Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Avion truck campers

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Topic: Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos

Posted By: Jamm3r on 05/27/14 03:27pm

69 Avion wrote:

My 1969 C-11 didn't have that filter, or whatever it is. Mine did have the double sink though.

I believe they were optional. They were an option on many other campers of the same vintage.

1971 Cayo C-11 truck camper, 2010 Airstream Classic, 1997 Chevrolet K2500, 2004 Chevrolet Suburban 2500 8.1.

Posted By: Michael 111 on 05/28/14 05:48am

Did anyone in their rebuild laminated a foam core (blue insulation foam) with, lets say, 1/4 ply to rebuild the wings sort of duplicating whats original there
i know that i could build/use Airex or PVC foam and make a laminate ....costly

I am trying to find the most cost effective and long lasting method

Thanks for the wealth of knowledge on this forum

Posted By: 67avion on 05/28/14 07:00pm

We have been on the road with the Avion almost 6 weeks this Spring. First to the Texas Truck Camper Rally, then to the Mid Atlantic Truck Camper Rally. It was at the Mid Atlantic that Gordon and Angela White of Truck Camper Magazine asked Jane and me to write an article about the Overland Expo in Flagstaff.

We took on the assignment traveling to Flagstaff from our home in Carbondale, Illinois. This is a photo album of Avion's travels West and some of the things encountered.

Jane picked out the roads and worked on the camping sites. I had heard of Palo Dura Canyon S.P. near Amarillo, so we stayed there the second night. It was actually cold in the bottom of the canyon though the area was drought ravaged. Jane sipped hot tea.

We left and traveled across the fabled Deaf Smith County in Texas. The drought was even more pronounced.

Traveling on backroads, avoiding the freeway, we luck on some interesting places. The next night we camped at Bluewater Lake SP, high in the New Mexico mountains. I took this image at dawn.

We made it to the Expo at Mormon Lake, Arizona, and set to work. We had formed a special truck camper rally in the dry camping area of the Expo. That's SeldomSeen Smith in the truck with the headlights on. It was the evening of the second day and he had come out from Flagstaff to meet with us.

An unforeseen situation arose when two truck campers, with toy haulers, arrived at our camp. they went nose to tail and cut our rally area almost in half. In the process they blocked us in. No one knew who they were and they didn't spend time with us. We sort of hinted that they needed to organize their rigs so that we could move our trucks if need be. No response. Finally we made it real clear that we were getting out. One of them relented and backed up a few feet to allow us to move.

I told my fellow truck campers that we were going to the "rich people's area, with full hook ups". I was just kidding. Until I got to our new site.

The reason we had to move out of our site was that Jane was driving the "course". A special 7 acre area that had all sorts of obstacles for vehicles. An instructor went with her. She was in the group of long wheelbase trucks including an Earthroamer, a Dodge Powerwagon with a Hallmark pop up camper, and a converted E450 Ambulance. Jane learned the limitations of our truck, especially with its belly bar, which came into good use later in the trip. I was astonished at the agility of the Dodge and the Hallmark camper. They scurried around the course. The bulky Earthroamer and the ambulance, not so much.

When the Expo ended we decided to tool around the West for awhile. After driving to Zion National Park and learning there were no camping spaces available, we became official boondockers - something that doesn;t happen that much in the East. I found a spot overlooking the Virgin River. I thought it was BLM land. Actually it belonged to the nearby town, but no one bothered us. And I loved it there.

We traveled towards Las Vegas. Jane had never been there. Along the way we stopped at the encampment near Cliven Bundy's ranch near Bunkerville, Nevada. At one point it was in the news as a flash point between Bundy's supporters and the BLM. Its almost deserted, as internal friction and disagreements split the groups.

Once in Las Vegas we stayed near Circus Circus right on Las Vegas Blvd. I can say without question, we were the only RV of any kind driving along the Strip. That night we had an incredible meal at a Bulgarian Restaurant that serves tapas. I can't explain it. You had to be there. We wound up with the owner sitting in the back of the Avion where he had deposited a case of Bulgarian beer.

The next morning dawned fair and cool. I started up the truck and for some reason it closed the doors and locked them. So there we were. The truck engine turning over in that loud diesel purr, and I couldn't get into the truck. I don't have the door code.

But we were rescued by some maintenance guys from Circus Circus named Tony and Mike.

They refused to take money after performing the minor miracle of opening the truck doors. So I promised that I would have my first grandchild named Tonymike.

Then we went to Cedar City, Utah, and on to Torrey. We camped a few miles north of Torrey since Fruita campground in Capitol Reef National Monument is notoriously filled up. We found a spot in the Manti - La Sal National Forest.

I had visited Capitol Reef many years ago, and it left a lasting impression on me. But I wasn't prepared for the unending, almost impossible beauty of the area.

We stopped by Factory Butte where the BLM has set up an area for off road vehicles.

We camped at Muley Point, Utah, overlooking Monument Valley.

It was at times stormy and windy...other times brilliantly sunny. Here is a view of the "monuments" made famous by John Ford in his Westerns from Muley point,

This is a more familiar angle of view.

We ran into desert rain, a phenomenon I hadn't seen before.

We were blessed with a blooming desert as a result of the rains from several weeks past.

We traveled over to Durango, Colorado, and spent the night with fellow truck camper Sheepcamp ( Doug and Pam Ramsey). We had lamb chops of course. Before we got to the Ramsey's Jane put us on a real backroad. It was marked as the “Valley of the Ancients”. As we drove along my eye caught a glimpse of something happening at a beautiful old cedar corral. There was a woman (cowgirl?) swirling her lasso. I pulled the truck in to see what was happening. She and another cowboy were so intent on what they were doing we never communicated. She lassoed a calf. He tried to rope a foot. It was very fraught, with the calf bawling and mom cow staying beside the calf the whole time.

We left at dawn the next morning and were treated to a beautiful misty rise on the mountains as we traveled East.

We stopped at the overlook to Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

In Eastern Colorado, there was a definite change to a far more dry region....we ran across a sign of the times.

And a road side attraction from the 1930s. A building made of petrified wood that made Ripley's Believe it or not.

We picked up the pace and traveled to Lawrence, Kansas. A university town like ours. We needed to get rid of the road dust so we stayed at a motel: The Virginia. I can't say enough good things about the motel and its owner Sonny. That night we went to an ubelievable restaurant, 715. And yes, its true, we had some wine. Jane had brandy for the first time in years. We went back to the motel. I backed up very carefully...watching in my new backup camera monitor. and then we heard a ripping sound.

At first I was devastated. But, as I gradually realized it was not a death in the family, just a dent in the Avion. I felt better. In fact the motel owner, Sonny, lent me a ladder and shouted encouragement as I patched the holes.

I am going to put the Avion away for a while. We'll repair it later this summer. In the meantime I savor the trip that Jane and I just experienced.

* This post was last edited 05/29/14 03:53pm by 67avion *

Posted By: cajunavion on 05/28/14 07:22pm

Howdy!
I really want to do that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted By: tonyj54 on 05/28/14 07:58pm

Wow!!

I REALLY want to get my truck fixed, or find myself a dually.

Which brings up a question. A possible opportunity has arisen, and I need advice/opinions. What would you guys think of putting a C-10 on the back of a diesel dually set up as a service truck, complete with side-boxes? I'm thinking I could move my gunsmithing gear out of the small trailer, and into the boxes. I'd have to figure out how/where to mount a gun vice, and a couple of other things, obviously, but I think it might work, IF the rig can be pulled together at all. Would it be too top-heavy or tippy? Would the height of the rig make it too susceptible to acting as a sail? Would the height make it too much of a low-bridge risk. I know I'll have to do a lot of measuring, just wanted to get some background expertise to get the idea moving.

See y'all on the roads, or in the parks.

tonyj & Shirley
'66 AVION C-10
'86 F-250 6.9 DIESEL
KJ4OEQ 146.520MHz
CB Channel 7

Posted By: JumboJet on 05/28/14 07:58pm

Nice photos - all except that last one. Oh no! My favorite legacy camper has been damaged.

Posted By: Desertboy on 05/28/14 08:01pm

Very good trip report, and wonderful pictures.

1969 AVION
3/4 12 VALVE

Freightliner/24' Flatbed 50,000 miles/ Titan 4000 receiver Hitch, no Mods needed.

Posted By: Wagonqueen Truckster on 05/28/14 08:05pm

that was the best trip report. Yes, you are lucky man. Beautiful.

Posted By: 67avion on 05/28/14 10:38pm

Many thanks for your comments. We ought to travel this road together in an Avion Caravan.

Posted By: Desertboy on 05/29/14 12:03am

One day maybe, sure sounds like fun.

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