the real me

[JannaB]

Have you thought about picking up a cargo trailer to tow behind your truck. It's lightweight and nice to make tea in when the weather is rip roaring.

 

[crofter]

Have you thought about picking up a cargo trailer to tow behind your truck. It's lightweight and nice to make tea in when the weather is rip roaring.

I have. There's some nice cargo trailer rigs out there! But I don't want to be more than 20 feet long if possible for campgrounds. And 20 feet is all that will fit in an urban parking space. So hence the reason I am thinking van. 
In my ideal van, for cooking there would be a flip up window for lots of ventilation. (not very stealthy).  But the closest thing to tailgaiting while cooking inside the van. I did see one 20 foot Astro van that had a tailgate and the guy had a rear kitchen. I like the van idea because it's more versatile for living space, and has only one roof. The pickup & topper combo has two roofs and a gasket in between, not really strong enough for a roof rack. And I like the idea that the tall vans have space over the cab for storage. In one of Lloyd Kahn's books, I saw an extended dodge van with a lot of space. The owner actually stowed the bed over the cab during the day so the whole van was open for other uses.
These ideas I have seem to change, and I think that's ok. I saw a video the other day with a guy who had rebuilt the same van like five times !!  Blessings - Crofter

 

[crofter]

 but who WOULDN'T want one of these?)  :heart:

It's growing on me! My blower is getting cranky every time I hit a bump!!!
Is that a rag top on that ambulance? - Crofter

 

[crofter]

It's growing on me! My blower is getting cranky every time I hit a bump!!!
Is that a rag top on that ambulance? - Crofter

Hello again! Just an update from me Crofter since I have not been online here for a while. So far I have camped in my RV for 194 days (and nights). It is tempting to go for a sticks and bricks as the weather gets nasty and cold. But no!! I have a streak going!! Instead I am getting out the roadmap and looking at roads to places where the sun shines all the time.
I have also camp hosted for a season and have boondocked alot since we chatted last. I am still in my  :heart:  Chevrolet pickup. I removed the back seat finally and built a platform bunk in the Home Depot parking lot. This is where my memory foam matress resides. Quite cozy. I bought two luci lights. One works, one does not. So after the first one runs out it's time for zzzz's.

I have had great blessings of finding gifted and inexpensive mechanics when something breaks on the pickup. That was really my biggest worry, both of us being older and all ( the pickup and myself, that is). 

Although I still really want the convenience of a van, I think my next wish list item is propane refrigeration. That just about gets you up to date on my saga in the Chevrolet.
Blessings - Crofter 

 

[RollingOm]

Hello everyone! I have been lurking and am writing to say hi. 
I am getting more minimalist all the time, but so far have only made it about five weeks in the Chevrolet before needing to stop and work again. (that money thing). I am close to early retirement age so that might help solve (that money thing). The info in here on budgets and costs is great!! Thanks for that!!
I also found that the Chevrolet is not very stealthy as most activities are outside of her. Therefore I was getting noticed too much in my favorite places. I like to stop and make tea on the tailgate, and have had lots of people come up to me when doing this. So am thinking of trading horses. Maybe a 4X4 van? It feels disloyal to my Chevrolet to be even writing this, we have been through so much. And she has never ever left me stranded in 160,000 miles. 
I also have a large furry pal who tends to incite adventure. And thats a good thing.
I am keeping a storage that has electricity for THE BUILD on whatever vehicle I am in. It seems like a luxury to have the storage and the electricity. I could switch to battery tools and build anywhere. 
So that's the real me. Hope to see you all on the road!
Blessings - Sue

I :heart: my Chevrolet 4X4 crew cab w/suicide doors & snug top, with moss on top.

Sounds interesting   I'd like to see a picture of it.

 

[Sleep]

Hi Crofter,  

Hope you ave room  in your truck for your fluffy friend.

would love to see your friend

 

[crofter]

Hi Crofter,  

Hope you ave room  in your truck for your fluffy friend.

would love to see your friend

I will post a pic of Elmo driving on another session when I have my pics. He usually rode on the passenger side or on the bunk (memory foam).

Sadly, my fluffy friend took off in the mountains, on a dark and stormy night. Although he is micro chipped, I have heard nothing on his whereabouts since the night he went missing. Searching for him in the mountains has been a whole another saga and I have seen some beautiful places, although not my dog. I highly recommend using a leash all the time although I did not do this myself. What I did do was train him to come to the vehicle horn in the mountains. Yes that was me honking the horn. So I know that if he was able, he would have come at the sound of the horn honking. I am getting to be at peace with it, and with him wanting to end up there in the mountains.

 

[jimindenver]

Glad to hear you are well. Sorry to hear about your furry friend. Max can be a pain at times but I can not image him not being here.

 

[Sleep]

I'm so sorry too! Would be lost without my Bella.

Hang in there...

 

[crofter]

I will post a pic of Elmo driving on another session 

I havenot been on here to post for a while. Here are some pics-

 

[QinReno]

Foo, I read through this thread, and THEN realized it was mostly 1-year old. Would be interested to hear about your latest ideas for a new rig. Being a guy, things are not very critical about what I do. Most solo women I've seen travel in either vans or small Class-Cs. I tend to think you might be a bit unhappy with the size problems of having a Class-C after living minimalist with a pickup. Namely parking and access problems. I think the Astro vans are AWD. I recently bought a regular GMC Savana van, and it suits my needs, except that ... it's RWD only, and I did get stuck in sand a couple of months ago. After having Jeep Cherokees for 20+ years, I do miss the advantages of 4WD. If I had a 4x4 pickup, I would keep it, and either get a small 16-18' trailer like RVSue or a small camper shell, not one of those monster things that weigh 3,000 pounds and lean over on corners. Those would probably be hell on a rough dirt road. I do like the idea of the lightweight campers for pickups that collapse down for traveling.
http://rvsueandcrew.net/

 

[crofter]

Last time I was writing on here, I was dreaming up the perfect vehicle, and then I went camping for 200 days in the pickup- not the perfect vehicle but it was fun. I can see that there are some advantages to having two separate areas, and it's always nice to have four wheel drive although seldom needed. 

But then I started looking at the new vans, and I fell in love  :heart:  with a front wheel drive PM Van. (PM = RAM ProMaster Van) I love that I can stand up in it, and the straighter sides will make the conversion easier. The turning radius is shorter- I can park it like a car. The MPGs are decent. And I love that someone else drove it for about ten thousand miles so that I could get a great discount on it. 

One drawback though: My van does not park in a parking garage. I tried it, and oh my, I got stuck. Those other drivers were not understanding of my predicament, and began honking and waving their hands.  :huh: 
I was never so glad as when I got backed out of there, and parked in the back forty with the pickups. 
~ Crofter

 

[crofter]

 latest ideas for a new rig

My latest idea is the PM van conversion, although I still have the pickup as well. I am hoping to keep the conversion as light and minimal as possible so I can keep more of my MPG's. So I am weighing my options as far as how heavy the conveniences like refrigerators versus living without such conveniences. Pun intended. Instead of a log cabin interior, I am looking at something light and durable, probably airplane scrap. I am also toying with the idea of using a bulkhead for both safety and stealth, adding about a thousand dollars to the conversion cost. There's always a downside. With a bulkhead, I cannot have a swivel seat.  Well I could still have the swivel seat, but then I would be looking the bulkhead right there...

 

[QinReno]

Well, in that case, never mind all the stuff I said above, LOL, since you've already taken the plunge. The GMC vans that I've seen pretty much all come with the bulkheads (not so much for Chevys). I certainly wouldn't remove it, even though it cuts off floor space in the front. Some ideas, given 6-months with my van: I would definitely put in solar. To me, it's the best of all conveniences, even though I have only a 100W panel and 70AH of batteries (I just put the panel out in the daytime). That's enough for my 60W Led lighting (draws only 11W) and laptop charging - both fed 120VAC via a pure-sinewave inverter. Also, I would only lashup something temporarily, and go on the road for another 200 days (or whatever) before deciding on something permanent. Or build in stages. After my first 6-week trip, I completely changed the interior layout .... namely to make "more" floor space. Might be of interest:

 

[crofter]

I would definitely put in solar. 

Sorry about the slow response! Something happened last time I was on here. 

Definitely solar.  I think solar will be lighter than propane, and be more off grid than having to carry and fill tanks. I will still need Mr Buddy for heating though, so some propane. 

My van has bolts up top for a ladder rack, so that part of the solar will be easy. Do you think having a roof rack setup cuts down on the MPG's a lot?
~ crofter