Traveling with Tatay

[nryn]

The last “real” trip I took with Tatay was to Alaska in 2019. He’s been out a few times as mentioned in the post above, but for the most part he’s been parked in the prairie and the garage. This year, I’m happy to say we’re taking him on a real family vacation and I’ve got a 2-week trip planned in late September, with a few more trips in the planning stages for next year.

So a few weeks ago I started on a bunch of small projects I’ve been accumulating. First: a light rebuild of the ProPride and refurb of everything on the A-frame. The ProPride has been a champ, but Alaska is a hard trip for any hitch and I’ve really wanted to break it and the stinger down, clean them up, replace some parts that have rusted or oxidized, and install the V2 towers I ordered back in April and received a week or so ago. I started by removing everything from the exterior compartments and cleaning them out.

The V2 towers, as promised, allow the front storage compartment to open fully, which to be fair was never really a huge issue for me but it’s a nice bonus.



I kept getting called away from the procedure (I have several projects happening simultaneously at the farm) but I think it took less than 50 minutes total. My impressions are that the new towers are much more elegant and do away with the strange half-split that the old steel bars used to do when the hitch swung one way or the other. I think the coupling to the WD bars is much more robust.



The spinners at the top are locked in place with ring pins, which I know are two things I’m probably going to misplace, so I’m putting two more in the spare parts I travel with. The jacks now extend down instead of up, and the means to turn them requires a wrench or drill at the top. I haven’t quite figured out how to extend them and measure the extension simultaneously as I could with the old towers—maybe I’ll figure it out but for now it works best as separate operations. I think there is an opportunity to put rings or some sort of measuring indicator on the extension (think the single/double rings you see on metro shelving). But overall I’m really impressed with the new jacks and like them.

I also took apart the stinger, cleaned it up and repainted it, and replaced the bolt hardware. Other tasks included dropping the head to clean out and regrease the ball and coupler (which has never happened—for the record this is what it looks like after the old grease is cleaned off)



I also replaced the breakaway switch (functional but very rusty), removed/cleaned/repainted the propane tank tray, installed new gas stop gas valves, etc. I’m very happy with the results and think the whole front end looks even better than when it was all new.



I used a black “farm vehicle” grade spray paint from Rustoleum that has held up well on my farm equipment. It’s somewhere between matte and satin and blends well with areas I did not want or could not paint.

I’ve moved on to giving Tatay a much-needed exterior cleaning and wax and by Saturday should be ready to move back in.

[dog_and_cat]

Awesome post, as always. I love the strap handle idea to carry the P3 stinger. That thing is a beast to carry.

Where did you find that?

[nryn]

Originally Posted by dog_and_cat

Awesome post, as always. I love the strap handle idea to carry the P3 stinger. That thing is a beast to carry.Where did you find that?

Ah yes I forgot to mention that. It is a game changer when it comes to moving the stinger around. I believe I used this kayak handle”. I folded up the ends and ran a grommet through each, then used a 4” stainless hex bolt and nylock nut. Its even better than using the crossmembers on the rock tamers to lift and position the stinger assembly (mine is the 2.5” stinger).

[dog_and_cat]

Originally Posted by nryn

Ah yes I forgot to mention that. It is a game changer when it comes to moving the stinger around. I believe I used this kayak handle”. I folded up the ends and ran a grommet through each, then used a 4” stainless hex bolt and nylock nut. Its even better than using the crossmembers on the rock tamers to lift and position the stinger assembly (mine is the 2.5” stinger).

Brilliant. The strap on the item you linked seems quite a bit shorter than what's in your picture. I think I'l just get a handle and use some strap I have here.

Thanks a ton.

[nryn]

Originally Posted by dog_and_cat

Brilliant. The strap on the item you linked seems quite a bit shorter than what's in your picture. I think I'l just get a handle and use some strap I have here.



Thanks a ton.

Just measured against the specs on that product page and is indeed the handle in the photo. I’ve just ordered another to use elsewhere.

It’s a 4” bolt; the handle is only .5” longer than that. It has worked well (as will many other handles).

[dog_and_cat]

Originally Posted by nryn

Just measured against the specs on that product page and is indeed the handle in the photo. I’ve just ordered another to use elsewhere.

It’s a 4” bolt; the handle is only .5” longer than that. It has worked well (as will many other handles).

Sorry - I wan't clear. I was referring to the nylon webbing part not the handle itself. How much webbing do you have on each side of the handle? Looks like about 6"or so.

[nryn]

Originally Posted by dog_and_cat

Sorry - I wan't clear. I was referring to the nylon webbing part not the handle itself. How much webbing do you have on each side of the handle? Looks like about 6"or so.

About 2.5” between the grommet and the handle. The product page says 3” on each side, so that seems about right.

[nryn]

I’ve had a few requests for more details on the farm garage where I house Tatay. I’ll focus on the rig’s parking area. Both the Airstream and truck are parked more-or-less in front of the large door (12 x 12). on the long side of the building (see an earlier post in this thread for exterior context).





On the Airstream’s patio side, right in front of the door, I have a small packing table where I stage Airstream projects. These may range from installs I plan on doing to containers of laundry to the annual license plate stickers or insurance/membership cards that I need to store in the trailer. Right now I have a Sherline scale, some groceries I need to put in the fridge, a box of cleaning wipes, an Element fire extinguisher I need to install and a set of cabinet latches.



Behind that table, towards the back of the trailer, are a set of shelves that are home to maintenance materials and spare parts (cleaning supplies are on a different set of shelves). This winter I’ll transition these containers to clear Sterilite containers that you see in boxes on the top shelves. I also keep a ladder back here for getting onto the roof or to the upper storage shelves.



Similarly, behind my truck I have a set of deep shelves that make loading the truck bed up for a trip very easy.



I don’t bring everything on these shelves on every trip. On the bottom shelves are the folding bikes (in the gray bags). The next shelf up contains a few cargo containers, the Outland propane firepit, and a bicycle maintenance toolbox that, when we take the bikes, stacks with two similarly sized toolboxes that live in the back of the truck.



Not pictured: I have a 30A RV outlet in back of Tatay but I’ve never used it. I keep the trailer plugged into a 120V outlet and that’s all I really need (I don’t run anything except lights since the garage is climate controlled). I have an RV pedestal and a dump station on the garage exterior.

It’s been less than a year since I’ve moved Tatay into this space and I’ve had a lot of other projects on the farm, so this is just a start. But in getting the trailer ready for its first journey this year I have to say the overall arrangement is working really well.

[GOUSC]

Very impressive! Tatay gets cared for very well.

[djbar]

"...The V2 towers, as promised, allow the front storage compartment to open fully, which to be fair was never really a huge issue for me but it’s a nice bonus...."


nryn: I've not been able to confirm that the V2 towers allow full opening of the front storage compartment in a 25 FC FB Twin. I have seen where that is the case for 27's and longer. Do you know the distance between your propane tank cover and the base of the storage compartment door? Wondering if its the same, or longer, than my 25FC.


Also, love the kayak carry strap mod for handling the stinger. Thanks for you great ideas.


Best regards. Stay safe as we enter into the "season of the Delta variant."

[nryn]

Originally Posted by djbar

Do you know the distance between your propane tank cover and the base of the storage compartment door? Wondering if its the same, or longer, than my 25FC

The stars were aligned this morning and I was able to measure the distance for you and snap a pic.

Rather than measure to the cover, which can shift around a bit, I measured to the back lip of the tank tray that is parallel to the front of the trailer (so the straight edge, not the rounded edge). The measurement of the inside of the a-frame diagonal member, from that edge to the lower rub rail below the front compartment on my 27FBT is 18.5” or so.



It hadn’t occurred to me that the 25’ A frame could be a different length. For some (not good) reason I figured they were standardized. Let us know!

[djbar]

nryn:
Thank you for measuring your trailer for me..
The distance from my tank-tray to the rub-rail is 18.5", same as your 27'. Seems like the V2 jacks WILL likely allow the front locker lid to fully open on my 25FBT. Your help is much appreciated. Best regards.

[nryn]

I got a request on some other thread for details on the reverse lights I installed on my trailer. These are 1” rigid lights, wired to the 7-way, wire running under the trailer and up into the bumper. They are equally spaced from the bumper ends and on a part of the bumper that faces slightly downward. I figured if I was using them it would be dark and I did not want to blind any campers behind me.

They are useful in two ways. First, they help illuminate the ground and anything roughly picnic table height. Second, if I’m lucky enough to have someone guiding me in, they illuminate the area for them. They are brighter than you’d think but they are not by any means headlights (or even car reverse lights).

They take up almost no space on the inside of the bumper and I still store my sewer hose and sewer accessories back there.

[nryn]

We just got back from a short but great family vacation up to the Wisconsin shores of Lake Superior. A few years back, as a “test” to see if the kids liked roadtrips, I took them tent camping all the way around Lake Michigan on what’s officially designated the “Circle Tour”. They loved it, I had all the justification I needed to go ahead and get an Airstream, and their next roadtrip was an 80-day affair all the way to Alaska. But we had so much fun on our Lake Michigan trip that we vowed to do the Circle Tour around each of the Great Lakes. This was not that trip (you can only encircle Lake Michigan currently, since it’s the only one entirely in the U.S.A.), but I thought I’d squeeze in a visit to Lake Superior.



While traveling I try to max out at 250 miles a day and I enjoy rambling through small towns, finding quality things to eat and learning about the parts of the country forgotten by faster moving traffic. There is a lot of destination between destinations. So we took 2-lane highways and a couple of days to get up there and to get back.

For our first night, we stayed at the campground in the city park in a town called Medford. Our site backed up to a nice mill pond. $15 including water and electric. Almost every town in that area had a nice little trailer-friendly campground. First-come, first-served, we had absolutely no issues getting a spot, even pulling in at 6pm.



We didn’t do much in Medford other than grab some outstanding tacos, get some ice cream, and fuel up.



I’m generally up several hours before everyone else in the family, so I walked around the park a bit. The whole trip the skies were hazy due to the fires out west, but it makes for some nice sunrises and sunsets.



The next day, I was pleasantly surprised to find out the St. Croix fishing rod factory was on our route (I had no idea while planning, I swear!). They even have trailer parking. I ducked in for a few minutes and picked up a new 3wt fly rod.



We drove through part of the Chequamegon National Forest, stopping here and there and landing in our campground in Bayfield (Apostle Islands Area Campground) right before some rain. Super nice folks running the campground. Sites are not huge but our site had a bit of privacy and backed up to a lovely forest. Every time we get a spot like this (which is pretty often) I am so glad I got the front bedroom layout, because this (or the ocean, or a glacier, etc.) is the backdrop for when we eat meals or hang out.



While in Bayfield we walked around town daily, visited the ranger kiosk for the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, visited the (excellent) Bayfield Maritime Museum, and procured lots of fruits, cheese, ice cream and smoked fish.









We also took a ferry to see Madeline Island (a first for my tow vehicle, TowPorg) then on another day went sea cave and shipwreck exploring by kayak.









On the way back we stopped in Viroqua for one night so we could eat at the excellent Driftless Cafe (my favorite restaurant in the state). We stayed at the excellent and convenient Sidie Hollow Park ridge campground, which we practically had to ourselves.



My family hadn’t seen Viroqua so we went and did that on our last day before deciding to head back to the farm a day early. The drive back took us through the heart of the Driftless Area, where we currently reside. I know a lot of coastal snobs refer to the middle of the country as “flyover territory”. By all means please keep flying over so we can have this to ourselves.



On this trip I noticed (especially in Bayfield) how dire the service sector employment situation is. You’d walk into a restaurant with about 30% of the tables empty and there would still be a 90 minute wait for a table. I was told by restaurant staff that they didn’t have enough employees to support a full restaurant. I’m not sure if in Bayfield, as is pretty typical in tourist economies, they typically staff the restaurants with foreign seasonal workers, or if the local help just didn’t come in this year. But front-of-house and kitchen staff were clearly in short supply and throughout the trip I saw signs for hiring bonuses at restaurants and shops.

Also, for all the talk about how many Airstreams have been purchased, I only saw two other Airstreams the whole trip. One was in the county park and the other was while exiting the ferry (a 16’ Airstream was waiting to board).

It was great being back on the road, even if only for a week. I had washed and waxed Tatay beforehand (for the first time—on any vehicle) and the trailer looked even better than the day I picked it up. But I have to say, I prefer the trailer with a bit of patina and was happy to get a bit of rain on the trip. The Airstream has been unloaded (yay for a dump station at home), put in between-trip storage, and is all ready for its next trip—a longer, solo furniture making adventure in September.

[Leilanisteve]

Enjoyed this thread this morning over coffee. It’s a pleasant read.
Like the St Croix picture. Interestingly I bought my first fly rod at a yard sale 2 weeks ago. It’s an older St Croix but good condition for $25.
Now I need to learn to use it.

[nryn]

Originally Posted by Leilanisteve

Enjoyed this thread this morning over coffee. It’s a pleasant read.
Like the St Croix picture. Interestingly I bought my first fly rod at a yard sale 2 weeks ago. It’s an older St Croix but good condition for $25.
Now I need to learn to use it.

Thanks. I read about that yard sale find when you posted it! What a great find. They do make outstanding fly rods and don’t charge art gallery prices for them.

Don’t know where you are located. I’d be happy to give you a casting lesson (I’ve gotten so many people into fly fishing!). Best way to learn is to hire a guide at a good fly shop and go to a lake or large, slow river with plenty of room. In my experience most people can throw a decent cast in an hour and are good enough to catch fish (in ideal conditions) not long after that. The challenge in fly fishing is not the casting, it’s reading the water and understanding the fish. It is among the most relaxing things I do. I hope you get out there with your $25 treasure!

[Leilanisteve]

I live in Boise. I do have a local fly shop and I’m sure I will be a customer soon. I will probably take some lessons. I do have a good friend who’s been bugging me to get a rod so he will be helpful. The cast process does look relaxing to me so I am excited for that.

I have been watching videos from Mad River outfitters that are helpful and entertaining.

I was hoping to take the rod out to the Henry’s Fork area in eastern Idaho last week but thanks to COVID I had to cancel that. The AS was all primed and ready with a cold fridge and I hated to go out and unplug it but there was no choice.

I noticed one of your pics in this thread was at Craters of the Moon. Such incredible geology here!
If you are ever passing through on 1-84 don’t hesitate to stop at the Hells Half Acre rest stop. There is a great path winding through a smaller but incredible lava flow there.

Steve

[SailorSam205]

Originally Posted by nryn

The spinners at the top are locked in place with ring pins, which I know are two things I’m probably going to misplace, so I’m putting two more in the spare parts I travel with. The jacks now extend down instead of up, and the means to turn them requires a wrench or drill at the top. I haven’t quite figured out how to extend them and measure the extension simultaneously as I could with the old towers—maybe I’ll figure it out but for now it works best as separate operations. I think there is an opportunity to put rings or some sort of measuring indicator on the extension (think the single/double rings you see on metro shelving). But overall I’m really impressed with the new jacks and like them.

Aren't the pins for locking the jacks the same part used to lock the OC latches? I thought that was mentioned in a vid I saw from Propride talking about the V2 jacks.

To determine correct extension, could you run the jack all the way down, put a coat of say orange primer paint on, raise the jack to your preferred WD level and then paint the bottom with black paint? I've done that with the V1 style jack to quickly get to my preferred setting.
You've got a nice setup for storage. All of us who have to store outside are jealous!

[Fungus]

Originally Posted by SailorSam205

Aren't the pins for locking the jacks the same part used to lock the OC latches? I thought that was mentioned in a vid I saw from Propride talking about the V2 jacks.

They are the same pins. I bought two extras at the hardware store yesterday. The are too easy to lose.

I used an angle grinder to cut off the bolts securing the jacks. Multitool couldn’t do it. Takes about a minute each. Best to do it before tightening everything down. The area near the propane tanks is tight. I protected the trailer and myself from sparks with cardboard. Or you can cut them off at the workbench. Either way, put the nuts on first.

[nryn]

I recently returned from a 2-week solo trip to the mid Atlantic region. Because I had recently taken the family to Lake Superior, there wasn’t much of a pre-departure punchlist for the trailer. But before leaving, I did replace the AGMs with heated Battleborn Lithium GC2s—in the battery box—as it’s fall and the few times I’ve run the AGMs past 50% have been by running the furnace overnight.

The install was straightforward and went well (and quickly). I didn’t have to get new cables made or get different connectors (though the latter would probably clean things up a bit). The hardest part was changing the converter charge setting, but that’s only because of its awkward location (behind the electrical panel, under the fridge).

Pics below: Original AGMs in box, wires labeled, empty battery box (plastic tray was removed later), installed Battleborns), converter location (multimeter leads not connected—the converter was eventually set to 14.4).






I timed this trip in conjunction with a warranty service trip, as this is Tatay’s final year of warranty coverage. I changed the batteries out beforehand so I wouldn’t have to tote the old batteries around (and also to save a lot of money on the service—Airstream charges quite a markup on these exact batteries). JC was booked out until January but I love going to my Airstream dealer, Woodland Airstream, in Grand Rapids, MI and it’s kind of-sort-of on the way to the East Coast. They always treat me well and do a good job. 

I camped in their lot the night before and discovered my furnace wasn’t working. One of the techs brought me out to the trailer to see that mud daubers had built a nest in the furnace.



They cleaned it out and it’s working fine now. I had them install a battery disconnect and fix a bunch of other things, including ensuring that the stabilizer that fell off on the summer trip was remounted securely. They knew I was en route somewhere else and they had two techs on it all day and got through a pretty lengthy list of repairs and enhancements. I was out of there by 4pm.