Azusateach wrote:Great blog, Anne! Gorgeous pics, and I smiled with you as you hit pavement at the end of your adventure.
Did I miss pics of the interior of your van?
Laura
Laura, here are a couple of pictures of the interior - will post more when I finish that part of the blog:
This shows the construction of the bed frames and the crate frame. All storage is underneath the beds and the crates via large plastic (lightweight!) tub.
This shows the beds with the memory foam mattresses in place, and the beds made. Cooking/washing up will be done outside. There is a porta-potty under the dog crates for night time emergencies.
Reading light goes on top of the dog crate at the "head" of the bed when the van is parked. In cold weather I have one of those electric heaters that look like an old-time radiator that sits on the floor in front of the dog crates. This radiator was the best bet for me, although they don't heat up instantly they do slowly radiate heat and don't themselves get extremely hot. Thus it can be placed fairly closely to interior structures and still remain safe.
and my a/c unit:
I needed this because I don't "do" hot weather!
There is a false wall behind the open door that contains the a/c (2 inches of styrofoam panel insulation sandwiched between two sheets of paneling), and this door needs to remain open when the a/c is running to exhaust heat to the outside (the a/c doesn't take up much room because it "sits" on top of the door step). The other door is sealed (unless it is opened, of course).
This a/c installation worked really well for me when I was laboring on the van last summer. Outside temp would hover at around 105 degrees, inside temp a cool 75 degrees.
Thanks for asking!
Northern California Anne