It is always fun to meet other Alto owners while on the road; the couple in the campground today is from Hamilton, Ontario. They have traveled to CA and back twice in 2.5 yrs. He is a retired carpenter and a wealth of information – basically, don’t worry about all the details! They are going for servicing at the factory after putting over 4,000 miles on their trailer.
We spend most of the morning testing things out. I fix a latch and Ray reads manuals. In the afternoon we drive through rolling green farm fields to the factory for our tour. St. Frederic is a small town about an hour southeast of Quebec City, and only an hour from Maine. Safaro Condo, a family owned company occupies several warehouse buildings outside of town. I am surprised how small the factory is. Surprisingly, they make each trailer individually and by hand with no large machinery. Ours was number 1807 and the ones being built right now are 1836-1838; it takes approximately 3 months to fully complete each trailer. The guide tells us they use the “just in time” system so they are able to make changes at any time, and have no inventory. Including sales staff, they have 167 employees. He said it is hard to hire people. There is a lot of demand and the waiting list remains at 18 months but they are not looking to expand right now. The Altos sold in Australia are assembled here and finished there. Their Australian partner is a family with a similar culture to the one here.
Leaving St. Frederic, we admire the changing colors of the forest and rolling hills. The air is crisp and fall is definitely here.
I cook dinner today, testing out the stove and propane connections. We will be leaving tomorrow to avoid Friday traffic around Montreal and to dodge rain in the upper Peninsula. We take a last look across the river at Quebec City from the ferry landing in Levis. It is a beautiful clear evening and the Chateau Frontenac and the city wall are lit up. Au revoir Quebec City. We leave with many memories.
