Tag Archives: Airstream

Camping In The Rain

07 Saturday Oct 2023

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Or “Ark/Airstream”

We do like our camping, and in September 2021 we headed out to Science Hill Golf Course, close to St. Mary’s in Southern Ontario. We’re not golfers, but the place has a nice campground in rolling countryside, and it’s fairly quiet there, as well as being well located for doing some walking or exploring.

You can’t tell what the weather’s going to be like when you book, and when we arrived, the owner said that he thought we were in for some poor weather, despite it being quite nice at the time. He said we could camp on any free site and while I was about to pick one a little apart from some of the other trailers, I did note that the ground looked a little soggy, so I sought out slightly higher ground. How prophetic that turned out to be.

Our first night was wet, and got wetter. We’re not unused to rain, but after a slightly rainy start to the following day, thing went seriously downhill. It rained and rained and rained. I took the limping dog out a couple of times for her exercise, but she was sick and didn’t enjoy either the exercise or the rain (it turned out that this was to be her last but one camping trip as we had to have her put to sleep a few weeks later). We didn’t go out at all, just stayed in and watched the rain. It was hard to think that it would get any worse, but it did.

The rain became worse, the wind picked up and we were fairly rocking through the evening, and not in a good way. I’d left the short street side awning out to stop water ingress through the cooker exhaust vent (which turned out to be cracked), but the wind whipped at it and snapped it partly shut, thankfully with no damage.

The following morning I watched as the flood waters rose, the three pictures at the top show the progress of the water. We were on a hill for goodness sake, but a wide river was forming a few feet away from us. I didn’t know at the time, but a storm drain had been blocked and the water that was supposed to be underground, wasn’t. I’d never seen anything like it.

When the rain did subside later in the day, so did the flood. The campground owner was out and about and told us that he had unblocked the drain, which was why the water disappeared quickly. The flooded area, though, was still very boggy and I was glad that I had decided on a slightly higher site. We hadn’t moved off the campground in two days, and the dog was in pain; it hadn’t been a great trip.

My mind moved to how we were going to get off the site without going through the bog, but come leaving day I moved the fire ring and made a sharp, inelegant, left, not skidding on the wet grass and not getting bogged down. That untypical tow vehicle of ours had come to our rescue again, with its front wheel drive and gentle transmission easing us away rather than digging in, as bigger vehicles might have done.

We haven’t had such a wet trip since, and given that it was also the dog’s last but one run out in the trailer, it was memorable. We haven’t been back to Science Hill since, and I have to say that I’m understandably nervous about doing so!

As a sort of postscript, we went to Rondeau Park a few weeks later, and while we had fine weather for most of our stay, the last night there was stormy and again we had to rely on our non-standard tow vehicle to haul us out of a mini-flood. Camping; don’t you just love it?

Pickup Trucks

02 Monday Oct 2023

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Or “What’s The Point Of Them?”

It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of pickup trucks. Much of my animosity has been derived from my fellow Airstreamers, or most of them at least, who are implacably opposed to towing their Travel Trailers with anything else. Of course, I don’t tow our Airstream with a pickup truck. The arguments are long and tedious and essentially boil down to “I want a truck because they’re big and manly, and I’ll use my towing requirement to justify the spending of huge amounts of money that are required to buy one”.

But am I right? If you look at the concept of the truck, a rugged utility vehicle capable of carrying loads in the bed, then there’s definitely a market. If your business is towing goose-necked trailers, hauling freight, or dirty and odd sized equipment, then the pickup is for you. It’s a workhorse, and usually a capable one, albeit that the basic technology is pretty ancient.

The problem is that the modern truck has become a status symbol. The engines are huge, the wheels are huge and the radiator grille is huge. They sit so high off the ground, too. Certainly they have all Mod. Cons. these days, as is demanded by the consumer, but for all that they’re still just a utility vehicle. A very heavy, un-sprung body on twisty steel ladder frame, with live axle leaf spring suspension, isn’t the best format for a modern vehicle capable of some quite high speeds. But it is, apparently, what the punter wants. The thing is, people buy these gas-guzzlers for their status value primarily and will never, ever, use it for its intended purpose, that is, hauling stuff. They will use it to tow their $150K Airstream when it really isn’t a great match for such a smart trailer, but they will also use it for their daily commute, to go shopping, even to go on holiday. What they won’t use it for is, God forbid, putting messy and heavy stuff in the bed.

A pickup is really bad at driving, too. It’s heavy on gas, has too high a Centre of Gravity to be safe, has ancient body on frame technology, and rubbish suspension. Why are they so popular then? Well, it’s all about having a big one. Vehicle that is. The owners sit up high, and feel all manly and powerful, usually entirely unaware of what dreadful vehicles they are really driving. Is it true that the size of a man’s vehicle is inversely proportional to the size of their wedding tackle? I wouldn’t know, but it’s a fair old theory.

Here’s a proper Airstream tow vehicle…

Do You Like The Sound Of The Bagpipes?

23 Saturday Sep 2023

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Or “What IS That Noise?”

We do like to camp. When I say camp I really mean drag the Airstream to a local Provincial Park and spend a couple of days in our mobile cottage, missing none of the conveniences of home.

We have just spent a few nice September days at Rondeau, enjoying the mid-week peace and quiet, and doing not much (other than spending the day with the Grandson, then having to go home to the for a doctor’s appointment). It’s therapeutic.

Our peace was shattered, though, when we both heard what sounded like distant bagpipes, competing with the woodland birds and the rustling leaves. At first I dismissed it, I thought I was imagining things, but I was wrong to do that as the sound became ever clearer and ever closer. It was definitely a lone piper, moving around and treating (!) us to short bursts and truncated tunes wrung out of his (no doubt) tartan-clad wind bag.

It went on for a while, too, although we didn’t catch sight of the piper. With no disrespect to my Scottish or Irish friends, I have to say that a single piper on a quiet afternoon in Rondeau isn’t quite what I expected, or wanted. A full pipe and drum band that I know is about to play, maybe, but someone walking around with a single set of pipes? I couldn’t even think of an occasion that merited this wheezy interlude, bearing in mind that I know they pipe the sun down in Port Elgin every night in the summer.

I was conflicted in my dislikes. The sound of an unsolicited piper on a quiet afternoon, or the fact that someone felt it was a good thing to wander around sharing the sound of his (or her) bagpipes with the other campers.

Ultimately though, he was gone after a mercifully short recitation, so no harm done. I might have to pen a letter to the Parks’ people to ask for a new regulation banning the use of unsolicited bagpipes in the park.