I have been camping in my 1990 Chevrolet Silverado Blazer 2-door for the last 20 years. When I removed the back seat there was just enough room for a 3/4 sized (Hollywood, as some people called them) mattress to fit between the wheel wells and from the back of the console to the tailgate.
After all those years with my wife and I getting older, she decided we needed a little more room so she found me a 2001 Chevrolet Express van with low mileage on the internet. After checking it out and taking it for a test drive we bought it on the spot. It was a nice passenger conversion LT model with all the bells and whistles available in 2001. I will chronicle the changes I made to transform it into my Class B- motorhome in the next few postings. I call it my Class B- (B minus) motorhome because it is just a regular van without the raised roof.
Camping at Custer State Park, SD in February, 2015.
Camping and visiting Scott's Bluff National Monument, NE in October, 2014.
After all those years with my wife and I getting older, she decided we needed a little more room so she found me a 2001 Chevrolet Express van with low mileage on the internet. After checking it out and taking it for a test drive we bought it on the spot. It was a nice passenger conversion LT model with all the bells and whistles available in 2001. I will chronicle the changes I made to transform it into my Class B- motorhome in the next few postings. I call it my Class B- (B minus) motorhome because it is just a regular van without the raised roof.
Camping at Custer State Park, SD in February, 2015.
Camping and visiting Scott's Bluff National Monument, NE in October, 2014.
We are always looking for games to play while camping. I have admired all of the different cornhole game boards that I have seen while camping but knew that I could not carry something that big around in my van camper. My wife came across this one from GoSports that is a collapsible version. It disassembles into the space of the small carrying bag that I can find room for in my van's back storage area.
We tried it out in our yard when my youngest son and his family from KY visited us in June. My grand daughters loved it and even got my youngest 4 year old grand daughter to play when they moved the "boards" closer together. I will be carrying this in my van on all future trips because my wife likes to play too.
We tried it out in our yard when my youngest son and his family from KY visited us in June. My grand daughters loved it and even got my youngest 4 year old grand daughter to play when they moved the "boards" closer together. I will be carrying this in my van on all future trips because my wife likes to play too.
Black95 wrote:
Recently we purchased an electric scooter. It has proven to be very handy around the campground. We can zip to the comfort station quickly with it. We are looking forward to finding other uses for it.
The handle folds down easily so we carry it strapped to our rear mounted ladder. /quote]
I never had a bicycle when young and I fall off em. So I got a folding 3 wheeled electric mobility scooter 2 years ago so I could hit the bike trails with my husband who has an electric assist bicycle. At 75 I worry about thinning bones and concussions so I wear a helmet altho I am close to the ground on my scooter. The scooter is too slow and limited range so I just got a folding electric assist recumbent trike. The scooter needs to stay on paved surfaces but the recumbent does OK on dry grass and packed dirt. We carry them inside the RVan because of the electrics. I also use my scooter for shopping both at home and at our campground.
scooter open and closed
me on my trikeClick For Full-Size Image. /quote]
It is time for another update, although this is not a modification to our van camper. Recently we purchased an electric scooter. It has proven to be very handy around the campground. We can zip to the comfort station quickly with it. We are looking forward to finding other uses for it.
For a couple in our 70's we balance quite well on it and it appears these old dogs can learn new tricks. We do keep it in its ECO mode which keeps us down to 10 mph or slower which is fast enough for us. Last fall I tried my grand daughters' hoverboards and did not do well on them but the scooter has a handle and is so much easier to balance on.
The handle folds down easily so we carry it strapped to our rear mounted ladder. I forgot to get pictures of it in transport mode this last trip, so will post a picture of it the next time we go camping.
For a couple in our 70's we balance quite well on it and it appears these old dogs can learn new tricks. We do keep it in its ECO mode which keeps us down to 10 mph or slower which is fast enough for us. Last fall I tried my grand daughters' hoverboards and did not do well on them but the scooter has a handle and is so much easier to balance on.
The handle folds down easily so we carry it strapped to our rear mounted ladder. I forgot to get pictures of it in transport mode this last trip, so will post a picture of it the next time we go camping.
Planning on heading out again for our 2nd camping trip of the year. We are going to a local campground at Richmond Lake Recreation Area. Another equipment testing camp night. We love to hike when we camp and, being a woodworker, l like to make my own things if possible. One of the things i have made for myself and most members of our family is a walking or hiking stick. I make mine out of walnut most of the time, although I have made them out of oak and bamboo. I usually put a 1/4" threaded stud on top to act as a camera monopod, then I put a threaded adapter into a wood ball to top it off. On the bottom I usually add a pointed end with a rubber removable cover on it. I get these from websites that cater to walking stick DIY'ers. When we visit different national parks I am always on the lookout for medallions to add to my stick. A few times when I could not find any, the place may have a penny press machine that turns your penny into a souvenir that I can drill small holes in and attach to my walking stick. My wife likes to keep her stick lighter so she chooses not to adorn hers. Over the many years I have been collecting hiking medallions I have filled up two hiking sticks and am now working on my third, which will probably be my last as I am in my late 70's.. I also add a hand strap on the top of each stick sort of like they use on ski poles. We give our hiking sticks a workout on every camping trip.
This is my first camping trip since about 9 months ago in August of 2021. Went camping over Mothers Day at Oahe Campground #1 is our favorite site #42. It was a beautiful weekend. We have not been camping since last August because we decided to downsize from our four bedroom house with 2 1/2 baths, a sauna, and a four car heated garage to a smaller house in the big city of Aberdeen, SD which is a 2 bedroom with 2 baths and a single car garage. It involved a lot of rummage sales and online selling to get rid of much that we had accumulated in 40 years in the same place. We decided to retire to a larger city and downsize a lot of our possessions to save the kids some headache when we get too old to care for it all. We do love it living in a larger city instead of the smaller town of about 350 that we had lived in almost all of our lives. It helped that a found a heated storage shed for my camper van, Corvette, and wood shop tools. About the only upgrade I have made to my DIY camper van was an improvement to the overhead water storage system. I used 6" PVC tubing for the tank and had it connected to an air compressor quick disconnect line to the water valve located on the side of my van. I changed it to a garden hose quick disconnect which allows a lot more water to flow through the tubing. I did have to add a shut off valve to it as the garden hose quick connect does not shut off the flow when disconnected like the air compressor disconnect did. Everything works better now. The water tap is connected to one of those magnetic tool trays for easy access. I did not get a chance to open my new awning from NAPA as the weather was a little too breezy. Maybe next trip I will post a picture of it in use.
Black'95 wrote:
... now that we have been retired we decided it was time to downsize and rid ourselves of 40 years of accumulated "stuff."
,,,,storage space big enough to put the Corvette and the camper conversion van in for the winter.
... upgrade the conversion van camper with an Maxi-Trac 8 foot awning from NAPA.
When DH retired from teaching in spring 2018 we did a whole house clean out, round 1. It is VERY liberating altho I had to watch several episodes of "Hoarders" to prime myself to really get into selling, giving, Goodwill and just throwing away.
We got an awning on our TT which is such a pain with the wind down here in FL that we just stick big umbrellas in metal tubes we pounded into the ground.
I would LOVE to see a CCvan pulling a Corvette. The most outrageous thing I saw was a big MH with a motorcycle mounted on the back and ON the motorcycle was a skeleton. I got one lousy shot thru a dirty windscreen but I hope you can see the outline of the white skeleton. The MH was also pulling a white SUV?
Click For Full-Size Image.
