Gary Swanson - Nice to have you back. By the way, the last time I tried accessing your picture website as specified in your 9/23/03 posting, I was not successful.
I like your idea of a vertical storage box to the left of the rear door. Will have a minor problem holding the rear door open. Should be able to have a fiberglasser build some mold to fit the curvature of that space. These guys are good - met one just North of Ames, Iowa. They make a positive, then a negative, as prep for the finished product. Keep us posted with your latest.
Have thought of putting on a front receiver hitch and using a variety of accessories. I weighed our unit and have about 1,040 lbs of extra carrying capacity there.
We also had a great experience with our last 3,200 mile venture to Las Vegas over Christmas. No problem whatsoever, averaged 13.7 mpg, coldest evening 7 degrees near Denver, warmest in the middle of Kansas 64 degrees. Spent several nights in Wal-Mart parking lots. Showered in Flying J truck stops. Really enjoyed winter camping.