AsheGuy -- you've compiled a really amazing log of your trips, thanks for sharing it! You guys apparently move very quickly. I see lots of long trips in relatively short periods. I started reading through, but there's a ton of info, it will take me some time to get caught up!
Our PleasureWay story --
We had initially considered several other types of vehicles. I'd like to share some of that thought process.
I owned a truck, we said let's tow a pop up camper and roll along with that (just like my cousins did when they were young). But, there are bears where we're going, so that's not the safest idea. Plus, there are only 2 of us, we don't need sleeping space for 6-8 people.
Then we said maybe a camper that fits in the bed of the truck. There are essentially no limits to the terrain you drive through with that solution, but you need a pretty hefty truck to throw 3000lbs in the bed. My truck wasn't large enough, so that would have been a $30k truck + $5k truck camper expense.
We looked into an RV, most were far more than we needed, and more potential headaches than we wanted, plus with the big RVs you end up having to pay more to park in campsites, and they're harder to drive.
We started shopping for other options, and discovered the Class B companies out there. Sites like this one helped us to realize that it's PERFECT for our needs!!!
So, we bought a 1994 Dodge B350 (1995 PleasureWay) with the 5.2 V8. 130k miles at the moment. I found it on Craigslist about an hour away from my house, it was one of the first vans I looked at, but we wanted to see a few more to decide if we wanted a wide body, or something newer, or something like a B+. In the end, we came back to it with a mechanic (who lived in a Class B for 2-3 years, obviously knew them well!), he checked everything out and said it was a solid vehicle that only needed a few minor things. We made an offer ($7800) and we're on our way.
Improvements/fixes we have had to do it:
New side mirrors
New Optima battery in the back (previous Interstate Marine battery had some corrosion built up already)
Replaced driver and passenger interior and exterior window weather stripping because it was in awful shape (dry rotted)
Alignment
Transmission gasket
2 front motor mounts
Rear brake shoe replacement
Still to come --
Installing a stereo head unit (previous owner did not have one installed at all)
Rear backup camera
Window tint removal and probably replacement
Front headlights are yellowed, cost is $600 to replace the set so we'll try a $50 reconditioning before I go that far
Planning to add a few additional lights for fog, or simply backup headlights (I hear the gravel roads in Canada can bust a headlight pretty quickly)
When we get to Seattle we'll replace all 4 tires. The current ones have plenty of tread, but they're 6 years old and starting to dry rot a little. We'll evaluate once we get up there, but I'd rather be safe than sorry when we're in the middle of nowhere for 60 hours between Seattle and Alaska...
All-in, we're probably going to be $10-11k invested into the van. Our original budget was $15-20k, so we still have some cash available if something major arises.
We're doing a thorough detail job next week, I'll post pics once that's complete. Here's the only one I have at the moment. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9YoiydcJiMIRGFDMEo0NUlzV1N2U0hwSURpaW9EX2Zkc21J/view?usp=sharing
