots and pans on the floor. So, I happened to have kept the old fasteners. They are dark and a bit the worse for wear. But they were built by American craftsmen and have lasted for almost 50 years.
See what I mean? No matter how hard you try you just don't think things through.
Then I worried somewhat about fresh water levels in the tanks since I can't measure it...ditto for the holding tanks....and semi ditto for the AGM batteries. As you know they are 135Ah and there are three of them. Since we had hook ups for most of the time, and were charging through the alternator, I thought we were OK. But I sure couldn't measure where I stood. I have got to come to grips with all of that.
Now the stove worked perfectly. The water system, after a hiccup in the beginning, also worked perfectly. The toilet worked perfectly. All of my mods, including fold out counters, storage, etc worked great. We do not have a fridge on board at this time, since we wanted to learn more about our food habits while on longer trips. Other than the inconvenience of digging through chests, we did fine. We also incorporate sous-vide and vacuum packing. So many of the meals were pre-prepared. My electronics worked well including the wifi, phone booster and other stuff. But, we were in the boonies most of the time so it made little difference.
I will say that the 900 tunes on my iPod that contain the songs of my life from Louie Louie to Madame Butterfly to Eminem were really good to have. Its amazing how much seat dancing you can do, shouting out the imagined lyrics to the Gong Gong song, as you hurtle through the night.
Now, a confession. I have studiously kept my opinions to myself about other RV lifestyles. Every one to their own, I say. And I mean it. But, I couldn't contain a growing disenchantment with the Class A Motorhomes. Sweet Jane would calm me down with some derivative of the Lamaze birthing technique. Well, just the concept folks. Just the Lamaze concept. I would take panting breaths when the urge overwhelmed me to say something about those things. There. Its off my chest.
Happy camping and thanks for your comments.
D
One commenter asked about the interior of the Avion that I have restored. Below are two photos - one photo shows the interior as I would like it to be - another one shows the reality of being cabin bound during rough weather:
If you'd like to know more our Avion restoration string on this site has over 180 pages of information. It is widely viewed as the most complete source of information anywhere on this truck camper. Take a look, though its quite a slog to start from the the beginning.
One of the commenters mentioned Jimmy Swaggart, Mickey Gilley and Jerry Lee Lewis who were related to his brother in law. They all came from Ferriday, Louisiana. Yes, its true that Ferriday apparently had a Visitation in the 1930s that produced an extraordinarily talented group of men. It was a huge win in the genetic lottery of the deep south that often misfires. Jerry Lee Lewis ("The Killer") married a 13 year old cousin once removed. Jimmy Swaggart lost his televison ministry after consorting with a lady of the night at a motel on Airline Highway in New Orleans. I am a fan of Jerry Lee and I occasionally enjoyed Jimmy Swaggart's soulful preaching. Mickey Gilley's club set the bar for high class country entertainment. So what's wrong with a little sporting on the side?
Some people mentioned the back roads and stops that we made on our journey. Well, we spent more time on the freeway than normal because of the distances. However, it is the countryside that draws us in - especially making sense of the past. Jane and I first were intrigued when we traveled to Ireland in the 90s. We came upon long rows in the hillsides that were referred to as "lazybeds". Turns out they were potato plantings from folks who did not survive the Great Potato Famine of 1847. There was much more to learn as we poked around disappearing Ireland.
We took that knowledge and begin thinking about and observing carefully the "built environment" of Downstate Illinois. I realized it was one long lifetime that transformed the prairie from a grass choked land into the most productive farming ground in the world. Just about 70 years. And then another 70 year lifetime for the land to be abandoned to the megafarms. The invention of the John Deere plow in the 1840s that finally broke the prairie land is what put everything into motion. Our research looks at that transformation of the land the memories of the people who lived there and built the remarkable institutions that are crumbling away. Its the hand of man upon the land that I want to understand.
And frankly, I really like the folks in our hinterland.
Our German friend Joerg mentions that getting caught in an icestorm is one of the reasons we go truck camping. Nope, Joerg, that was not my intention. Though I have learned a great deal about winter camping. Necessity is the Mother Of Invention. (Or as the Grand Whazoo might say, Necessity is the mother of Frank Zappa).
Seldomseensmith who along with the Whazoo is a nonpareil in terms of trip reports was kind enough to comment on my efforts. Eric, we probably will not buy property in Marfa. My opinion is that the market there is entirely too volatile for a small investor like me. Especially since we could not be in the town to oversee rentals throughout the year. Marfa is very high end or very low end. I renovate properties so my play was low end. We did find some properties that were actually bargains...but I felt it was too problematic. The truth is that Marfa is strictly for big operators, in my opinion. They haven't moved in yet, but they definitely will.
My Avion guys...especially you Garry. I think I wrote on the Avion string that I decided I had made a mistake in keeping the exterior original. Well, "original" in the sense that the reproduction lights made in the People's Republic of China were appropriate. They are not. I need to have much brighter and reliable lights on the outside of the coach...and I intend to do that right away. As I mentioned, I had some real issues with the Wave catalytic heater. You may remember that I mounted it on a door in the cabin.
I attached a long hose to the Wave so that it could be placed on the countertop. The thing never heated up all the way. However, our CO/propane detector sounded off continuously. As a result, I spent some quality time in Artic conditions.
Remember what I said about the People's Republic? Well, we also got fastners that are supposed to be "just like the originals". The first night we had a problem with an overhead cabinet. The fastener just cut loose firing a spring across the cabin. Then the door below the stove started having issues with closure. It eventually started swinging back and forth and broke off completely at some point spilling Sweet Jane's pots and pans on the floor. So, I happened to have kept the old fasteners. They are dark and a bit the worse for wear. But they were built by American craftsmen and have lasted for almost 50 years.
See what I mean? No matter how hard you try you just don't think things through.
Then I worried somewhat about fresh water levels in the tanks since I can't measure it...ditto for the holding tanks....and semi ditto for the AGM batteries. As you know they are 135Ah and there are three of them. Since we had hook ups for most of the time, and were charging through the alternator, I thought we were OK. But I sure couldn't measure where I stood. I have got to come to grips with all of that.
Now the stove worked perfectly. The water system, after a hiccup in the beginning, also worked perfectly. The toilet worked perfectly. All of my mods, including fold out counters, storage, etc worked great. We do not have a fridge on board at this time, since we wanted to learn more about our food habits while on longer trips. Other than the inconvenience of digging through chests, we did fine. We also incorporate sous-vide and vacuum packing. So many of the meals were pre-prepared. My electronics worked well including the wifi, phone booster and other stuff. But, we were in the boonies most of the time so it made little difference.
I will say that the 900 tunes on my iPod that contain the songs of my life from Louie Louie to Madame Butterfly to Eminem were really good to have. Its amazing how much seat dancing you can do, shouting out the imagined lyrics to the Gong Gong song, as you hurtle through the night.
Now, a confession. I have studiously kept my opinions to myself about other RV lifestyles. Every one to their own, I say. And I mean it. But, I couldn't contain a growing disenchantment with the Class A Motorhomes. Sweet Jane would calm me down with some derivative of the Lamaze birthing technique. Well, just the concept folks. Just the Lamaze concept. I would take panting breaths when the urge overwhelmed me to say something about those things. There. Its off my chest.
Happy camping and thanks for your comments.
D
