Packing the van and heading for Bend.

         Both Sara and I have quit our jobs and decided to load up the van and head to Bend, OR. We don't really have a plan, but we know where we are headed and we have loaded up with MTN bike gear and our backpacks. Only time will tell what adventures we encounter along the way. Configuring storage space wasn't easy but with some time and sacrifice of un-needed items we were able to get everything we think we need in the van.

We decided to go with the Thule swing away bike rack. It has worked very well, the swing away is just far enough to clear the side of the van. You can also operate the sliding door with this option.                                                       

                                                

     

 Stopped at Shoshone Falls, ID on the way up to Oregon.

Here is the swing away bike rack in action.

                                 

The open Road.

Auxiliary/ House Battery system

 I finally decided on what electrical plant to install in the van. I have decided on 2x6V golf-cart batteries wired together in series to make a 12V battery. This gives me 260 Amp hours, overkill for what I will need. More info about wiring AUX batteries in Series, and Parallel.

1500W Inverter

Also we added a permanently mounted 150W solar panel on top. We have been watching movies and running the new ARB fridge nonstop since installing the system. With the stock dometic fridge out of the way we have tons of extra storage space.

Picture of broken shift lever. I drove around shifting with a pair of vice grips for a few days. If you drive a syncro I highly recommend sourcing a spare shift lever from a 2wd vanagon. My thoughts are the syncro levers wear out due to the added abuse of the Low Gear.