Toaster Travels
Our adventures with the Airstream - a 2006 19' Safari SE.
Our adventures with the Airstream - a 2006 19' Safari SE.
Trips, tips...and troubles too. We learn something new each time we take our Bambi out.
Will include links to sites we think are helpful, and trip initiation date (YYMMDD) in the blog entry title.
Will include links to sites we think are helpful, and trip initiation date (YYMMDD) in the blog entry title.
090613b - Flagstaff
Posted 06-28-2009 at 12:47 PM by chbocca
One of our favorite towns.
On this trip, we actually discovered KOA, which stands for "Kampgrounds of America (KOA)." We'd seen them previously but for some reason never stayed there...until now. The Flagstaff KOA is a flagship KOA - it was just great! The setting, their friendliness, the little wonderful events, like popcorn and root beer floats at free movie time, (often) free pancake breakfast, etc. We are now members and find KOA very, very convenient - the President's Award Winners are especially worthy stops. Highly recommended.
On the way to Flagstaff we noticed that our aft skylight lid was gone, but this time we knew we had not left the lid up - it had presumably just disintegrated due to four years of UV exposure. Fortunately, a new Camping World store had just opened in Flagstaff right off the I-40. They had our 14" lid with the correct hinge attachment (Jensen J7291RWH-C New Type).
One bad design feature of our Airstream is that you actually need to attach the lid from the outside, because of a spot-welded crossbar in the middle of the skylight opening. (Frankly, it seems this bar could just as easily be bolted in and thereby permit replacement from inside the Airstream.)
But worse, the aft vent is a particularly poor design because even after I was able to get up on-top (due to the good KOA folks lending me a tall step ladder, secured by a fellow camper), the air conditioner cover actually blocks the ability to attach the lid at the hinge line. Again, a terrible design. Unable (and unwilling) to remove the air conditioner cover while out on the road, I did mange to attach one of the three lid hinge points (the central one) and it sufficed for the rest of the trip.
Anyway, the next morning we explored old Flagstaff, this time avoiding the temptation to visit nearby Lowell Observatory. Because the Bambi is so small, it easily fits in two car parking spaces - rarely do we worry about negotiating city traffic.
In Flagstaff, we enjoyed beautifully clean alpine air, blue skies, a vibrant old town center with interesting buildings, shops and restaurants, bakeries and coffee joints, people. We particularly enjoyed a place called Seasoned Kitchen at 106 N San Francisco, which is located in a historic post office building.
On this trip, we actually discovered KOA, which stands for "Kampgrounds of America (KOA)." We'd seen them previously but for some reason never stayed there...until now. The Flagstaff KOA is a flagship KOA - it was just great! The setting, their friendliness, the little wonderful events, like popcorn and root beer floats at free movie time, (often) free pancake breakfast, etc. We are now members and find KOA very, very convenient - the President's Award Winners are especially worthy stops. Highly recommended.
On the way to Flagstaff we noticed that our aft skylight lid was gone, but this time we knew we had not left the lid up - it had presumably just disintegrated due to four years of UV exposure. Fortunately, a new Camping World store had just opened in Flagstaff right off the I-40. They had our 14" lid with the correct hinge attachment (Jensen J7291RWH-C New Type).
One bad design feature of our Airstream is that you actually need to attach the lid from the outside, because of a spot-welded crossbar in the middle of the skylight opening. (Frankly, it seems this bar could just as easily be bolted in and thereby permit replacement from inside the Airstream.)
But worse, the aft vent is a particularly poor design because even after I was able to get up on-top (due to the good KOA folks lending me a tall step ladder, secured by a fellow camper), the air conditioner cover actually blocks the ability to attach the lid at the hinge line. Again, a terrible design. Unable (and unwilling) to remove the air conditioner cover while out on the road, I did mange to attach one of the three lid hinge points (the central one) and it sufficed for the rest of the trip.
Anyway, the next morning we explored old Flagstaff, this time avoiding the temptation to visit nearby Lowell Observatory. Because the Bambi is so small, it easily fits in two car parking spaces - rarely do we worry about negotiating city traffic.
In Flagstaff, we enjoyed beautifully clean alpine air, blue skies, a vibrant old town center with interesting buildings, shops and restaurants, bakeries and coffee joints, people. We particularly enjoyed a place called Seasoned Kitchen at 106 N San Francisco, which is located in a historic post office building.
Tags: camping world, flagstaff, koa, seasoned kitchen, skylight lid
Total Comments 2
Comments
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Nice story. I sent this on to my mother. Her boyfriend owns that KOA.Posted 06-29-2009 at 12:07 AM by caadoptees 
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We stayed at that very KOA last summer. It was very nice.
MaryPosted 06-30-2009 at 02:56 AM by Maryw164
