Weekend warrior - Uplander

[pnwnative]

First post here. Live just outside of Seattle. Empty-nester, had a Chrysler Town and Country for almost 20 years, used for camping with kids. It was getting long in the tooth, so I bought a 2007 Chevy Uplander LT that was used as a vanpool vehicle. $5k last year, in great condition, all service records. I bought it because of those things and the power it has along with great gas mileage. And stealthiness.

This past summer I drove all over Washington State for 4-5 day trips. Took out the back seats, put in Sterlite plastic dressers, some sleeping bags, stove, and a bicycle. That's it. Phone and Chromebook for communications/entertainment. I look for state land with my Washington Discover pass for free camping. It's great.

It's been a great vehicle with good clearance and takes any hill without any effort. I thought about now getting something bigger, but it's super stealth and perfect for one person and it's already paid for. Can park it anywhere and no one would think someone was staying in it.

I'm planning on going to the RTR in Arizona in January 2019 for the first time. Would love to travel with our cat, but that's probably not going to work out. She will stay home with the rest of the family.

I hope to travel all around the American West. Maybe go to the East Coast and Midwest, but not sure. I love nature and solitude and roaming and there's plenty of that.

 

[rvwandering]

Welcome to the CRVL forums pnwnative! Congratulations! You've got the art vandwelling figured out - use what you have, take what you need, and and enjoy the journey. See you at the RTR!

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[Patrick]

Noticed an Uplander sitting on a car lot. Under 5k$ and under 100k miles.

So I researched them a bit, folks are getting over 200k and some over 300k out of them and saying good things about them.

Looks like a comfortable ride. Made me wish I was in the market right now, but I still got over a year on a leased Hyundai.

Keep posting about your times with the Uplander, I'm considering going that route when this lease is up.