Month June 2017

Avion Ultra Truck Camper: The Return Trip (Day 3)

Lone tree backlit by a blue and purple sunset

We wake the next morning at 4:30AM. The anxiety of our insecure camper situation made it hard to sleep as it is. The activity in the parking lot only made it more so. We just want to get the camper up to our work station as fast as possible so that we can get to work. We set everything in the camper on the floor so nothing will fall and move into the cab of the truck to drive away. Google predicts a 9 hour drive. We assume more.

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Avion Ultra: The Return Trip (Day 1)

There is something so relieving in closing a question. Whatever the solution may be, to just take any options off the table and proceed down that single, prescripted path is liberating. We spent years considering camper options. A cheap new camper? A custom pop up? A rugged specialty off-road rig? There were so many options that we wasted hours upon hours discussing and stepping through what it would take for each to serve our needs. In the end, we wanted an adventure and, when the opportunity arose, we took it—partially out of a love for the design, and partially in a desperate need to stop looking and start doing.

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Avion Ultra: Arrival

1970 Avion C11 truck camper on jacks in the previous owners back yard with out 2015 Ram 3500.

We walk around the outside of the camper. We prod about on the inside. We look at each other and nod. It needs work, but we expect that. It smells like what it is: a 47-year-old camper. But the aluminum exterior looks solid and the interior will do...for now.

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Avion Ultra: An Opportunity

Interior shot of a 1970 Avion C11 truck camper capturing a dinette table, cabover bed, kitchen counter, and overhead storage.

Early on in our travels, we agree that we want a truck camper. We are not set on any one particular type. There are so many to choose from and each camper is a matter of compromise. We like the idea of renovating a classic—something with a style unique to its time. There are several models we are eying on Craigslist when a 1970 Avion Ultra pops up in Florida.

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Little Missouri Falls

The Little Missouri Falls

Seven miles down a moderately managed dirt road in the Ouachita National Forest is the Little Missouri Falls. The drive is pretty doable for any car in the proper conditions—there is a creek crossing that could cause trouble after a heavy rain—but the reason to drive this road is the swimming hole at the end.

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