The Van
El Gran Comedor de Gasolina
One of the key components to any roadtrip is a vehicle. Since our roadtrip is going to consist of some quality time spent in cold, wet and snowy areas, we needed something we could not only drive but also sleep in. The initial idea was to get a big truck and a trailer. We scrapped that after considering trailer speed limits, gas mileage, narrow roads and the fact that towing a trailer in the snow would be downright scary. After a little more thought, we came up with the biggest van we could find, which turned out to be a Ford 15 passenger van. It's a 1997 with 113,000 miles when purchased. 5.4L V8, Limited slip differential in the rear, and snow tires when the white stuff starts accumulating. The day after we bought it it looked like:
After pulling out the seats and spending a little time with some power tools, it now looks like this:
Racks, slide out bunks, custom bench seat mounts and a whole lot of gear yielded our home for the next six months. I always told my mama I wanted to live in a mobile home!