Traveling by Van

[Moparnut72]

If you happen to wind up in my neck of the woods I have parking, hookups and a full service garage, labor extra. Lol.
kk

[Ncdan]

Well there you go Allen, Peter has made you the offer of a lifetime to go down under! He’s been trying to trick me and Lisa into mounting a plane for a couple years and take him up on a one in a lifetime vacation. Someday I may put on my big boy britches and head his way.  Of course we have made him the same offer.

[Huzo]

If you happen to wind up in my neck of the woods I have parking, hookups and a full service garage, labor extra. Lol.
kk

   

[antmanbee]

If you happen to wind up in my neck of the woods I have parking, hookups and a full service garage, labor extra. Lol.
kk

I had been planning on going to Carson City and around Tahoe. I am not sure on my time frame yet. I still have a few things to explore in Utah and Arizona. But it's likely I will be in the area and would love to meet you. Thanks. I will keep you posted as I narrow down my window of when I will be there. It looks like great riding country. I zigzagged my way up to Sacramento from San Diego many years ago taking all the mountain crossings between 395 and the 49er highway. 

[antmanbee]

Well there you go Allen, Peter has made you the offer of a lifetime to go down under! He’s been trying to trick me and Lisa into mounting a plane for a couple years and take him up on a one in a lifetime vacation. Someday I may put on my big boy britches and head his way.  Of course we have made him the same offer.

Dan, you need to get yourself half unconscious and get you and Lisa on a plane to OZ. So put on you big boy britches. I can recommend a few good layovers in SE Asia.
Probably be one of the most memorable experiences of your life.

[antmanbee]

I had a great time visiting with Moparnut72 and Missus Moparnut72 last week. He lives in a beautiful area with lots of great riding roads just a few miles from his house. We took a nice jaunt over a mountain and back. Mopar counted the turns and it was something like 260 or so in 37 miles. I forgot the exact number.
I did another ride solo over another mountain pass where the road had just opened the day before due to the heavy snow this winter. I ended up on the 49er highway and then dropped down into the valley.



The small town of LaPorte

The day I left Mopar's place and was heading to the coast, I was going down a forest road to a campsite and hit a piece of log in the road that halfway ripped my mini-split compressor unit out from under my van. It was hanging down with maybe 1 1/2in of clearance to the ground. I managed to get the van out of the forest service road and back on pavement and drove back to Mopar's house.
I want to give a special thanks to Mopar for helping me out. He made available all his tools along with some help. I worked all day to bend, tweak and reinforce my brackets and get the compressor unit back in place. By some miracle the heat pump still works. So I am back on the road.
I went back to the same campsite the next day where I had screwed up.





I was planning to go to the Redwoods on the coast near to the Oregon border next, but I changed my mind and will go there a little later. I am heading up into Oregon about a hundred miles west of Portland to the Deschutes River to the 3 day NW get-together of the SMB (Sportsmobile) group. I attended the east coast SMB event last fall and had a great time and met a lot of interesting people. Just like a Guzzi event. 
So I will be traveling around Oregon for a while and may venture up into Washington too before I head down the coast into California again.

I have visited a bunch of National Parks and I will post pictures if anyone is interested.

[Testarossa]

My AWD Chevy turned 395,000 miles; I put new ball joints in the front end. Thinking about a rebuilt engine this summer.

[Huzo]

I’ve done enough trips to recognise how great a journey you’re having.
Good on you and enjoy the sound of the bad weather outside, when you are sleeping cosily in your camper….

[antmanbee]

My AWD Chevy turned 395,000 miles; I put new ball joints in the front end. Thinking about a rebuilt engine this summer.

Testarossa, Could you post some more pictures in higher res of your van. It looks like a nice rig. AWD with a high top is a great combination.

[Testarossa]

Testarossa, Could you post some more pictures in higher res of your van. It looks like a nice rig. AWD with a high top is a great combination.

Here's the full story of this van build, with photos: https://gailandsethtravelling.wordpress.com/  I haven't updated that site in five or six years. We've had the van for eight years and I use it for skiing all winter, and we've done six or eight week-long summer trips, so we've put 75,000 miles on it ourselves, going through two sets of tires. Still no rust to speak of. Maintenance over the years included a new heater control, new catalytic pods (expensive), new windshield and brake work. I replaced the heavy solar array with a lightweight structure using two 100-watt Kingsolar flexible panels; it's getting time to replace those with 120-watt panels and upgrade from the heavy 6-volt deep-cycle batteries to a lighter LiFePo battery, which will also require a more modern charge controller. A door hinge at the back broke--I'll replace that this month. The engine now burns some oil on start-up and mileage has deteriorated from 16.5mpg to 14.5. I think I can put in a reman engine for under $6,000. Local shop says if you take out the radiator, the engine comes out straight forward in a relative jiffy. We'll see. Cost of ownership including purchase price and conversion, fuel, tires and maintenance has been 46c/mile. (Does not include insurance & registration.) We're very fond of the van. My wife's only objection is the on-the-road noise level. I'm thinking about how to improve the sound insulation.

[antmanbee]

400K is a pretty good run for the engine. Are you getting a factory long block or from a rebuilder? I have read on some other forums that the factory unit is the way to go.
I read through all your posts. Very nice write up on your build and trips.
Did your gas mileage improve after installing the air dam? I had installed an air dam and it caused issues, so I have removed it and it's great now.
I average about 14mpg. If I do all highway at 65-70mph I get 15mpg.

[Testarossa]

Did your gas mileage improve after installing the air dam?

The air dam improved highway mileage on the original heavy solar array by about .7 mpg. Switching to the smaller, lighter array improved it by another .3 mpg. I get about the same mileage you do.
Haven't yet decided which long block to get. I'm 75 years old and realistically won't use this thing for more than another 10 years or maybe 70,000 miles. If there's a 30% difference in cost for the factory unit, it may not be worth paying.

[antmanbee]

I'm on the Olympic Peninsula now in the most north west part. Everything is so lush. Tomorrow I will be in the Hoh rainforest which receives about 200 inches of rain a year, although it has been dry around here for the last week and looks to be that way this week too.

The tree of life

Quinault rain forest

Kalaloch beach

Quinault rain forest

Quinault rain forest

Tree p0rn, which is looking pretty good to me as I have been traveling alone for a long time now.

Ruby beach

Ruby beach

[antmanbee]

Last week in the Seattle area (Woodinville) visiting friends, I got out for a couple of rides on the bike and also one in a TR6 sports car over on the ferry to one of the islands. We also attended the every Saturday car show in Redmond. We also did a bit of wrenching on my friends Ducati 900GTS. It is close to running now but we are waiting on parts. It was fun playing with the GTS and the TR6 as I have owned both before but in different colors.

[Ncdan]

Looks like a great time.I enjoyed the pictures of the locations. Keep sharing your adventures AMB👍

[antmanbee]

Cape Flattery, the most NW point in the continental US 

[antmanbee]

I found myself here without a paddle



Lake Crescent, I stopped for breakfast here



I am now heading to the SW Washington coastline and will work my way down into Oregon crossing the bridge at Astoria. I may stay in the area for a while as the weather is perfect. 60-70's in the day and 50's at night. Everywhere inland is scorching.