A Gathering of A-Frames - Stephen Forbes State Park Illinois

We just spent a great weekend at Stephen Forbes State Park near Salem, Illinois. The weather was great, cool, but the campfire sure felt good.



Our little heater came in handy. Fall camping is the best time to go. As we pulled into the campground Thursday early afternoon we saw several wild turkeys. Carol needed to visit a restroom bad so I hit this bridge going a little too fast. Everything went flying. A wood timber bridge with loose boards, not good. Everything in the Aliner got a little shook up.



Friday morning I took a short bike ride and found the lake, beautiful!







The weekend went great. We had plenty of group discussions around the campfire. We had a very good dinner Friday night of hamburgers, bratwurst, chili, and lots of side dishes and desserts. Saturday morning we had sausage, bacon, eggs, pancakes, and again lots of desserts. A comment was made about how at the dessert table there were so many grabbing for things they thought there must of been $5 dollar bills on the table.

After breakfast we took a group photo:



Of course we all visited each other campers to see and talk about the modifications that had been made, materials used and where to buy them.







The best part of the weekend was the people. Except we didn't get pictures of everybody. Sorry about that.















































Saturday night we went to a local eating place called the Leaky Bucket. The food was great.



It was just a very nice weekend, good weather, nice campground, good food, nice campfires and well planned and executed.

A special thanks to our host John, Jan & Wendy. We know all the work and expense that they did to put this all together and we really appreciated it. We had a good time and look forward to the next "Gathering".

Trail of Tears State Park, Jackson Missouri

We spent the last couple of days camping at a Missouri State Park, Trail of Tears near Jackson, MO. We took our bikes and our new bike rack worked, after a few adjustments.

This park overlooks the Mississippi River. It was nice watching the barges moving up and down the river. The weather was great. Fall camping is the best. Cool to cold at night and warm during the day. Nothing but sunshine and blue skies during the day and stars at night. We did have train tracks between us and the river. The trains came through now and then and they were very, very loud. The ground shook. Love those trains at 1:00 AM and at 5:00 AM and at other times too. Hard to believe we complained about the trains at the Rally in Indiana.

Sunrise over the Mississippi River:

Sunday's project

Today I put my bike on the back of the Buick and hooked up the Aliner. Everythng seemed to be ok until I made a sharp turn and my bike got squeezed by the trailer jack. It was too close. So I went and bought a folding trailer jack and mounted it. I removed the original trailer jack. It looks like everything will work now. It's always something.

Saturday

Today's project was to install a clothesline on the Aliner. I cheated and bought a ready made one. It is also cheating because some campgrounds say no clotheslines but I guess if they are attached to your camper it's Ok.

Then I wanted a way to take our bicycles with us when we go somewhere with the camper. On the old '88 Aliner I put a rack on the back bumper. The one time we took our bikes they were bouncing like crazy. Then I read stories about bumpers falling off along with the bikes. So I decided I needed another way. I found this rack that goes on the hitch. It looks like it might work. We will see.

Aliner Rally

We just attended an Aliner Rally. It was the Central Great Lakes Regional Rally in Granger, Indiana. I think we were a few feet from the Michigan border.

We arrived Thursday evening after our 7 1/2 hour drive from St. Louis, MO turned into a 10 1/2 hour drive. I-80 was closed so every road in a 50 mile radius was jammed and or closed or under construction.

The weather was perfect, 50 in the morning and 75 during the day. I don't know the exact count but about 30 Aliners were there, all styles and years. It was fun talking to everyone about their camper and their modifications they have made. We had a great time and now we are looking forward to the next get together.


We had a very quick, uneventful drive home, yea!

Saturday's Project

Todays project was to install an Air Conditioner in the Aliner. It still seems like an odd place to put it but the factory puts it in the wall next to the door. I found one that vented upwards and was small enough to fit. Cutting a hole in the side was a little scary but it all worked out. It's not perfect but it is in and it works. Now we probably won't need it until next summer.

Labor Day

We went to Twin Rivers Landing in Lesterville, MO this weekend. It's on the Black River. We had a great weekend. The river was very cold and there were a lot of people floating, we just watched. The weather was good, the company was good and the new Aliner worked out just fine.

Monday Night

Tonight I put up a new shelf in the Aliner. Carol wanted a place to put a few things. We have seen several other Aliner owners do the same.