Greetings from Pittsburgh

[Coach-Tom]

First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Tom and my wife is Barb. We have 3 children, a 22yr old daughter, and twin 14yr old boys. My boys both former scouts, have tent camped many times and loved it.

In November, I picked up an ALiner Classic, used, but in like new condition. My boys and I slept in it twice(in the backyard) and had a lot of fun. My wife and daughter were a little upset, when they found they could not comfortably fit in the Aliner and go on family camping trips. Wow, and I thought I knew her after 32 yrs of marriage.

Two weeks ago, I went to the RV show in Pittsburgh and made the plunge. I bought a 2010 Coachmen Catalina 26BH. I kept the Aliner to sell in the spring. I'm not picking the Coachmen up till the end of March(gritting teeth). I have not done any camping for 35 yrs. and then, it was mainly tent camping. Needless to say, I am totally wet behind the years.

I'd like to chill with some other Coachmen owners. Get your feelings on mine or similar TTs, cause it looks like Forest River makes a whole bunch and they just change the name and decals(maybe to protect the innocent?)

This year, I plan on local camping(<100 mi) with one long stay at the OBX at the Cape Hatteras KOA campsite. Who knows, maybe there will be more this year.

I've never dealt with refrigerators, hook-ups, holding tanks(black, gray, yellow, brown, and the ever popular red, white, and blue. I am totally clueless. I feel like Captain Kirk and the Enterprise, exporing new uncharted worlds.

Any help, regarding RV education, tips, tricks, and must have accessories would be greatly appreciated or just say hi and let me know you're there.

Again, HELLO and very warm Greetings to everyone and I'm looking forward to interacting with you all!

Tom

[Frank P. Martin]

By simply perusing the various forums on this site, you should be able to find the answers for many of your questions. Note that there is even a set of forums grouped under the heading of:

TRAVEL TRAILER & 5TH WHEEL FORUMS

Since you live in (or near) "The Burgh" (I'm in the South Hills), you might want to check out the North Central Region forum. This is where the Pond Piggies group (that I'm a member of) posts and we usually have several group outings each camping season. You're welcome to join us.

I'm going to predict that you probably won't last until March to take delivery of your TT. We too, bought our Jayco at the RV show with the same intention but took delivery on Valentine's Day because the excitement of it all was just too much. In the end, we discovered it was a good thing to do. Since it was our first TT (we had a pop-up previously), there was a lot of "outfitting" to do- dishes, pots, pans, accessories, linens, etc. We spent many nights (not to mention $$$) going to stores or ordering on the web. You'll find that in some respects, furnishing your RV is like furnishing a second home.

So, feel free to post any questions you may have. If you'd like to contact me (or any other iRV2.com member) personally, use the Private Messaging feature of this website. You get to it by clicking the User CP tab at the top of the page.

[NLOVNIT]

Hey, Coach-Tom, welcome to iRV2. It's nice to have another local as a member!

Frank covered all the preliminaries in his post, but I, too, wanted to extend the invitation to join our Pond Piggie group on any of our campouts. We've got a couple already planned & posted but more will come as we get closer to Spring. I just posted in the Pond Piggie subForum a thread about KOA's half price camping weekend coming up May 14-16, so that might be in the works.

Hope to see you!

Lori-

[Coach-Tom]

Hi Frank, Lori, and Dave

Thanks for the quick responses and I definitely plan on joining your group. You can also act as my temporary XO's(You see, I'm the captain). My wife signed up as my XO, but when I asked her what a leveler was(camping quiz)? She thought it was a nuclear weapon.

[Benephanie]

Hi, Tom! First and foremost, congrats on the new purchase!! It's great that you and your family are going to spend some quality time together this spring and summer camping!!

My wife and I are avid outdoor enthusiasts as well. This year is THE YEAR we plan to finally make the jump from tent to camper. I have been scoping out the Aliners for a while now and we are dead set on purchasing one. I saw on your post that you are considering selling yours in the spring? SO... I wanted to let you know that we are VERY interested. I saw on your profile that you are in Moon Twp, and conveniently we are in Robinson. So if you haven't sold it yet, we'd love to take a look at it. Just let me know if you're interested.

In any case... great luck with the new camper. Sounds like a beauty!! And with all this snow we've been getting who ISN'T getting spring fever!!!

Kind Regards,
Ben and Stephanie

Originally Posted by Coach-Tom

First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Tom and my wife is Barb. We have 3 children, a 22yr old daughter, and twin 14yr old boys. My boys both former scouts, have tent camped many times and loved it.

In November, I picked up an ALiner Classic, used, but in like new condition. My boys and I slept in it twice(in the backyard) and had a lot of fun. My wife and daughter were a little upset, when they found they could not comfortably fit in the Aliner and go on family camping trips. Wow, and I thought I knew her after 32 yrs of marriage.

Two weeks ago, I went to the RV show in Pittsburgh and made the plunge. I bought a 2010 Coachmen Catalina 26BH. I kept the Aliner to sell in the spring. I'm not picking the Coachmen up till the end of March(gritting teeth). I have not done any camping for 35 yrs. and then, it was mainly tent camping. Needless to say, I am totally wet behind the years.

I'd like to chill with some other Coachmen owners. Get your feelings on mine or similar TTs, cause it looks like Forest River makes a whole bunch and they just change the name and decals(maybe to protect the innocent?)

This year, I plan on local camping(<100 mi) with one long stay at the OBX at the Cape Hatteras KOA campsite. Who knows, maybe there will be more this year.

I've never dealt with refrigerators, hook-ups, holding tanks(black, gray, yellow, brown, and the ever popular red, white, and blue. I am totally clueless. I feel like Captain Kirk and the Enterprise, exporing new uncharted worlds.

Any help, regarding RV education, tips, tricks, and must have accessories would be greatly appreciated or just say hi and let me know you're there.

Again, HELLO and very warm Greetings to everyone and I'm looking forward to interacting with you all!

Tom

[Benephanie]

Hi, Tom! First and foremost, congrats on the new purchase!! It's great that you and your family are going to spend some quality time together this spring and summer camping!!

My wife and I are avid outdoor enthusiasts as well. This year is THE YEAR we plan to finally make the jump from tent to camper. I have been scoping out the Aliners for a while now and we are dead set on purchasing one. I saw on your post that you are considering selling yours in the spring? SO... I wanted to let you know that we are VERY interested. I saw on your profile that you are in Moon Twp, and conveniently we are in Robinson. So if you haven't sold it yet, we'd love to take a look at it. Just let me know if you're interested.

In any case... great luck with the new camper. Sounds like a beauty!! And with all this snow we've been getting who ISN'T getting spring fever!!!

Kind Regards,
Ben and Stephanie

Originally Posted by Coach-Tom

First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Tom and my wife is Barb. We have 3 children, a 22yr old daughter, and twin 14yr old boys. My boys both former scouts, have tent camped many times and loved it.

In November, I picked up an ALiner Classic, used, but in like new condition. My boys and I slept in it twice(in the backyard) and had a lot of fun. My wife and daughter were a little upset, when they found they could not comfortably fit in the Aliner and go on family camping trips. Wow, and I thought I knew her after 32 yrs of marriage.

Two weeks ago, I went to the RV show in Pittsburgh and made the plunge. I bought a 2010 Coachmen Catalina 26BH. I kept the Aliner to sell in the spring. I'm not picking the Coachmen up till the end of March(gritting teeth). I have not done any camping for 35 yrs. and then, it was mainly tent camping. Needless to say, I am totally wet behind the years.

I'd like to chill with some other Coachmen owners. Get your feelings on mine or similar TTs, cause it looks like Forest River makes a whole bunch and they just change the name and decals(maybe to protect the innocent?)

This year, I plan on local camping(<100 mi) with one long stay at the OBX at the Cape Hatteras KOA campsite. Who knows, maybe there will be more this year.

I've never dealt with refrigerators, hook-ups, holding tanks(black, gray, yellow, brown, and the ever popular red, white, and blue. I am totally clueless. I feel like Captain Kirk and the Enterprise, exporing new uncharted worlds.

Any help, regarding RV education, tips, tricks, and must have accessories would be greatly appreciated or just say hi and let me know you're there.

Again, HELLO and very warm Greetings to everyone and I'm looking forward to interacting with you all!

Tom

[Coach-Tom]

Hi Ben and Stephanie

I'll tell you a little about the Aliner. It's an '85 Classic. I called Aliner in Mt. Pleasant and they told me it's one of the originals they hand built and they were elated to find it was still going strong.

It's been totally refurbished from the ground up. New tops inside and out, new upholstery, new floor, new tires and wheels(spare is older), and new curtains throughout. It has full windows on both sides(double hung for your small AC unit if you so desire). It has a built-in inverter, gas stove, ice box, sink with cutting board, fresh water tank, 15amp hookup, leveling jacks, and small electric heater. It sleeps four with dinettes at both ends that convert to double beds and it's water tight. Frame is solid and I couldn't even find any rust.

I was a tent camper for many years, but my dream was to own an Aliner, but new Classics ran from 12-15K. I don't like popups because of the canvas problems(moisture, mold, and mildew). When I saw it, I had to have it.

I've attached some lousy phone pictures before it was transformed into an igloo, but it will give you an idea. Tows great behind my minivan and truck. Aliner told me it weighs about 1200lbs.

Tom

[Benephanie]

Hi Tom! Thanks for getting back to me on the Aliner... I'm really impressed about the great condition it appears to be in! Somebody really gave it some TLC.

We have also been tent campers in the past. This year we decided to make the leap to a camper. We looked at pop-ups as well, and I agree completely with what you said about the mold, dampness, etc. Aliners are unique and compact. My wife's sister actually introduced me to them and told me once I saw them I'd have to have one. Of course, she was right.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that they are manufactured locally. In fact, it is on our agenda to do a tour of the plant. I mean... people actually come to Mt.Pleasant/Kecksburg just to tour the factory and then camp in the surrounding areas in their Aliners. So why not take advantage of living so close to it?

In any case, when the great thaw occurs, we'd love to take a look at your Aliner. If you could give me an idea of how much you're asking, maybe we could give you a deposit, too, just to hold onto it until the weather clears and we'd be able to move it. I know it's rare to find one...especially so close by. I'll give you my personal e-mail so you can send me a message that way. It's benpgh@yahoo.com I look forward to hearing from you!!

Ben