It was last August when we had the idea to convert one of John’s Chevy cargo work vans into a camper, which for short we call the “vamper.” We also named her “Second Chance.” At the end of this post are links to follow along with previous posts about our journey with the conversion thus far.
Last October we did take Second Chance to Tennessee, staying in her one night on the way there and one night on the way back. The week in Tennessee we stayed in a lovely cabin, only because the vamper wasn’t done yet.
We still have a ways to go and with winter it wasn’t possible to work on it. But it’s a new season and John has kicked into gear again.
The last two weekends he spent insulating it so well we can actually hear the radio playing and have a conversation riding down the open highway. Yay!
Today he is building his bed, cause after all, the Master Carpenter has to have his spot first. As you can see in the photo above he designed it with storage underneath.
I didn’t see any plans drawn out for it and asked him how he knew to build it without looking at anything. He pointed to his head and said, “It’s all in here. Just like you with your writing.” That made perfect sense to me!
My bed will run horizontally along the long side of the van above John’s.
We also placed the refrigerator in the van today to get a feel for it and to see how it looks(It is a 12 volt that will run off of the solar panels on roof via the Yeti) . John came up with the idea to place it flush with the two doors that open out on the side of the van. That way when we are in the tent (which I’ll explain about in a moment), we don’t have to hop in and out of the van to get something out of the fridge. That guy, he’s always thinking! 🙂
As you can imagine, one has to utilize every square inch of this conversion to the best of its abilities and why we decided we would also need a drive-away awning. It will act as our kitchen/hang out spot. So we are looking at getting the Vango Airbeam Idris II Drive-away awning – which is exactly what it means – you can leave it up and drive away with the van when you need your vehicle to go site seeing for the day.
Though a bit pricier than regular tents, we love that it is inflatable and will go up in a matter of minutes. As you know, when on vacation or longer weekends, every precious moment of fun counts! So we still have to figure out how to measure for which one we will need and then have it shipped here to the US from the UK. unfortunately no one in the US sells them.
So we are making progress. Of course it never seems to be fast enough as one is anxious to just get on with the business of enjoying. But many great memories being made with this project and no doubt we will be talking about this for a long time to come.
Stay tuned as we will continue to work on it this summer…and hope to get out in it to a camp site or two in the area yet this summer and then a trip for vacation later this fall.
Past posts for Have Van Will Travel Journal
The Adventure Has Begun. New Home on Wheels. Who’d of Thunk?
The Conversion Begins
Inspector Approves of Phase One Conversion
She Gets a Name
First a Name and Now Mascots
Cozy Comfort
Flooring is In (video)
Cutting it Close
