If Al Can, Yukan

Al here, reporting from the roads. Four-lane, two lane, and backroads - roads to anywhere and sometimes nowhere. The late Charles Kuralt wandered America "On the Road" seeking interesting people and places. John Steinbeck, in "Travels With Charlie," wandered also, but turned out to be mostly seeking John Steinbeck. Charlie by the way, was his dog. He named his camper "Rocinante" after Don Quixote's horse.

We like simpler names. Our camper is "Al". That's short for "Alcan", which was the original name Don and Irene Hall chose for their unique camper back in 1953. The Halls developed the telescoping camper to drive up the Alcan Highway to Alaska, back when driving the Alcan was truly and adventure. He was told there might be copyright problems with that name, so he called his invention the "Alaskan Camper". As it turned out, there was no trademark problem. This year the Alcan name is resurfacing as the name of the top model Alaskan Camper.

I first "met" Alaskan Campers in the 1960's, when I was working for a magazine called Camper Coachman. We tested all sorts of pickup campers, from bare-bone shells to overweight monsters to chassis mounts. The original 8-foot non-cabover Alaskan was a favorite - in a class by itself.

We saw campers outgrow truck capacity. Trucks improved, but van conversions became the hot RV design. They too grew and grew. Class A motorhomes also got longer, heavier and wider. But fishermen, hunters, and backroad adventurers remained loyal to pickup campers, even as many manufacturers dropped their camper production or dropped out of sight.

We drove, tested, lived in and reported on large RVs and small RVs, even pop-up tent trailers and campers. It was during this testing that we rediscovered mobility, economy and versatility. Mobility is obvious. One can park a pickup camper almost anyplace and the pickup will handle almost any road and backroad. With four-wheel drive, common on pickups mobility is even more enhanced and weather less a limitation. On the road, pop-ups get better mileage and are a whole lot less wind and 18-wheeler air blast sensitive, than big campers and motorhomes not to mention trailers.